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NOVEMBER 2013 PRESS INFORMATION

MIDEST 2013: AN EXCELLENT VINTAGE

Despite a sluggish overall economic situation, bad weather in eastern and central France and protests by farmers, MIDEST, the world’s leading industrial subcontracting show, which ran for the 43 rd time from 19th to 22nd November at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, was a real success. On opening it matched the previous year’s show in terms of the number of exhibitors (1,702 companies from 38 countries) and exhibition space but it then went on to attract 42,101 professionals from all sectors of industry, which was an increase of 7% on 2012. Not only were the numbers up but the visitors were highly qualified and came with plans for actual business projects. The numerous events and initiatives reached out to a broad public, including, as they did, the show’s focus on energy, the choice of its first non-European country of the year, South Africa, the special Algerian day, the promotion of mechanical engineering trades to young girls by the FIM (mechanical engineering federation) and the b2fair– Business to Fairs® business meetings.

MIDEST 2013: excellent visitor numbers and high quality contacts

Against the background of a crisis that keeps dragging on, the success of an event such as MIDEST reflects a definite improvement in the level of industrial output, the vigour of subcontractors and the motivation of their professional and institutional representatives in bringing them together and promoting their know-how. As a result, MIDEST 2013 attracted 1,702 subcontractors from 38 countries. Broken down in greater detail, although French subcontracting continues to be the mainstay of the show and accounts for 60% of its exhibitors (1,023 companies), it suffered a 5% fall compared with the year before. This, however, was offset by strong growth in the foreign presence, further reinforcing the international role and reach of the show, which is something that the organizers have put a great deal of effort into building up over recent years. In total, the international partners of MIDEST brought 679 companies to the show, which was an increase of 11%. They were drawn from 37 countries and a score of these had official pavilions in the joint venture sector. The visitor figures were also very good, since, despite the less than favourable economic situation, the bad weather and the farmers blocking some of the roads leading to Paris on the Thursday, numbers were up by 7% on 2012. 42,101 professionals came to the show, many with specific plans for projects, and 15% of them were from outside France. 85 countries were represented amongst the visitors, with the top five in descending order being Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland. MIDEST also attracted a great deal of media attention, with 113 journalists from 7 countries being accredited over its four days. Alongside MIDEST, MAINTENANCE EXPO presented industrial maintenance products and services and featured a wide range of CAMM packages, aids and diagnostics tools. The synergy with TOLEXPO, the international exhibition of equipment for working metal in sheets, reels, tubes and profiles, made it possible for manufacturers to meet their leading partners in one and the same place.

Africa to the fore and successful events

MIDEST 2013 enjoyed a whole series of highlights These included, the selection of South Africa as the show’s first non-European country of the year. Its presence was coordinated by the DTI (Department of Trade & Industry), which brought together 21 exhibitors from the other side of the globe. There were also lectures, interviews in the show’s TV studio, a special day and the official opening of the 2013 show by Mrs Ncapayi, the Deputy Director General of the DTI. The African continent really was centre stage at the show. A special day was devoted to Algeria, which is currently undergoing rapid industrial development, and large numbers attended a series of lectures devoted to it. Another new initiative was the tour organized on 21st November by the FIM (the mechanical engineering federation), the CETIM and several of its member associations together with the Elles bougent association to promote mechanical engineering trades to young girls. The MIDEST 2013 Awards were presented to nine exhibitors for their excellence in various different fields: Euro-Shelter and Stas in the Design office category, Walter Pack in the Innovation category, Era-Sib in the International category, As’Bois in the Organization category, Baron Groupe and Groupe Safran in the Partnership – Alliance category, ECL SAS and Eladis in the Model implementations category. The Jury also made a Special Award to Department TC C3SI of the IUT Reims – Châlons – Charleville for its training course.For the third year in a row the b2fair – Business to Fairs® business meetings were held in conjunction with the show and generated 876 qualified, individually set up meetings between subcontractors and/or customers looking to forge partnerships in a specific sector. The organization was also responsible for the TV studio, which invited big names from industry and subcontracting attending the show in for a total of 35 interviews. All of these can now be viewed on www.midest.com. MIDEST was also the venue for some sixty lectures providing an overview of the latest developments in the sector as a whole and energy in particular, which was an area the 2013 show focused on. A total of more than 600 people attended these lectures and the CETIM (mechanical engineering technical centre) flash conferences. The Technology Centres drew on the expertise of the latter to provide visitors with valuable information about innovative techniques and processes. Finally, the show also provided a platform for the presentation of the forthcoming MIDEST MAROC, THE industry event in Morocco, which will take place in Casablanca from 11 th to 14th December, and which will be split into six major sectors: subcontracting, machine tools, sheet metal, electronics, plastics and services.

Next year’s MIDEST and MAINTENANCE EXPO will run from 4th to 7th November.

Show press pack and photos on request from: Christophe DUPREZ

Reed Expositions France - 52-54 quai de Dion Bouton – CS 80001 92806 PUTEAUX CEDEX

Tel.: + 33 (0)1 47 56 21 57 - Fax: + 33 (0)1 47 56 21 40 christophe.duprez@reedexpo.fr