Players in the printing and publishing industry from the Philippines are being invited to join the drupa 2012 in Dusseldorf, Germany in May next year.

With 1,953 exhibitors from 53 countries and more than 174,000 square metres of space sold -- these are the key figures for the 2008 edition -- it is not only the biggest trade fair in its sector, it is also by far the most international one. 64 percent of the exhibitors, that's 1,250 companies come from outside Germany.  Whether they be big global players, small firms with a regional scope, leaders in their segment or start-ups, drupa in Dusseldorf offers all of them the basis for their business.

But drupa's truly global character is best reflected in the internationality of its visitors.  The 230,000 international visitors at drupa 2008 came from a total of 138 countries -- not to forget the 160,000 from Germany. 

Manuel Matare, director drupa 2012, said this key figure of 59 percent international visitors, is in fact a vital indicator.

"Cautious optimism prevails along with the general anticipatory mood.  As we move into this upswing, drupa comes at just the right time. drupa is not just the pacemaker and growth engine of the industry.  It is more than that.  It is -- as all industry experts will agree, the heart of the global print media industry," Matare said.

From the Philippines, more than 1,000 visi tors made their way to drupa 2008 -- that's the highest score over the last four drupa trade fairs. 

Matare said 78 percent of visitors to drupa 2008 were decision-makers.  With more than 1,800 exhibitors and an occupied space of some 170,000 square metres, drupa 2012 will again be filled to capacity.  All 19 halls of the exhibition centre are fully booked.

Providers of digital solutions will be accorded even more prominence than they were at drupa 2008:  Hall 4 has been allocated as a further exhibition area dedicated to this segment.  Prepress and premedia are now located in Halls 8a, 8b, 4, 5, 9 and parts of 10.

Companies such as AgfaGevaert, Canon/Oce, Kodak, Epson, Fujifilm, Hewlett Packard, Konica, Minolta, Ricoh, Screen and Xerox can be found here.

Some exhibitors have considerably expanded their participations. Kolbus for example has almost doubled its exhibition space.  As industry experts, this will not come as a surprise to you.  The trend towards digital printing has opened up a highly interesting and vigorous market for converters and bookbinders.

Further pillars of drupa 2012 include Halls 1 and 2 -- Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG with its networking partners such as Polar Mohr Gallus and others.  Hall 3 -- Printing and related materials and services (e.g. Leonhard Kurz, Sakurai), Halls 15 to 17 -- Printing machines and postpress (e.g. Cerrutti Ferag AG Koenig Bauer AG, Korber PaperLink, Kolbus GmbH Co. KG, Windmoller Holscher KG); Hall 6 -- PrintCity with manroland and other exhibitors (including Wohlenberg, Sun Chemical) Halls 9 to 12 -- Paper converting and packaging materials production (e.g. Bobst AG, Mitsubishi Paper, Comexi); Halls 12 to 14 -- Postpress (e.g. Horizon Miiller Martini, CP Bourg).

Source: Malaya; Business; 20 September 2011