Presentations
          
        
        
          8 | 9
        
        
          â
        
        
          Such congresses as VM World Europe, SAP,
        
        
          HP ETSS Winter and Summer and HP Discover
        
        
          and Microsoft TechEd and Convergence in
        
        
          technology; EWEA in wind power; and the
        
        
          congresses of the European Cardiology Society
        
        
          and Pfizer in the biomedical industry reflect the
        
        
          success of the decided commitment to attract
        
        
          events of the highest standing, and which drew
        
        
          around 100,000 professionals to the Fira de
        
        
          Barcelona site in 2014.
        
        
          Increased international presence
        
        
          In 2014, Fira de Barcelona hosted 62 shows
        
        
          and congresses and more than 60 corporate,
        
        
          commercial and sporting events at its
        
        
          Montjuïc and Gran Via venues. Besides the
        
        
          aforementioned shows, other fairs organised
        
        
          included the Smart  City Expo World Congress,
        
        
          the Boat Show, Hostelco, Expoquimia,
        
        
          Barcelona Bridal Week, Tourism, Bizbarcelona,
        
        
          Seafood Expo Southern Europe, EIBTM,
        
        
          Seatrade Med and Passenger Terminal Expo,
        
        
          amongst others.
        
        
          These results encourage Fira de Barcelona
        
        
          to maintain the same philosophy and the same
        
        
          strategic line and to continue to focus efforts
        
        
          on a combination of financial sustainability and
        
        
          the generation of economic activity, both in the
        
        
          territory and internationally. Year after year, the
        
        
          institution strengthens its international presence
        
        
          from a dual perspective: attracting important
        
        
          Year after year, Fira de
        
        
          Barcelona strengthens its
        
        
          international presence from
        
        
          a dual perspective: attracting
        
        
          important events, and
        
        
          "exporting" to other countries
        
        
          and international meetings
        
        
          with a view to creating ever
        
        
          greater opportunities for
        
        
          our businesses abroad
        
        
          events, and "exporting" to other countries
        
        
          and international meetings with a view
        
        
          to creating ever greater opportunities for
        
        
          our businesses abroad.
        
        
          In 2015, Fira de Barcelona plans new
        
        
          initiatives abroad, such as the organisation
        
        
          of new shows in Qatar, the Smart City Expo
        
        
          in Kyoto and Montreal, and the Forum Santé,
        
        
          also in Montreal.
        
        
          Moreover, in 2015 Fira de Barcelona will
        
        
          also host such outstanding major international
        
        
          trade fairs as the Mobile World Congress, the
        
        
          Motor Show, Hispack (coinciding with Barcelona
        
        
          Tecnologies de l’Alimentació), Graphispag,
        
        
          Piscina Barcelona, Beyond Building Barcelona–
        
        
          Construmat, Pharmaprocess, Barcelona
        
        
          Degusta, IBTM World and Tissue World.
        
        
          All these are examples illustrating how Fira
        
        
          de Barcelona serves companies, the economy,
        
        
          the city and the country, whilst also providing
        
        
          an international platform to promote economic
        
        
          sectors in Barcelona and Catalonia. As the
        
        
          organisation’s president, Josep Lluís Bonet,
        
        
          always stresses, Fira is one of Barcelona’s main
        
        
          economic drivers and one of the most powerful
        
        
          platforms we have to show the world our city’s
        
        
          assets and attract investment.
        
        
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