PRESS RELEASE ZOOTECHNIA EXHBITION

The market and enterprises are sending positive messages to the 9th 'Zootechnia' International Fair, which will be held, with major qualitative and quantitative upgrades, from 29 January to 1 February 2015 at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre.

With 'Zootechnia', TIF-Helexpo dynamically enters a new year that is filled with new exhibitions and great emphasis placed by the national exhibition agency on extroversion and international partnerships.

As underlined by the President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, the financial result for the national exhibition agency in 2014 will be very satisfactory, stressing that this is an important step towards operational profitability.

"Our great challenge henceforth is the internationalisation and extroversion of TIF-Helexpo through partnerships and new products", stressed Mr Tzikas.

Referring to 'Zootechnia', Mr Tzikas spoke of a very encouraging start to the new year, as most exhibitors participating in this event (537 out of a total of 849) come either directly or indirectly from abroad.

(From left to right, the Managing Director of TIF – HELEXPO,  Mr. Kiriakos Pozrikidis, the President, Mr. Anastasios Tzikas, the deputy general manager, Mr. Alexis Tsaxirlis, and the Project Manager of Zootechnia, Mr. Vasilis Spirou.)

In turn, the CEO of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, focused on the fact that 'Zootechnia', the only specialised livestock exhibition in Greece and the Balkans, attracts a large number of visitors from Southeast Europe.

"We already know that delegations of hosted buyers from neighbouring countries, where an extensive advertising campaign was held, will be visiting the Fair. At the same time, Zootechnia will welcome hosted buyers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Cyprus, Lebanon and FYROM, who will exclusively meet with exhibitors", underlined Mr Pozrikidis.

All major domestic livestock-poultry enterprises will also be present at 'Zootechnia' to present the latest developments in the sector, from important animal breeds to machinery, services and research. In total, 849 exhibitors will be participating in this year's event, as compared to 578 at Zootechnia 2013, while this year's exhibition area covers 9 pavilions (80% of Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre) and 12,938 m2, as compared to 9,600 m2 at the last event. Foreign exhibition participants, both direct and indirect via representatives, hail from a total of 37 countries.

The deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis, noted that by early March, TIF-Helexpo will also organise the Energy Tech, Infacoma, Detrop-Oenos and Ellinon Kosmima exhibitions, which are very important for the company as a whole.

The project manager of 'Zootechnia' spoke about the upcoming event, noting that despite the harsh economic conditions and the poor state of the market, exhibitors trust this important event for the primary sector.

All the agencies that play a role in agricultural production and development will be present at the Fair, including the Ministry of Rural Development & Food, Product Control and Certification Organisations, the Hellenic Veterinary Association, the Pan-Hellenic Association of Young Farmers, the Greek Association of Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery (EKAGEM), the Technological Education Institute (TEI) of Thessaloniki-Animal Production Sector, the University of Thessaly and the Laboratory of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Zootechnia will also feature an extensive programme of parallel events, the most outstanding of which is the colloquium on rebooting goat breeding and commencing donkey breeding, as well as the presentation of a model vertically integrated unit focusing on this object.

The agencies organising these events are TIF-Helexpo, the Laboratory of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Agricultural Livestock Co-operative of Volos-Skopelos goat breed and the companies WESTFALIA Technologies, EUROCO SA and SOSTAR.

At the same time, issues concerning aquatic production and aquaculture will be analysed at a colloquium co-organised by the University of Thessaly and TIF-Helexpo.

The parallel events also include the 5th Pet Festival, bringing the public closer to the world of domestic pets, and the impressive Horse Show.

The parallel events will also feature the 5th Pan-Hellenic Animal Production Technology Conference and a colloquium on Greek buffalo.

The opening hours of 'Zootechnia' are from 10.00 to 19.00 on weekdays and Sunday, 1 February, and from 10.00 to 20.00 on Saturday, 31 January.

'Zootechnia' is being held under the auspices of the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace and the Greek Association of Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery, the Hellenic Feed Industry Association and the Machinery Importers' – Representatives' Association.

The National Bank of Greece is the Official Bank, Egnatia Odos is a Supporter and Skyserv is the Sponsor.