Presentations
5
You now hold in your hands the 2015 Report on the
activities of Fira de Barcelona. In writing this saluta-
tion for the first time, as Minister for Business and
Knowledge, I should like to express my recognition
and congratulations to the management and workers
who make Fira a success story for an entire country.
2015 was a year of clear economic recovery, with
all aspects of the economy evolving in a positive
way and growth prospects increasing. However,
there is still a long way to go before we can say that
social consequences of the recession have been left
behind.
Greater added value
Overcoming the economic crisis will require trans-
forming the model for growth that prevailed before
the onset of the recession. To this end, we need
to construct a model that is capable of generating
greater added value, one that is inserted in the con-
text of a global economy. A model that adopts and
promotes intensive use of the new technologies and
innovation and helps to generate higher quality, more
stable jobs.
Any approach to constructing such a model
would consider internationalisation and innovation
as the main challenges to our economy, and Fira de
Barcelona is a key institution in the process of inter-
nationalisation and driving innovation and knowledge
transfer. Fira is a platform that helps our businesses
to open up to the world and position themselves in a
global market.
In 2015, Fira de Barcelona became more firmly
established as a driver our economy and the institu-
tion sets an example with its process of change and
transformation. The commitment to internationalisa-
tion, innovation and promoting ICT is clearly reflected
in the trade fair activity. Today, we have new shows
that have become cornerstones in the institution’s
activity and have allowed us to position ourselves in
the world as a leading country and city for fairs and
congresses.
Challenges and opportunities
The transformation of Fira also reflects the transfor-
mation that our economy is undergoing as it em-
braces the challenges and opportunities posed by
the adoption of new technologies, a process in which
events like the MWC, the Smart City Expo and the
new IoT Solutions World Congress give us a glimpse
of a veritable new industrial revolution, known as
Industry 4.0.
Catalonia is a country with long-standing industrial
traditions; we have a diversified business system and
a generally-shared view that we need to promote
industry as the main driver for our growth model.
An innovative industry, open to the world is the best
guarantee of a fairer society, and Fira de Barcelona
plays an important role in this process of giving
renewed impetus to industry. Fira provides a meeting
point for companies and professionals from all over
the world, making Barcelona and Catalonia, during
the time that the different events take place, a global
reference for the different sectors concerned with
business – enabling Catalan companies to project
themselves internationally – knowledge and the dis-
semination of innovation.
The success of a whole country
Jordi Baiget i Cantons
Minister of Business and Knowledge
of the Government of Catalonia
and First Vice President of the General Council
of Fira de Barcelona
