The best known and most noteworthy inventions of the ancient Greeks, some of which are revolutionary even by today’s standards, are presented at the 80th TIF Event, from 5-13 September, at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre. 

At the same time, along with the inventions, the musical instruments of the ancient Greeks are also coming to life in an unprecedented exhibition that proves that Greece is where the foundations for Western Civilization were laid. 

The “Most important inventions of the ancient Greeks” Exhibition reveals 40 exceptional machines and inventions, from Philon’s “robot-maid” and Aeneas’ hydraulic telegraph to Heron’s “cinema”, and from Ctesibius’ automatic clock and Ptolemy’s astrolabe to the analogue computer of Antikythera.

The exhibits come from Kostas Kotsanas’ Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, based in Katakolo and Ancient Olympia, which was was created after many years of detailed research of ancient Greek, Latin and Arabic scholarly texts, information found on vases and very few related archaeological finds. 

The exhibition aspires to promote this relatively unknown aspect of ancient Greek civilization and to prove that the technology of the ancient Greeks shortly before the end of the ancient Greek world was shockingly similar to the beginning of modern era technology.

Furthermore, “The Musical Instruments of the Ancient Greeks” Exhibition includes 42 reconstructed musical instruments from Kostas Kotsanas’ Museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments and Toys, which is also based in Katakolo. 

The musical instruments are fully operational and dependable and their construction is based exclusively on ancient Greek texts and depictions on vases. 

Some of the exhibits are: Pythagoras’ monochord, helicon and syntone, which the great philosopher used in order to study musical scales and proved the mathematical relationships that define them, Hermes’ lyre, Apollo’s magnificent guitar, the pandoura (trichord), the renowned Homeric forminx and archaic guitar, Dionysus’ barbitus, Orpheus’ guitar, Sappho’s pektis (lyre), the triangle, the sambyke, Ptolemy’s helicon, etc. 

The inventions and musical instruments of the ancient Greeks will be on display in Pavilion 3 of the Exhibition centre and admission is free for holders of tickets to the 80th TIF event. 

31/08/2015 – 11:42

The Enchanted’ are here. They have returned to Thessaloniki, their birthplace, after 151 years. The replicas of the renowned ‘Enchanted’ are now at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, while preparations of the venue where they will be exhibited during the anniversary 80th TIF event – at no extra charge for visitors – is fully underway.

After 14 months of efforts, contacts and negotiations, TIF-HELEXPO managed to complete a very special mission: to welcome ‘The Enchanted’ to Thessaloniki, so as to offer them to the visitors to the 80th TIF event and the city.

The four sculptures, the so-called “Caryatids” of Thessaloniki, will decorate Pavilion 3; once an agreement has been reached with the State – in  cooperation with local bodies – the national exhibition agency will donate the sculptures to the city. ‘The Enchanted’ and their legend are an integral link of the history and glorious past of Thessaloniki in line with the city’s current prospects and the role it has been called upon to play. Against this background, TIF becomes the web connecting past and present, while mapping the future. 

Significant contributions to the success of TIF-HELEXPO’s efforts were those made by the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, while an active financial role in acquiring them was undertaken by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki Port Authority Company (THPA S.A.) and the Water and Sewerage of Thessaloniki SA (EYATH S.A.). 

The close relationship of TIF-HELEXPO with culture was underlined at today’s Press Conference by the company President, Mr. Tasos Tzikas, who explained that the exhibition agency had observed previous efforts to bring ‘The Enchanted’ back to town and wanted, in turn, to contribute to the ambitious venture. Besides, given last year’s high number of visitors to the 79th TIF event, the company was looking for a way to make this year’s anniversary event even more attractive. “The city is proving that when we all join forces, we can achieve great things”, the President stressed, referring to the partnership of the participating bodies/agencies in the efforts for this common goal. 

TIF-HELEXPO CEO Kyriakos Pozrikidis characterized this day as a moving occasion, stressing that the Fair is returning the people’s love as a “dividend of joy” for the city. He also added that the national exhibition agency maintains its tradition of cultural contribution, referring –indicatively- to Zongolopoulos’ sculpture at the Fair entrance, which is one of TIF-HELEXPO’s assets. “It has not been an easy process and it required incredible coordination between various bodies in Greece and abroad, but we made it”, noted Mr. Pozrikidis. 

The great satisfaction of the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Thessaloniki for the “birth” of an idea that has been “in gestation” for years, was expressed by the agency’s Deputy Head Stamatis Chondrogiannis. “This monument helps us connect the present, who we are today, with the city’s history”, he said, underlining that we are lucky the present TIF-HELEXPO Board made this vision come true. 

In turn, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, pointed out that the Fair has proven it is not just a commercial and financial event, but that it also supports cultural events illustrating how important it is to the city. He also expressed his joy that, at last, as he said, ‘The Enchanted’ have returned to Thessaloniki. 

Actions such as this promote small parts of our history, according to President and CEO of EYATH, Mr. Nikos Papadakis, who stressed that the company could not but support an effort to restore some of Thessaloniki’s glamour. 

On his part, the President of THPA S.A., Mr. Ioannis Pantis, announced that the port is “adopting” one of ‘The Enchanted’ and that when the company was asked for its financial support to the venture, there was not a moment of hesitation, while he characterized the return of the statues an event of significant importance. 

31/08/2015 – 11:54

The 80^th TIF is ‘firing on all cylinders’ as it enters the final stretch of its preparation  and hopes to highlight its anniversary character from 5 to 13 September 2015, including many surprises for its exhibitors and visitors.

The 80^th version of the largest and oldest exhibition institution in the country will showcase the innovation, extroversion initiatives and ceaseless efforts to boost the Greek economy and Greek enterprises.

The progress achieved by TIF in recent years is the best legacy for this year’s Fair, which includes a total of 14 thematic events covering every aspect of domestic production and entrepreneurship.

The agri-nutritional sector, energy, construction, new technologies and information technology are just some of the subjects of the thematic events.

The Chambers and Regions of the country, participating in the thematic event titled ‘Greece and Entrepreneurship’ will play a central role at the 80^th TIF.

The Chambers include dozens of enterprises under their ‘wing’, which will present their products and services.

At the same time, the 80^th TIF will be complemented by a rich entertainment programme, featuring concerts, musical events and spectacles that are certain to satisfy visitors of all ages.

During this year’s Fair, the Choco Factory & Museum will once again be in operation to welcome the young friends of TIF.

Children will also be the focus of the 3^rd Theatre Festival, to be held on an outdoors stage at the 80^th TIF; in fact, this year’s Festival will be a competition, with three monetary prizes.

Interested parties must fill out the special application form (available on the website

www.helexpo.gr) for the ‘Theatre Days…at TIF’ Festival by August 10 and send it to the e-mail address as@helexpo.gr

The Music Band Festival will continue accepting participants until this Saturday, 25 July 2015.

The Music Band Festival has become an institution and will give dozens of bands and young artists the opportunity to perform on the stage of the 80^th TIF (the application form can be found at the webpage:  http://tif.helexpo.gr/tif/el/MBF-form).

In this context, the 80^th TIF is setting a ‘date’ with the many hundreds of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors to take them on a journey to its colourful history and highly promising future.

24/07/2015 – 13:49

More than 200 artists, musicians, dancers, graffiti, comic or animation artists, visual artists and many others from every corner of the planet are going to meet on June 15 & 16 at the Street Art Festival (SAF), the largest youth festival of Thessaloniki and a major one in the Balkans.  For two days, at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, under the organizational care of the SAF and TIF-HELEXPO teams, this different type of festival is bringing the pulse of street art to the city, combining an explosive potpourri of live music, dance, visual art interventions, live graffiti and extreme sports in a climate of joy and creative fun. Youth and freedom of expression will paint the city alive and turn it into an incubator of ideas, a venue of socio-artistic fermentation.   

This is the third Street Art Festival and will include:   

• 24 hours of live music with an great line up: 12os Pithikos, Asteria tou Vorra, Rodes United, and the historical Active Member at the conclusion of their career, the American legends of Hip Hop Sick Jacken (Psycho Realm), Slaine (La Coka Nostra) and, finally, hip hop funkers Herbaliser Full Band, are some of the names to share the same stage, for the first time in Greece, at this year’s SAF.
• More than 50 graffiti/street artists, creating over 100 metres of wall, live.
• Seminars and workshops for comic book and sculpted figure, Animation, Beatmaking-DJ Scratching, Skate, Inline, and BMX fans.
• A unique presentation by the innovative 3D pen that has fired the imagination of anyone who has ever seen it! For the first time in Greece!
• Eight eminent dance teachers from Greece and abroad, offering seminars in voguing, waacking, new style, hip hop and dancehall.
• 11 outstanding dance groups to present their prize-winning choreographies in a unique live dance show.

At the two previous events, more than 40 world acclaimed artists, 30 of the freshest music groups of the country, fearless young fans of extreme sports and more than 15,000 visitors met, collaborated, and were moved by each other’s work. Moreover, world acclaimed, prize winning street dance schools from Greece brought the rhythm and pace of Las Vegas to the stage of the Street Art Festival.

Alexandros Marantelos is the Project Manager/Creative Director of the event. 

SAF tickets are sold in advance at the following sale points:

Tickethouse

Stereodisc

Underground (Navarinou Square)

Arthouse Gallery Bar

Thermaikos bar

Prodancers Studio

Academy of Dance

Asters Thessaloniki

Dancecool Studio

Small cafe Bar, Kalamaria

www.streetartfestivalthessaloniki.com

www.facebook.com/streetartfestivalthessaloniki

18/05/2015 – 13:12

The interest and love of the public for the 12th Thessaloniki International Book Fair (TIBF) exceeded all expectations. More specifically, this year’s event welcomed over 50,000 visitors from 7 to 10 May. During the weekend, Pavilions 13 and 15 of Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, where the 12th TIBF was deployed, were flooded by visitors, as the book-lovers of Thessaloniki explored new and older publications, received information on the latest developments in the publishing sector and attended over 280 parallel events.

This year’s Fair, which hosted approximately  400 exhibitors and 21 countries and provided a forum for 300 Greek and international authors, became a true ‘celebration’ of culture, achieving the goal initially set by the organisers, the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, TIF-Helexpo, Greek publishers and the City of Thessaloniki. The public embraced the event, supplying it with the best ammunition for the future.

Literature, poetry, science, politics, history, art, discussions, roundtables, workshops, seminars, colloquiums, showings, musical and dramatic events took centre stage and comprised a rich four-day period that covered all areas of interest.

There was great visitor response to the tribute to Ibero-American literature titled ‘Voices from Afar’, taking the public on a voyage to the literature of Spain, Portugal and South America, and to the 2nd Young Writers’ Festival. The ‘Books & Arts’ sections, presenting the relationship between books and music, design and cinema, was highly interesting, while our younger friends were attracted to the ‘Children’s and Adolescents’ Corner’. Visitor numbers at the events for the honoured authors of the 12th TIBF, Manolis Anagnostakis and Zissimos Lorentzatos, was also significant.

TIF-Helexpo will continue to fully support Thessaloniki International Book Fair and to ‘invest’ in culture.

12/05/2015 – 11:41

Sending the message that culture stands firm against the crisis, the 12th Thessaloniki International Book Fair (TIBF) is opening its gates at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre (Pavilions 13 and 15) from 7 to 10 May.

The four-day celebration of culture is boasting improved qualitative and quantitative features this year, hosting approximately 400 exhibitors and 21 countries, providing a forum for 300 Greek and international authors and including 280 events.

As announced during today’s Press Conference, this year’s programme is structured along four main thematic sections: the tribute to Ibero-American literature titled ‘Voices from Afar’, the 2nd Young Writers’ Festival, the ‘Books & Arts’ section and the ‘Children’s and Adolescents’ Corner’, featuring dozens of parallel events. The 12th TIBF is being organised by the Hellenic  Foundation for Culture in cooperation with TIF-Helexpo, the City of Thessaloniki and Greek publishers, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs.

The Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction (Macedonia-Thrace), Mrs Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, characterised Thessaloniki as a capital of arts and letters, noting that Greece has always been a crossroads of civilisations and continues to produce culture even today. “Books are the most important vehicle of culture”, she noted, expressing the government’s support for the Fair.

The President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, underlined the improved figures of this year’s event, noting how they prove that the Fair must continue on its dynamic course and remain a major cultural celebration for Thessaloniki. “The city must support the Fair and the goal is its further internationalisation”, he stressed.

According to the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Mr Yiannis Boutaris, “the message that the 12th Thessaloniki International Book Fair must express is that Greece is not just antiquity and Byzantium, but remains a centre of culture in the modern world”. In fact, the Mayor announced that the City of Thessaloniki will earmark funds for next year’s event in its budget.

The President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Mr Christodoulos Yiallouridis, stressed the importance of Thessaloniki International Book Fair as an expression of culture, particularly during these difficult economic circumstances. “Culture is our form of resistance against the crisis. It is our weapon. We stand strong and believe in the future”, he noted. In fact, underlining the international appeal of the Fair, he announced that Russia, participating with a national delegation for the first time, has expressed an interest in becoming the country of honour at a subsequent Fair.

Representing Greek publishers, Mr Nikos Karatzas expressed the fervent support of the Greek publishing sector for Thessaloniki International Book Fair, while stressing that the crisis has affected the book market and estimating that the rate of publication of new titles for 2015 will be significantly reduced.

“Our youth must fall in love with the Fair”, noted that Managing Director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, underlining that the event must offer free admission so that everyone can become acquainted with books.

The opening ceremony of the 12th TIBF will be held at Pavilion 15 on Thursday, 7 May, at 19.30.

For more detailed information on the full programme of the 12th TIBF, visit the website www.thessalonikibookfair.com.

06/05/2015 – 16:33

The first ‘Freskon’ International Exhibition on Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, held from 23 to 25 April at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, exceeded all expectations. The goal of TIF-Helexpo to promote ‘Freskon’ as a point of reference for the sector in the broader region of South-East Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean  was achieved. The total number of trade visitors that visited the event came to 4,155, of whom 600 were foreign, coming from over 36 countries around the world. In fact, they include the 120 hosted buyers invited by TIF-Helexpo. The number of exhibitors came to 200.

The ‘specific weight’ of foreign representatives was truly impressive, given the fact that the overall turnover of the foreign hosted buyers coming into contact with Greek exhibitors amounts to 3.2 billion Euros, which demonstrates the importance of the event and the ‘players’ it managed to attract. There were over 2,500 business meetings held, with numerous Greek exhibitors noting that they had never achieved contacts of this calibre before, even at sector exhibitions held in Germany.

These quantitative and qualitative figures underlined the role that Freskon was called upon to play as a strategic link between the Greek production of fresh fruit & vegetables and the international markets, major foreign retailers and supranational distribution networks. This first major event demonstrated the enormous prospects of Freskon in the best possible way. After this year’s valuable experience, the event will return even more dynamically in 2016.

The parallel events of ‘Freskon’ were also very successful and included a special section named ‘FreshCon Market’, where 18 top international retailing chains met with Greek exhibitors and explored fields of cooperation with each other. There was great interest in the International Cherry Congress, which attracted over 600 participants from around the world and achieved significant representation of all the cherry-producing countries of the Mediterranean. During the Congress, the international cherry market was mapped and focus was placed on the Greek cherry and its dynamism. In fact, according to expert estimates, this year’s season, which will begin in mid-May with the harvest of early varieties, is expected to be market by good production, increased in volume compared to last year.

Moreover, there was significant attendance at all the speeches made by representatives of the fresh fruit & vegetable sector, who focused on this dynamic sector of the Greek economy.

Consistent in its social role, TIF-Helexpo, supported by the exhibitors participating in ‘Freskon’, donated approximately 5 tonnes of fruit and vegetables used to decorate the exhibition premises to the charity organisation ‘The Smile of the Child’, thus adding a social character to this major commercial and financial event.

29/04/2015 – 11:51

The 1st Freskon, organised by TIF-Helexpo from 23 to 25 April at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, aims at highlighting Thessaloniki as a strategic ‘player’ in the sector of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The first international event on fruit and vegetables has managed to attract 198 exhibitors and over 200 trade visitors, of whom 120 are foreign hosted buyers invited by TIF-Helexpo from 21 countries, with over 2,500 business meetings having been scheduled. The exhibitors participating in Freskon cover a broad range of sectors relating to production, transportation, trading, equipment, packaging materials and services of the sector, and will come into contact with representatives of major international supermarket chains, commercial enterprises and distribution companies-networks.

During today’s Press Conference on Freskon, the Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction (Macedonia-Thrace), Ms Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, expressed her support for the endeavour undertaken by TIF-Helexpo. She underlined the importance of holding the new exhibition in Macedonia, a top producer of fruit and vegetables, and stressed that Freskon is paving the way for those who wish to become involved in primary production and proves that there are tremendous prospects for prosperity.

In turn, the President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, referred to the exhibition ‘gap’ that existed in the sector and was covered by Freskon, underlining that this new event aims at becoming truly international.

According to the CEO of the company, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, Freskon was the missing piece in the ‘puzzle’ of exhibition actions undertaken by TIF-Helexpo in regard to the primary sector (alongside Agrotica and Zootechnia). As he noted, Freskon is the only event in the sector held in the broader region of Southeast Europe, which makes the event all the more significant.

The selection of Thessaloniki as the host of Freskon was no accident, according to the editor of ‘Froutonea’ magazine, Mr Panayiotis Orfanos, who stated that Thessaloniki is a hub in the Balkans and the Southeast Mediterranean, as it is the starting point for the trade of fruit and vegetables. In fact, he stressed that the goal is for the city to become a strategic location for the sector.

The head of Freskon, Ms Tonia Nikolaidou, analysed the goals of this new exhibition for the growth of Greek exports and the international showcasing of the Greek brand name in the sector. The deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis, noted that this new event is a major vector of optimism for the prospects of Greek production and commerce.

The parallel events accompanying Freskon include two outstanding sections: On the one hand, there is FreshCon Market, which places the domestic fresh fruit and vegetable market under the ‘microscope’ of foreign retail chains, as proven by the participation of 18 major chains from the Balkans (Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, FYROM and Albania), Europe and Greece.

On the other, there is the International Cherry Congress, which will be held on Friday, 24 April, aiming, among other things, at accelerating the export penetration of Greek cherries into foreign markets. During the congress, the international cherry market, new technologies concerning cherry cultivation, projections for the new season in the main cherry-producing countries, the export prospects of the product and methods-proposals for better selling the product will be analysed.

Freskon will be inaugurated by the deputy Minister of Rural Development, Mr Evangelos Apostolou, on Thursday, 23 April, at 19.30, at Pavilion 15.

22/04/2015 – 15:55

TIF-Helexpo is planning to strengthen and further highlight the extroverted sector of foodstuffs, holding the 26th DETROP BOUTIQUE from 26 to 29 February 2016 concurrently with the 7th ARTOZYMA at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre.

The ARTOZYMA International Exhibition for Bakery, Confectionery, Machinery, Raw Materials, Equipment & Readymade Products is once again being held every two years in order to meet the increasing needs of domestic bakery and confectionery enterprises, so that they can open channels of cooperation with neighbouring Balkan countries.

ARTOZYMA will utilise the dynamism of DETROP, which was held concurrently with OENOS from 26 February to 1 March 2015 and achieved a 23% increase in the total number of visitors and a 40% increase in the number of foreign trade visitors. The DETROP-OENOS events are supported by agencies of the food-beverage sector, such as the Wine Producers’ Association of the Northern Greece Vineyard (ENOAVE) and the Association of Overseas Greek Food & Drinks Importers (SELETROPE).

In this framework and as was the case with DETROP, great emphasis will be placed on attracting foreign exhibitors and trade visitors, while the medium-term goal is for ARTOZYMA to become established as the largest exhibition of the sector in South-East Europe.

Thus, the exhibition duo of DETROP BOUTIQUE and ARTOZYMA, to be held in 2016, will cover the needs of developing trade relations and partnerships with enterprises both from the broader region and of the domestic market.

Furthermore, the two exhibitions will serve as gastronomic festivals for the city of Thessaloniki; for this purpose, the administration of TIF-Helexpo has already contact city agencies in order to organise a number of parallel events focusing on cooking, confectionery and baking.

ARTOZYMA will be held with the support of the Hellenic Federation of Bakers, Thessaloniki Bakers’ Union and Thessaloniki Guild of Shop Owners and Confectioners.

20/04/2015 – 10:47

TIF-Helexpo is ending February and welcoming March with three dynamic exhibitions in the food-beverage and the jewellery sectors, all of which are enjoying an increased scale.

From 26 February to 1 March, the ‘heart’ of food and beverages will be beating at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre through the 24th ‘Detrop’ International Exhibition of Food, Beverages, Machinery & Equipment and the 5th ‘Oenos’ International Wine Fair. This exhibition ‘duo’ managed to attract over 500 exhibitors and cover a net exhibition area of 7,665 sq.m. over seven pavilions. In the framework of the two events, TIF-Helexpo is implementing a ‘hosted buyers’ programme, with approximately 250 invited foreign trade visitors from over 30 countries and with over 3,000 pre-arranged business meetings. The participation of the Association of Overseas Greek Food & Drinks Importers (SELETROPE) with its member-enterprises is particularly important.

Another event will be held almost concurrently, from 28 February to 2 March, at Metropolitan Expo in Athens: ‘ELLINON KOSMIMA’, with its ‘shine’ reflected in the number of 280 participating exhibitors, as compared to 230 at the previous event, and the 25% increase in exhibition area, coming to 6,600 sq.m. The hosted buyers at ‘ELLINON KOSMIMA’, being co-organised with the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Silver- and Goldsmiths, Jewellers and Watchmakers (POVAKO), will come from eight countries (Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Tunisia).

Detrop and Oenos are accompanied by important events. The 15th Thessaloniki International Wine Competition, returning after many years to its ‘home’, the ‘heart’ of the Fair (the 1st International Competition of Distillates of Vine Origin is being held concurrently), will bring 600 wines and distillates from Greece and abroad to Thessaloniki to ‘wage battle’ against each other. The 9th International Cooking Competition of Southern Europe, co-organised in cooperation with the ‘Olympius Zeus’ Chefs’ Club of Northern Greece, will bring the international ‘cream’ of professional cooking to Thessaloniki, with 450 participants from 27 countries around the globe. Another noteworthy parallel event is the Pan-Hellenic Conference on Meat and Meat Products, with 120 speakers and 200 participants, and the colloquium on religious certification and exports of food and food ingredients. 

The President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, underlined the increased dynamism of the three exhibitions, placing great emphasis on their international character. In turn, the Managing Director of the national exhibition agency, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, noted that this ‘triptych’ of exhibitions enables Greek enterprises to present their products to buyers from important international markets, opening channels of communication and paving the way for agreements and commercial partnerships.

The President of SELETROPE, Mr Aristotelis Karvelas, referred to the value and quality of Greek products of the food-beverage sectors, stressing that they must be given the name they deserve. In fact, he noted that SELETROPE, which numbers 67 members and over 5,000 restaurant-clients abroad, has created the first Greek mark of quality in Greek Mediterranean gastronomy, which will be awarded in the framework of Detrop-Oenos.

The President of the Wine Producers’ Association of the Northern Greece Vineyard (ENOAVE), Mr Stelios Kechris, stated that this is the first time Oenos is welcoming such a large number of buyers, which is the substance of a Fair, and underlined the excellent price-quality ratio of Greek wine and its high level, recognised through major international distinctions. ENOAVE is participating in Oenos with 15 of its members.

The President of the ‘Olympius Zeus’ Chefs’ Club of Northern Greece, Mr Yiorgos Mastrodimitris, stressed the important contribution of TIF-Helexpo towards upgrading the 9th International Cooking Competition of Southern Europe, noting that participants in the competition are the best ‘ambassadors’ of Greek flavours and raw materials abroad.

The Continental Director for Africa and the Middle East of the World Association of Chefs Societies, Chef Thomas Gugler, noted the global character of the competition and the Detrop-Oenos exhibitions, stressing that it is very important that they do not focus solely on Greece and the European Union.

The Vice-President of the national exhibition agency, Mr Kostas Dimou, underlined the major contribution of the sector exhibitions organised by TIF-Helexpo to the local economy, beyond the sectors they represent, while the Deputy General Director, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis, stressed that all the exhibitions held from early 2015 to date have proved the dynamism of the company in organising major events.

Finally, the 2nd Vice-President of POVAKO, Mr Anastassios Kanakaris, identified a major improvement in the figures of ‘ELLINON KOSMIMA’, which numbered just 142 exhibitors when it began and has managed to increase this figure by more than 90% at present.

The Detrop and Oenos exhibitions, which will be inaugurated tomorrow, Thursday, 26 February, at 19.30 at Pavilion 16 by the Deputy Minister for Rural Development, Mr Panayiotis Sgouridis, are being held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform, and the Municipality of Thessaloniki, as well as numerous sector agencies, and with the support of numerous sponsors. ‘ELLINON KOSMIMA’ will be inaugurated on Saturday, 28 February, at 20.30 at Metropolitan Expo, by the Minister of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism, Mr Yiorgos Stathakis.

26/02/2015 – 13:54