SMM Istanbul picking up speed

The new shipbuilding fair SMM Istanbul has already made quite a splash in the international shipbuilding and equipment supply industries. As Peter Hoggett, Sales Manager Lincoln Diesels Spares Ltd., remarks, “both exhibitors and visitors to SMM Hamburg will acknowledge the ‘SMM’ brand name as the maritime industry leader. We are convinced that the organisation’s past and proven professionalism will be transferred to this new and exciting event and the SMM Istanbul will be a triumph!”
Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC) and the local partner Goca Fuar Kongre ve Sergi Hizmetleri Ltd.Þti (Goca Exhibitions) will organise this new shipbuilding event for the first time from 21 to 23 January 2009, at the centrally located fair site Lütfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC), on the European side of Istanbul.
“We are already getting a lively flow of applications from internationally active companies for the SMM Istanbul,” says SMM Project Director Peter Bergleiter. The companies registered and prospects are mostly also participants in the world’s premier shipbuilding fair SMM in Hamburg in September 2008, and expect the same high level of professionalism and service at the new “SMM” branded maritime trade fair in Istanbul that they know from the Hamburg event.
The new SMM Istanbul
is very well accepted by the shipbuilding industry in Turkey, as shown by the lively participation by Turkish companies in the SMM 2008 to be held in Hamburg from 23 to 36 September. The Hamburg event includes exhibits from this bridging region between Europe and the Near East, on about 1000 square metres of exhibition space, half of these in the Turkish pavilion. That is the largest Turkish contingent so far at the world’s leading industry fair SMM in Hamburg. It shows how short the distance has become between Hamburg and Istanbul.
These good relations are also confirmed by the expectations for the new SMM Istanbul, as formulated by the Turkish shipyards. “The situation speaks for itself,” says Melis Üçüncü, Sales Manager Ereğli Shipyard. “We are proud of the fact that the SMM has chosen Istanbul for its first foreign event. It shows Turkey’s status as a shipbuilding and shipping centre. We have no doubt about the fact that this event will be a complete success.” And Timur Nakkaş, Strategic Planning Manager Soli Shipyard, comments that “Assessing the SMM Hamburg on a ten-point scale, you would definitely give it a nine. There is no other shipbuilding fair in the world that can get anywhere near that. We have very high expectations of the SMM Istanbul and are convinced that we will get valuable new customers particularly from the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions.”
Mohammad Souri, Chairman and Managing Director NITC (National Iranian Tanker Company) likewise welcomes the new shipbuilding fair. “I would like to express my greatest appreciation to the organisers of SMM Istanbul, Goca Exhibitions and Hamburg Messe. SMM Istanbul is of highest importance for our region and will have a great impact on the development of the region’s maritime industry.”
The SMM Istanbul will make the ICEC a magnet for the maritime industries of the whole region from 21 to 23 January 2009. Alongside the Turkish companies, European shipbuilding and international maritime equipment suppliers will also be well represented at the Bosporus. National pavilions have been announced for Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway. The exhibition will comprise the same range of products and services as the flagship SMM in Hamburg. The Istanbul event, with about one third international exhibitors, will display the whole range of maritime products, technologies and processes, all intelligently structured in the way that is familiar to SMM visitors. Istanbul also brings theory and practice close together, as in Hamburg. SeaBusses are provided to take visitors to the Turkish shipbuilding centre in just over half an hour, to see for themselves what Turkish shipyards can do.
The exhibition site is on the European side of Istanbul, with a view to the Bosporus. The ICEC is closely linked with the city centre, with excellent infrastructure. All the big international hotels and the tourist sights are just a few minutes away.
The SMM Istanbul will be accompanied by a high-calibre conference, focusing on subjects such as the expanding Turkish shipbuilding industry. In terms of professionalism, service and quality, the SMM Istanbul will mirror the SMM Hamburg, the number one shipbuilding fair.