Proma 2004 validates their status as professional fair
A total of 8.638 people visited the international fair of the environment, Proma 2004, which took place in the premises of Bilbao exhibition Centre from 9 to 12 November. With this figure, which maintains the level of participation in the previous edition of the contest, Proma confirms its recognition among professionals in the field of the environment, thus validating their status as trade show aimed at industry and main meeting point for companies products and services.
Proma 2004 diversified the source of visitors with a decline in the relative weight of the Basque Autonomous Community as a whole, from 66 to 63 per cent, which led to the increase in the presence of professionals of other autonomous communities in the State.
In regards to international participation, the number of foreign visitors was a great leap in qualitative and quantitative, foreign representation on the set was of 8 per cent, thanks to the presence of 49 countries. For the first time in the history of the professional competitions, the presence of Latin American visitors was almost similar to the European, which was around 3.6 percent. This result was the result of the strategy developed by BEC and Aclima aiming to achieve a regular presence of Latin American representatives in the contest.
Countries that increased number of visitors brought to Proma 2004 were France, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Portugal, Italy, Brazil and Mexico.
International meeting Forum
Delegations of institutions, entities and companies related to the supply of products, equipment and environmental services from a set of 11 countries participated in the initiative through interviews concerted in order to establish partnerships for the development of common strategies for actiontechnology transfer and trade promotion.
The meetings, which led in 2003 to the Constitution of the Federation Ibero-American of the environment (Fima) by associations of undertakings concerned in promoting the sector in its area of influence by means of coordinated actions, were the setting for the holding of its second Assemblyin which the number of partners was expanded following the inclusion of Brazil and Venezuela.
Proma 2004 new technical meetings organized by the Institute for the sustainability of the Spanish Recursos-Club of the waste (ISR-CER) and the cluster of industries of the environment of Euskadi (Aclima) joined its fourteenth edition, such as "I Convention Iberian on the recycling" and the "(I) Forum on sustainable energy"-respectively, in collaboration with the own Bilbao Exhibition Centre-, which opened new avenues for discussion.
The connection between scientists and creators of new technologies and entrepreneurs, and investors had a specific platform in 2004 in the so-called "Fitec area" Proma. In it, the Fundació Catalana per a Recerca (FCR) showed the new lines of research and products in the sector of energy and the environment, by combining the exhibition with a classroom for the presentation of a total of 30 scientific-technological projectswhere universities, technology transfer offices and research centers put within the reach of companies their progress in r & d, in order to activate possible business ideas or innovative initiatives.
Likewise, the interrelationship between the business world and research as ultimate goal marked the celebration of the "fourth technology transfer encounters" in Bilbao, this time expanded its scope offering, as well as the conclusion of interviews, presentations of technologies transfer being approved by the Organizing Committee.