The global economic crisis has not deterred exhibitors from wanting to participate in the bauma 2010 trade fair, with the organisers receiving more applications than ever, Messe München International (MMI) executive director of capital goods shows Katharina Hamma said on Wednesday.

The international trade fair for construction machinery, building material machinery, mining machinery, construction vehicles and construction equipment will be held in Munich, in Germany, in April next year.

Hamma noted that MMI has seen a strong interest from Asian countries, especially China and India, to participate in the event.

“For the next show, we [also] see great potential for attracting trade professionals [as visitors] from many overseas markets, especially from continents like Asia or Africa,” she added during a presentation in Johannesburg.

A number of new technologies for the mining and construction industries were likely to emerge at next year’s fair, given that many companies in the construction and mining equipment industries had focused their attention on research and development of new technologies during the global slowdown in demand for their products.

These would include energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly technologies, as well as technologies offering greater safety.

While sales and incoming orders in the construction equipment and building material machinery industry had dropped by 30% since the onset of the global economic crisis in the fourth quarter of 2008, the general demand for construction work worldwide remained high, stated bauma advisory board deputy chairperson Peter Jochums.

“We are convinced that our clients will start ordering again, as soon as the current recession is over and confidence in the markets, as well as in the banking sector, is re-eastablished,” he said.

Meanwhile, India has been chosen as the bauma 2010 partner region, a concept which is used to put the spotlight on growing or booming regions that were important to the mining and construction industries.

Jochums noted that India was a highly dynamic market, but had one of the lowest exposures to global trade, compared with other Asian countries.

The bauma organisers, MMI, were also planning to partner with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, in the US, to organise a joint-venture capital equipment show, a bauma Conexpo show, in Mumbai, in India, in February 2011.

The bauma China 2008 fair, which was also a new product being offered by MMI, had surpassed all expectations and had become the most important international show of its kind in China and Asia, said Hamma.

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