330 million Euro turnover in 2017, growing international business and a new digital strategy: Messe Düsseldorf is established as one of the five most profitable trade fair companies in Europe and. With the launch of the “Messe Düsseldorf 2030” strategy and entering an official partnership with the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (GESALO), the organization intensifies their efforts to contribute to Saudi Arabia’s reform program.
At a press conference on Tuesday organized by GESALO the Director of International Business, Dr. Clemens Schütte, presented the Messe Düsseldorf Group at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel. With 1,350,000 trade visitors and 28,700 exhibitors, Messe Düsseldorf is an international hub in various fields of the industry. “With regard to the exciting project of the Saudi Vision 2030, there is a multitude of different sectors in which Germany and in particular Messe Düsseldorf with its world-leading trade shows and new digitalization strategy ‘2030’ can play a leading role in exchanging knowledge and boosting trade business. We are glad, to find with GESALO the right partner to increase our efforts in the Kingdom,” remarked Dr. Schütte in Riyadh.
As a key fact, he mentioned that two thirds (90 out of 140) of the world‘s number one trade fairs are held in Germany – including 23 number one trade fairs in Düsseldorf alone. As one of the leading innovation drivers Messe Düsseldorf attracted 10,500 visitors from Saudi Arabia since 2015. More than half of those participated in the MEDICA World Forum for Medicine. In the view of the ongoing transformation of the Saudi healthcare sector, MEDICA provides exceptional insights into the latest developments in medical technology, electromedicine, hospital equipment, laboratory equipment, diagnostics, and physiotherapy.
The importance of a closer German-Saudi interchange not just in the healthcare sector was made clear by the following discussion: after outlining the Status Quo of the National Transformation Program 2020 by Dr. Khalid Alyahya, Board Member of the National Center for Strategic Development in Saudi Arabia for KPMG, the Saudi Export Program (SEP) was explained by Mr. Ziyad Alsabbaly from the Saudi Export Program (SEP). Together with the following presentation by Mr. Mohamed Almaajal (Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry) about small and medium-sized enterprises, the expositions provided a fruitful basis for the subsequent discussion on further points of contact between the German-Saudi economy.
“Especially SMEs can benefit extraordinarily by a continuous exchange with the German economy and especially with German trade fairs. Innovation is an essential factor for a successful implementation of the economic reforms, whether as an impulse for creating new jobs or exploitation of new market potentials,” highlighted Oliver Oehms (Delegate of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen) in his concluding statement.