New Delhi : NürnbergMesse, one of the 20 largest exhibition companies in the world and among the top 10 in Europe today announced the inception of its India operations.  The India operation, NürnbergMesse India Pvt would focus on the requirements of the local market as well as expertise in a growing number of event themes.

NürnbergMesse  also announced the appointment of  Ms. Sonia Prashar as the CEO of NürnbergMesse India Pvt Ltd. Ms. Parashar was presently looking after Indian projects of NürnbergMesse as its Director Marketing & Trade Fairs at Indo German chambers of Commerce (IGCC).

Speaking at the press conference,  CEOs of the NürnbergMesse Group, Dr. Roland Fleck and Peter Ottmann said, “The portfolio of specialist Indian events and pavilion contracts already existing at the start is to be extended, and the flow of exhibitors and visitors from India to Europe, America and Asia and vice versa is to be made easier.”

NürnbergMesse has been active in India for more than 20 years. Its first contract was for a pavilion for German companies at the Agrotech exhibition in Chandigarh in 1992. The company has cooperated with the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) as its representative in India since 1992. A new phase of collaboration with IGCC on a project basis for individual events started in 2009.

In January this year, NürnbergMesse together with the German publisher Vincentz Network confirmed the purchase of a share in India’s biggest coatings exhibition, Paintindia. Just in time for the official opening of NürnbergMesse India, the company has won contract to organize India’s largest air conditioning exhibition, Acrex India. “Being awarded the contract for three years in succession is really new and we are very grateful for the trust shown by ISHRAE, the association that owns the exhibition,” says Prashar.

Growth sectors like the automotive, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, information technology, mechanical engineering, medical technology, biotechnology, electrical engineering or food processing generate their demand mainly from the Indian tendency to consumption and investment

According to figures from AUMA, the Ausstellungs- und Messeausschuss der deutschen Wirtschaft (Association of the German Trade Fair Industry), India with 2,832 exhibitors still clearly lagged behind China with 9,482 exhibitors in the international ranking of exhibitors at events in Germany in 2011. “However,  in terms of the other BRIC countries – Brazil with 622 and Russia with 880 exhibitors – this is already a promising basis for the future,” sums up Dr. Roland Fleck.

“One the most recognized German exhibition companies in the world and the largest German Chamber of Foreign Trade join forces in the growth market India in order to exploit the exceptional opportunities together. The exhibition expertise of NürnbergMesse and the chamber’s local network and know-how – a classic win-win situation,” said Bernhard Steinrücke, Director General of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.

Giving further details of NürnbergMesse’s operation in India Parashar informed that, “NürnbergMesse is present in India with a number of its own events, and fensterbau/frontale india and Powder & Bulk Solids India have joined BioFach India over the past years.” And the portfolio is still growing: In January this year, NürnbergMesse together with the German publisher Vincentz Network confirmed the purchase of a share in India’s biggest coatings exhibition, Paintindia.

The Nürnberg Company’s portfolio contains various themes suitable for setting up and developing relevant exhibition networks in India. The aim in the Indian market is to purchase events and develop the company’s own events to establish a broad portfolio of events that correspond to the worldwide exhibition families of the NürnbergMesse Group and the international subsidiaries in China, Brazil and North America. “This means that our decision and approach do not rely on rapid, apparent success, but on sound expansion,” the Group CEOs Ottmann and Fleck declare in unison.

This is backed by an ambitious growth programme, as NürnbergMesse wants to generate an annual revenue of 400 million US dollars (300 million euros) by 2020, of which international revenue is to contribute 70 to 80 million US dollars (50 million euros). The group is aiming for a position near the world’s top ten – so the Indian exhibition subsidiary in New Delhi should not remain the newest for long