During its meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, the Board of Directors for UFI, the association of the world’s leading tradeshow organizers and exhibition center operators, elected a president for 2017. Andreas Gruchow of Deutsche Messe AG will serve for the 2016/2017 term.
The next UFI Presidential Trio will comprise of Sergey Alexeev of ExpoForum-International Ltd., Russian Federation as President 2015-2016; Andreas Gruchow as Incoming President; and Andrés Lopez-Valderrama of Corferias, Colombia as Outgoing President.
This decision becomes effective at the conclusion of the 82nd UFI Annual Congress to be held in Milan from Nov. 4-7 for the 2015/2016 term of office. Gruchow, a member of the UFI Executive Committee since 2011, has proved to be a major force within this committee, and has been very much involved in helping to drive the overall strategy of the association.
As UFI Incoming President, Gruchow will work closely with the UFI President and Outgoing President as part of the Presidential Trio, managing the association at the highest level and making important decisions for the benefit of all the members of UFI.
Andrés Lopez-Valderrama, current UFI President, welcomed the election of Gruchow.
“Andreas represents one of the world’s leading trade fair organizations and has played a very full and energetic role in his position as a member of UFI’s Executive Committee,” he said. “We are all convinced that he will carry over this enthusiasm into his future Presidency of UFI in 2017 and, in the meantime, will provide great support to Sergey Alexeev during his Presidency next year. I look forward to working with both of them.”
Gruchow acknowledged the importance of this new role.
“I am delighted to have been elected as the 2017 UFI President. The UFI Board of Directors and all the members of UFI can rely on me to do my utmost to take UFI even further than where we are today,” he stated. “I am 100 percent dedicated to our global network of UFI and invested in UFI, and in our industry. UFI has a unique global position in the industry and is well-positioned to address the key issues affecting our members all over the world.”
Since April 2008, Dr. Andreas Gruchow has been a member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe in Hannover. He is responsible for all global activities, i.e. all exhibitions and events outside Germany, the abroad subsidiaries, worldwide representatives, global alliances and co-operations. Gruchow is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre SNIEC in Pudong, China. Additionally, he is responsible for all CeMAT events in Hannover and abroad, for EMO and for all B2C events of Deutsche Messe / Fachausstellungen Heckmann.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of UFI since 2008 and also a member of the Executive Committee of UFI since 2011. Gruchow is also a Member of the Board of EMECA since 2008 as well as Vice President EU Relations from 2011 to 2012, President from January 2013 to December 2014, and since then has served as Vice President Treasurer.
As the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, UFI’s main goal is to represent, promote and support the business interests of its members and the exhibition industry. UFI represents over 650 member organizations in 83 countries around the world.
See related article
UFI names incoming managing director
