UFI 78th CongressOpen to UFI members onlyValencia (Spain)Wednesday 9 - Saturday 12 November 2011 Hosted by UCF - UFI Global CEO Forum 2012By invitation onlyIstanbul (Turkey) Wednesday 1 - Friday 3 February 2012Hosted byUFI Open Seminar in AsiaOpen to all exhibition professionalsShenzhen (China) Thursday 23 - Friday 24 February 2012Hosted byUFI Open Seminar/Expo Summit AfricaOpen to all exhibition professionalsCape Town (South Africa) Thursday 15 - Friday 16 March 2012Hosted byUFI Operations Focus MeetingOpen to all exhibition professionalsUtrecht (The Netherlands) Thursday 26 April 2012Hosted byUFI ICT Focus MeetingOpen to all exhibition professionalsUtrecht (The Netherlands) Friday 27 April 2012Hosted byUpcoming UFI events 2011-2012Join us at these quality UFI eventsUFI Headquarters17, rue Louise Michel92300 Levallois-PerretFranceT: +33 1 46 39 75 00F: +33 1 46 39 75 01Email: info@ufi .orgwww.ufi .orgUFI Asia/Pacifi c Regional Offi ce1101 Wilson House19-27 Wyndham StreetCentral, Hong Kong, ChinaT: +812 2525 6129F: +812 2525 6171Email: asia@ufi .orgUFI Middle East/Africa Regional Offi ceInternational Fairs Ground6th Ring Road Motor-HighwayMishref, KuwaitT: +965 2538 2542F: +965 2539 6316Email: mea@ufi .orgUFI - The Global Association of the Exhibition IndustryFor more information and online registration: www.ufi .org

COUNTRY PROFILEwww.exhibition-world.net Issue 8 | 201151FIRA DE BARCELONASIZE: 315,000sqmLOCATION: BarcelonaCONTACT: President - Josep Luis Bonet+34 902 233 200Avenida Reina Maria CristinaVENUE INFORMATION:Fira de Barcelona, which was offi cially founded in 1932, is of major strategic importance for the Catalan and Spanish economy as a platform for commercial promotion and international exposure of companies. It provides one of Spain's largest meeting and exchange halls for a range of different economic and social sectors. The venue is divided into two exhibition centres: Montjuïc (165,000sqm) and Gran Via (240,000sqm).FERIA DE MADRID (IFEMA)SIZE: 200,000sqmLOCATION: MadridCONTACT: CEO - Luis Eduardo Cortes+34 91 722 58 26Avenida del PartenónVENUE INFORMATION:IFEMA is the Trade Fair Institution of Madrid, tasked with projecting the international image of the city. Feria de Madrid offers 12 halls and three convention and congress centres. Among the facilities at Feria de Madrid are a Business Centre, a Press Club, 14,000 parking spaces, fi nancial and service organisations and almost a hundred meeting rooms, at which IFEMA provides its exhibitors and visitors with all the equipment, services and spaces they need to optimise business.BILBAO EXHIBITION CENTRESIZE: 150,000sqmLOCATION: BilbaoCONTACT: CEO - Jose Miguel Corres+34 94 40 40 000Barakaldo, BizkaiaVENUE INFORMATION:With its open plan layout and maximum clearance of 18m, space at the BEC is distributed between six pillarless halls. The 18,000sqm congress centre is designed for conventions, seminars, presentations, celebrations and gala dinners. The complex is supplemented by other facilities such as the Bizkaia Arena, a multi-purpose arena that can be turned into a theatre seating over 10,000, a sports hall seating 18,000, a cinema for 13,000 and concert hall.FERIA VALENCIASIZE: 230,000sqmLOCATION: ValenciaCONTACT: President - Alberto Catala+34 902 747 330 Avenida de las FeriasVENUE INFORMATION:Feria Valencia is one of the largest trade fair venues with eight multi-purpose halls, meeting rooms, conference rooms and 68,000sqm for parking. Feria Valencia is just fi ve kilometres to the northeast of the city centre of Valencia and fi ve minutes from the city's international airport (in Manises). It is also served by regular bus, tram and underground lines which connect the fairground with the city. The venue also organises its own conventions and congresses."Germany doesn't care about Spain's debt," says Argandoña. "Their politicians aren't interested so long as we remain able to repay what we owe. We still have no help from anyone and if we do, it will be only to ensure that we can keep making repayments to our creditors. We can only help ourselves. And it's the involvement of foreign industry and export business that can help us."This is where, for both Spanish trade and the exhibition and trade fair industry, the story takes a lighter turn. Our industry is built around facilitating foreign investment and export. Argandoña's reference to Spain's need to take full responsibility for dragging itself out of the red is pertinent. With its ongoing economic diffi culties, wealth of beautiful cities and modern facilities, the exhibition industry is hugely important to Spain. Exhibitions are crucial tools in fomenting and beckoning foreign investment and fuelling the export market. In light of domestic reluctance to spend, perhaps the launch of innovative now shows such as Smart City (see column, page 48), which will bring a new breed of investor to Spain, and the launch of overseas exhibitions such as Fira de Barcelona's Construmat and Hostelco, will pave the way for wholescale industry growth.The aggressive promotion of Spain's leading exhibitions such as food and beverage (F&B) event Alimentaria (a joint venture with Reed Exhibitions) will also do much to help. The F&B industry accounts for 15 per cent of Spain's GDP and 17 per cent of employment, so fl ying that fl ag, and those of Spain's other major industries, could have a far-reaching effect for Spain's economy. Spain's top 5 exhibitions according to the AOF 1 Alimentaria, Barcelona (Food and beverage)2 BieMH, Bilbao(Machine tools)3 Fitur, Madrid(Travel and tourism)4 Habitat, Valencia(Furniture and interiors)5 Smopyc, Zaragoza(Construction)