TRADE FAIRS

electronica 2020 to be held digitally

10-13 November 2020, Munich

Messe München is organizing the world’s leading trade fair and conference for electronics as a virtual event this year. The current travel restrictions in Europe, which are becoming more stringent, have required rethinking the planning. The digital format for electronica in November will give exhibitors the opportunity to book digital trade fair booths; in addition, electronica virtual will provide all customers with other ways to interact and network. A large portion of the conference and supporting programme will also be available digitally. New developments related to the coronavirus pandemic prompted Messe München’s decision to hold electronica as a virtual event this year. Given the travel restrictions that have been imposed by a large number of visitor and exhibitor countries, electronica would have lost its character as a worldleading trade fair if it had been held as an in-person event in November. The virtual format of electronica will provide the electronics industry with a platform for global industry discussions in November. Its opportunities will include virtual trade fair booths, which will enable exhibitors to continue to communicate with their international customers and to sell them on their products and solutions. The virtual event will be complemented by a digital conference and supporting programme. Individual conversations and panel discussions on trend topics such as the automotive industry, embedded systems, IIoT, 5G, medical electronics and smart energy will be available online.

More details on electronica are available at https://electronica.de/en/. For further information, please contact GTCC’s official representative for Messe München GmbH in Thailand,

Ms. Patamaporn Wasuwat, by tel: +66 2 055 0641 or by e-mail at muenchen@gtcc.org.

International Green Week 2021 to take place as a B2B event

January 2021, Berlin

The International Green Week is to take place in January 2021 as an exclusive B2B event without the general public. The reason for this change is the coronavirus pandemic.

Since 1926 the IGW has been a one-of-a-kind international exhibition of the food, agriculture and gardening industries. IGW, which originates from the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), is where more than 80 international ministries and food producers meet – their displays reveal the fascinating world of the food and beverage industries.

IGW has always been very important as an industry event that brings together highranking players from the food and farming industries – whether at its many symposiums, specialist seminars, conferences and discussion forums or at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), where international ministers, institutions and non-governmental organisations in particular exchange views on the pressing issues concerning the world‘s food supplies.

The German Farmers’ Union (DBV) and the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE), the non-commercial sponsors of the event, as well as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture are currently working on the concept and topics of the 86th International Green Week. GFFA, which is organized by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), will take place from 18 to 22 January 2021 in digital form. The slogan will be “Pandemics and climate change: How to feed the world”.

Messe Berlin is also establishing a safety and hygiene concept that takes the latest developments into account and is being coordinated with the relevant public health authorities.

More information about International Green Week can be found at https://www.gruenewoche. de/en/ or by contacting GTCC’s official representative for Messe Berlin GmbH in Thailand, Ms. Patamaporn Wasuwat, by tel: +66 2 055 0641 or by e-mail at berlin@gtcc.org.

DOMOTEX 2021: Postpones from January to May 2021 and develops digital presentation formats

20-22 May 2021, Hannover

Although two-thirds of the DOMOTEX 2021 exhibition space – about 62,000 square metres – had already been booked and a comprehensive hygiene concept had been developed to comply with COVID-19 safety regulations, Deutsche Messe AG has decided to postpone the event to 20-22 May 2021. The show was originally scheduled to take place from 15 to 18 January 2021. The reasons for the postponement are based on the latest developments regarding the worldwide rampant COVID-19 pandemic as well as the fact that clients, exhibitors and visitors have asked for DOMOTEX to be held at a later date. DOMOTEX is now planning a digital conference to take place on 15 January 2021, the show’s original start date.

The wide international reach and the high calibre of visitors, such as top decision makers, are considered to be among the core benefits of DOMOTEX, the leading trade show for carpets and floor coverings. In January 2020, 70 per cent of visitors to DOMOTEX came from abroad and more than 80 per cent of the exhibitors represented more than 60 countries. As every year, the flooring industry came together in Hannover. However, the latest development of the COVID-19 pandemic is a rise in infection rates again everywhere. Many countries have introduced strict travel and quarantine regulations, and it is impossible to predict how long these regulations will be in place. There is also a general hesitation to travel abroad and it is not foreseeable as to when people will feel safe to travel again. On the positive side, there is the prospect that a vaccine may be available by the end of this year.

It has also become clear from the many discussions held with stakeholders that there is a need for complementary digital formats in order to respond to the rapidly rising number of online channels in the flooring industry and to establish an international, neutral platform under the name of DOMOTEX. Therefore, DOMOTEX 2021 will take place from Thursday to Saturday, 20-22 May) as a hybrid event – a physcal show complemented by virtual formats. Visitors who, for differing reasons, will not be able to travel in May, will thus at least have an option to participate digitally. For exhibitors, the hybrid format also guarantees the wide international reach for which DOMOTEX is known – physically, in the exhibition halls, and digitally, using new presentation formats to generate an even wider reach.

The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, as the official representative for Deutsche Messe in Thailand, is ready to provide additional information and to answer inquiries regarding DOMOTEX 2021 by tel: 66 2-055-0643 or by e-mail at services@gtcc.org.