888 companies, representing the most relevant sectors related to manufacturing processes, will showcase their latest innovations at the 2011 Industry and Technology Summit, which will take place from 27 to 30 September, at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. Halls 1 and 3 will host, during four days, the products and services of companies from France, Portugal, Italy Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, China and Spain, among other countries, thus conforming the most important industrial event in the year.

In addition, the new services offered to the participants and a complete and dynamic parallel programme of activities and technical meetings complete this edition of the Industry and Technology Summit. The event seeks to be the best business centre for machinery and technology purveyors, subcontractors and equipment manufacturers.

The inaugural speech of the Industry and Technology Summit will be read by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Basque Government, Bernabe Unda, on Tuesday, 27 September, at 12:30 hours. For the first time ever, this edition will include the "Country of Honour" figure, a role that has been awarded to France, due to our fluid and intense trade commercial relationships, the French Ambassador to Spain, Mr. Bruno Delaye; and the Czech Ambassador, Mr. Karel Beran, whose country is also represented in the event, shall visit the Summit that day.

Here, French leading companies shall present diverse industrial products, including the Fandango Helicopter; and over one hundred contractors of the aerospace, automotive, and railway industry, etc. shall attend the Summit to establish business relationships with domestic exhibitors, who are prospect subcontractors.

The multi-sectoral and interrelated nature of the Summit will allow the visitors to access a unique space, containing all the areas of interest for their production activities, while offering the exhibitor the chance to contact a large number of strategic manufacturers.

This year, the industrial subcontracting area will be represented by 75% of the exhibiting companies, automation will account for 14%, while foundry, forging, lamination and surface treatment (Trasmet) will account for 11% of the total exhibit.

A significant part of the Summit's participating companies in 2011, specifically 30%, are from abroad, which will provide a horizon with a larger and more interesting commercial exchange. Out of this 30%, 81% are from Europe, while the other 19% will come from outside our continent.

In 2011, the Summit will have a new space dedicated to a Guest of Honour Country. This first year the organisation has appointed France, which was selected by the organisation because of the large business volume it generates in the domestic market. Therefore, French companies will become one of the main exhibiting groups and foreign visitors of this edition thanks to the work developed by Ubifrance, the Chambers of Commerce, French Industry Associations, the Consulate of Bilbao, ICEX and BEC!.

The efforts to coordinate a French delegation of purchasers and contractors are going smoothly and over 100 have already confirmed their interest in visiting the Summit to seek new purveyors. These delegations primarily belong to the aeronautics and aerospace industry, in addition to professional manufacturers of machinery for the railway, wind and solar power and the automotive industry.

The opportunities offered by the French market will be analysed in several conferences and round tables, such as "The French demand for industrial subcontracting", "Industrial subcontracting from 2012 to 2020" or "How to enter and consolidate your business in the French market", inviting participants to analyse and debate these topics. This special programme will also include the celebration of the "Day of France", which will take place on the third day of the event, and the organisation of interview schedules to include all the participants.

2011 will mark the 30th anniversary of "Subcontratación", which is the only international trade fair devoted to this specialisation in our country. During this time, the event has striven to give due response to the industrial subcontracting sector by providing an efficient tool for SMEs to promote their activities and the exchange of technical and commercial information.

To reinforce this goal, the 15th edition of the Trade Fair will have two very outstanding features: the area of new projects and the contractor/subcontractor booked interviews.

The new projects area will offer manufacturers, from industries that are not usually involved in subcontracting, the possibility of presenting their novelties in the exhibit. This way, subcontractors can know, first-hand, the needs and goals of the manufacturers in the most innovative fields. Participation of the BHR Fandango helicopter, the Argolabe-Del Valle Aguayo wind turbine and the Hiriko electric car has been confirmed.

For the current edition of the Summit, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre has made available new special services to promote their participation at the event, maximising profitability. With this goal in mind, the work in this area has been supplemented with different tools, such as the design and launch of mailings or the special organised visits programme, etc. The organised visits programme will follow an agenda of pre-scheduled interviews, which has a great added value and is managed by the event's organisation team, using the list of companies and buyers provided by the exhibiting company. To date, over 400 meetings of this sort have been requested.

Likewise, a special savings service has been implemented for exhibitors and visitors, including accommodation, meals and parking.

As part of the organisation's strategy to secure high-level representatives, the event organisers have coordinated the international buyers / contractors delegations. Thanks to this programme, nearly a hundred professionals from France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, UK, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden will visit.

To these figures we must add the 8,500 professionals that have requested the visitors pass to attend the Industry Summit, which will grant them access to the exhibit's Halls.

Our clear commitment to respond to the current demand and address its challenges, the Summit will offer a programme of technical meetings and parallel activities.

Specifically, the "Mechanised SME Day", organised by ASPROMEC (The Professional Association for Competitive Machining); a meeting on sectoral Diversification and new business opportunities for subcontractors, organised by the Council of Chambers.

A meeting on "Internationalisation Promotion Programmes" shall be led by the ICEX. ATEG, Asociación Técnica Española de Galvanización (the Spanish Technical Galvanisation Association), shall hold a meeting titled: "Galvanised steel as the key element in the future multi-sector industry".

The "VII International Foundry Technical Forum", organised by TABIRA Foundry Institute and the Azterlan Metallurgical Technical Centre, will also be held. And the subcontractors' meeting with Czech companies.

On the other hand, the I Conference on Innovation and Development of the Railway Sector, organised by MAFEX and the Bilbao Metro, will be held. This event will feature key speakers of this industry, who will read conferences such as "R&D&... &I. Internationalisation as the key element in the maintenance of traditional sectors"; "Efficiency and energy recovery: Sustainability and profitability"; "Automating lines and command posts"; "The value of Design: technology and innovation at your clients' service".

Siderex, Spanish Association of Steelworks Exporters, will hold the meeting named: "The future of Steelmaking. Opportunities for Basque Companies".

This seminar pursues a twofold goal: on one hand it seeks to present Siderex, Spanish Association of Steelworks Exporters of the Basque Country to the sector, as a model to improve business competitiveness through cooperative action and, secondly, to create a space for exchange of views on the future of the steel industry and the business opportunities that can be generated.

The European Adhesive Engineer is the main theme of the conference organised by the European Welding Federation (EWF), an organisation that brings together Welding Institutes and Associations of 30 countries. The conference is about providing a basis for regulating to train the staff linked to achieving adhesive bonds.

Finally, CESOL, the Spanish Welding Association will present "The EN 15085 standard. Certification of manufacturers of railway vehicles", where they will expound on the importance of welding to manufacture railway vehicles.

The Industry and Technology Summit is a high added-value business forum that aims to be a practical platform for the direct relationship between contractors and buyers, targeting three main areas of industry professionals in Subcontracting, Automation, Machinery, and supplies for foundry, forging, lamination and surface treatment.

The Industry and Technology Summit will be inaugurated by the Councillor for Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Basque Government, Bernabe Unda, on Tuesday, 27 September, at 12:30 hours.