The Spanish Machine-Tool Exhibition – BIEMH, will reach next year its 26^th edition with a firm objective: to provide businesses with a solid support to encourage development and an effective tool with international scope.

Likewise, companies and professionals taking part in the trade fair, which will be held from 31 May to 5 June at Bilbao Exhibition Centre, will profit from a highly professional atmosphere perfectly adapted to their commercial needs in which business deals optimisation is encouraged.

Undoubtedly, this will be a key strategic line in next BIEMH edition in 2010 that Bilbao Exhibition Centre recently launched in Milan during EMO celebration, the reference machine-tool fair worldwide.

In the corresponding press conference, representatives of both organising entities - Mr. Jose Miguel Corres, Managing Director of Bilbao Exhibition Centre, and Mr. Koldo Arandia, President of the Spanish Association of Machine-Tool Manufacturers – officially presented the event in front of an international audience made up of professionals from business, associations and specialised media.

Furthermore, the current situation of the Spanish machine-tool sector was also dealt with in the act, in which data collected by AFM were provided. Bilbao Exhibition Centre actively collaborates with this organisation as evidenced by their joint attendance to the fair held in Italy, together with many other Basque companies.

The sales team of BIEMH started thoroughly working before the beginning of summer to guarantee a successful and profitable attendance of exhibiting clients to the trade show. It particularly encourages close collaboration through an open commercial strategy with a nearby spirit scheme: "let us know your needs and we will set them in motion".

For this purpose, it makes all its resources available to companies by offering a customised management in service and commercial areas that evaluates and settles each business’ needs and seeks the best formula to meet them.

Some measures already approved in the current campaign confirm the economic and commercial support provided by the trade fair. Firstly, space hiring prices remain the same as last edition’s and, moreover, additional benefits dependent on the hired volume have been considered. Some other extra available advantages concern to preferential reservations on certain registration periods, easy payment terms and special packs for stand decoration.

Regarding promotion, different initiatives for wide dissemination of exhibiting firms' activities (new products, values...) are under development. For instance, the design and delivery of exclusive mailings encouraging the attendance of exhibiting firms and related products to the trade show, the inclusion of the name of the company, activity details and web link in BEC’s official mailings, the on-line catalogue (new this year) or the management of invitations to VIP purchasers specifically requested by companies contribute to this wide offer, further completed with many other ongoing activities.

Beyond these specific items, the BIEMH has other values gathered with time that endorse its position as a must in Europe. Its extensive exhibiting path, starting in 1961, its increasing evolution and its consolidated international scope have placed BIEMH in a prominent position. The European Cooperation Committee for Machine Tool Industries – CECIMO’s acknowledgement is a clear proof of that.

Thanks to this preferential position, reference countries in machine-tool issues (Italy, Germany, Switzerland…), new/emerging markets with wide potential (Taiwan, China, Czech Republic, India, Russia…) and leading brands annually take part in the BIEMH exhibition. The sector-based support provided by associations such as AWEX, GAIA, AER, ASCAD, AEFTOP, Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan, etc. and led by AFM, together with AMT, is crucial to assemble this high-tech international window showcasing innovation and development in all machine-tool related sub-sectors.

The 2008 edition was an excellent example of this ability to summon: the event was attended by 50,712 trade visitors and recorded a significant increase in foreign visitors (10.4%) representing 66 countries, which reinforced its international renown. It was the response of professional visitors to an event with the widest exhibiting offer ever known: a total of 1,761 exhibiting firms, 57% of them from abroad, distributed in 788 stands. The quality of the BIEMH as a business centre corroborated by leading manufacturers and purchasers worldwide was unquestionable.

The BIEMH 2010 exhibitor-raising campaign started in June.

Its scope of action involves 46 markets worldwide, particularly focusing on Germany, Korea, Denmark, United States, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey this time.

The sectors involved in next edition will again address machine-tool (metal cutting and metal forming), other machines (welding, oxycut, surface treatment), machine tooling, parts, components and accessories, production systems automation, metrology and quality control and services. The preliminary preferential hiring deadline will end by next 30 November.

Every two years, the BIEMH opens its doors to thousands of professional visitors from most relevant machine-tool related industrial sectors worldwide. The presence of foreign commercial delegations comprising customers from all around the world mostly represented by managing directors, business owners and sales managers is particularly relevant. This highly valuable strategic community clearly encourages business deals within the Exhibition.

These and other focus actions constitute the campaign for professional visitors that started in October with a target of 70,000 potential clients, both domestic and international.

For the 2010 edition, strategic target countries mainly include India, China, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Algeria, Libya and United Arab Emirates, apart from European ones. Furthermore, other countries may also be tackled.

Moreover, at the beginning of next year the exhibition sales team will travel to Asian and Latin American countries for specific promotion campaigns.

All these efforts will mainly focus on professional visitors from the following sectors: automotive, aeronautics, wind power, railway, moulding, oil valves, construction machinery and iron and steel industry.

Communications Department, 8^th October 2009