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26 January 2016
The 26th and best-ever Agrotica begins!
The 26th Agrotica, open at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre from January 28 to 31 will be the best in the history of the institution. This year's event achieved a record number of participations, with over 1,500 exhibitors, as compared to 1,349 exhibitors at the 2014 Agrotica, and covers an exhibition area of 34,000 square metres, as compared to 30,929 square metres at the previous event. Additionally, this year's Agrotica will be welcoming a record number of countries represented by exhibitors, with a total of 41, as compared to 35 in 2014. The number of foreign exhibitors came to 882, as compared to 817 at the previous event.
The national exhibition agency has also invited and is hosting hosted buyers from Cyprus, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt and Serbia, who will attend B2B meetings.
The 26th International Fair for Agricultural Machinery, Equipment & Supplies will be inaugurated by the Minister of Rural Development & Food, Mr Vangelis Apostolou, on Thursday, 28 January, at 19.00 at 'I. Vellidis' Congress Centre.
The President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, underlined the international character of this year's Agrotica during today's Press Conference, referring to a multi-event that, apart from the exhibition element, includes numerous events spearheaded by the 6th Pan-Hellenic Conference on the fruit & vegetable sector. In reference to the farmer demonstrations underway, he noted that farmers love and support Agrotica because it is their Fair.
According to the CEO of the national exhibition agency, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, Agrotica is among the top five agricultural exhibitions in Europe; adding a dimension of scale to the dimensions of this year's Fair, Mr Pozrikidis added characteristically: "There is not even attic space left vacant at the exhibition centre".
The Machinery Importers' - Representatives' Association (SEAM) is participating in this year's Agrotica with over 12,000 square metres of exhibition space and a massive presence, against the flow of the crisis, as noted by the President of the Association, Mr Savvas Balouktsis, who explained that the Association is participating in order to present new machinery, support the Fair and bring enterprises in touch with their customers. Asked about the status of the sector, he noted that in 2015, the drop in agricultural machinery sales and particularly tractors was 18% and estimated that it would exceed 30% in 2016.
In turn, the Greek Association of Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery (EKAGEM), participating with 89 direct exhibitors and over 300 indirect exhibitors, is covering over 8,000 square metres of exhibition space, according to its Vice-President, Mr Andreas Koutsokostas, who invited farmers to visit the Fair, the only one for the agricultural sector.
The Vice-President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Lazaros Lazaridis, noted that Agrotica would be at the epicentre of the country's agricultural life over the next few days and wished good sales to the exhibitors. Finally, the Project Manager of Agrotica, Mr Vassilis Spirou, noted that the agricultural supplies sector has returned and is participating almost in its entirety, with the presence of large multinational companies that had not attended the Fair in a long time.
Numerous associations, organisations and agencies are participating in this year's Agrotica. Apart from the competent Ministry of Rural Development & Food, participants include EKAGEM and SEAM, which are supporters of the Fair, the Pan-Hellenic Union of Young Farmers, the Hellenic Fertilizer Association, the Farmers' Union, the Agricultural Association of Macedonia and others.
At this year's Agrotica, there will be free parking for the entire duration of the Fair at OLTH (Thessaloniki Port Authority) premises; this will be extended during the weekend to within AUTH (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
This year's Fair is being held under the auspices of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction (Macedonia-Thrace).