During the recent staging of Meditech 2018, International Health Fair, in Bogota, Colombia, Messe Düsseldorf and Corferias, the International Business and Exhibition Center of Bogota, signed an agreement to jointly organize Meditech, one of the most important health sector trade fairs in Latin America. Accordingly, Messe Düsseldorf–through its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf North America (Chicago)–acquires a 50 percent share in Meditech and becomes involved in organizing the event. Messe Düsseldorf is renowned as the organizer of MEDICA, the world’s No.1 international trade fair for the healthcare industry held annually in Düsseldorf, Germany with more than 5,000 exhibitors from 66 countries. With this agreement, Messe Düsseldorf welcomes Meditech into its MEDICAlliance trade fair portfolio. Messe Düsseldorf’s expertise in organizing medical trade fairs around the world together with its extensive global network of sales offices and subsidiaries in 138 countries will benefit future Meditech stagings.
“Colombia is one of the fastest growing markets for medical technology in Spanish-speaking Latin America and Meditech is one of the most important health fairs here,” says Horst Giesen, global portfolio director health & medical technologies at Messe Düsseldorf. “It is strategically important for us to show our commitment in this market with the MEDICAlliance flag.” The volume of the Colombian market for medical technology amounts to about $1.3 billion and is expected to grow by 20 percent by 2019 with an import quota of 80 percent (source: gtai).
The partnership between Messe Düsseldorf and Corferias will help Meditech in its efforts to become the leading health sector trade fair in Latin America. Due to the new alliance, Corferias plans to increase the participation of international exhibitors in Meditech from 40 percent to 60 percent. Roberto Vergara, international business director of Corferias, explains, “Messe Düsseldorf is one of the most important international trade fair organizers. The signing of the alliance helps us to position Meditech more internationally in Latin America and to attract many more exhibitors with an interest in this emerging market.” Of the 300 exhibitors at Meditech 2018, 40 percent were international companies. “Increased participation by international exhibitors at Meditech will make the event even more interesting for trade visitors in the future,” adds Vergara.
Tom Mitchell, president of Messe Düsseldorf North America, says, “We are very pleased to be part of this alliance. Messe Düsseldorf is one of the largest trade fair organizers in the world and we have achieved this because we work with good partners. In this case we have found an excellent partner in Corferias.” He adds that Colombia is very important for their clients. “South America is a place we actively focus on and this alliance helps us. The cooperation has been excellent. We look forward to the next edition of Meditech in 2020, where we will have a greater involvement.”
Meditech takes place every two years in Bogota. At the recent edition of Meditech in July 2018, more than 10,000 trade visitors attended to learn about the medical innovations presented by 300 exhibitors from Colombia, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Republic of Korea, Spain, the U.S., France, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and Uruguay. With these results, Meditech confirmed its status as one of the most important health trade fairs. Overall, business worth about $ 2.8 million is expected to be generated by the tradeshow.
The exhibits were complemented by the XIII International Congress of Hospitals and Clinics conference organized by the Colombian Association of Hospitals and Clinics (ACHC) as well as the First Symposium of Successful Solutions, the V International Dental Congress and the Health Forum.
For more info about Meditech 2020, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; or visit www.feriameditech.com, www.mdna.com, or http://twitter.com/Medical_MDNA
