"We are confident of reaching around the same number of exhibitors as in the boom year of 2008," stated Wolfram von Fritsch, Chairman of the Deutsche Messe Managing Board, on Thursday in Hannover. Two years ago more than 4,800 companies exhibited at Hannover Messe. "Exhibitors are telling us that they prefer to rely on the original, i.e. on HANNOVER MESSE, in times of crisis." Von Fritsch noted however that there was an increasing trend towards registering at the last minute. A little over three weeks before opening day of the event, more than 4,600 enterprises from 63 nations had registered, occupying display space of over 152,000 square meters.
Italy is the official "Partner Country" for the world's leading technology exhibition. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian President Silvio Berlusconi will be opening the exhibition on Sunday, 18 April at 6:00 p.m. in the Hannover Congress Center. For many years now Italy has been one of the main exhibiting nations at HANNOVER MESSE. The main Italian pavilion will occupy more than 1,600 square meters of display space in Hall 6. This pavilion is being organized by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE). 300 Italian enterprises will occupy a total display area of 8,197 square meters.
