FIME showcases innovative offerings on the world’s key market for the industry In cooperation with the US-based trade fair FIME, Messe Düsseldorf is providing German and European medical industry companies with a gateway to the USA as well as Latin America in the form of a trade fair set to run from 12 to 14 August 2009. FIME is staged annually in Miami Beach, Florida, and spotlights an innovative, high-calibre range of devices and services for all specialist fields of medical technology.

FIME showcases innovative offerings on the world’s key market for the industry

In cooperation with the US-based trade fair FIME, Messe Düsseldorf is providing German and European medical industry companies with a gateway to the USA as well as Latin America in the form of a trade fair set to run from 12 to 14 August 2009. FIME is staged annually in Miami Beach, Florida, and spotlights an innovative, high-calibre range of devices and services for all specialist fields of medical technology.

For years now, the USA has been viewed as the primary market for medical technology. The German industry exported some 22 percent of its production to North America in 2007 alone. This makes the USA by far the most important market for German businesses. Another interesting point to note: The American medical profession attaches great importance to the latest cutting-edge technologies. As a result, half of annual sales are so far accounted for by products which have been on the market for two years or less. According to Spectaris, the German Industry Association for Optical, Medical and Mechatronical Technologies, the USA accounts for half of global sales in medical technology, also due to demographic changes.

Medical technology has for many years been regarded as one of the most innovative sectors of the German economy; doctors from all corners of the world opt for high-tech products made in Germany. The Federal Republic is second only to the USA as the leading supplier to this industry and accounts for 15 percent of global trade. In terms of sales, German medical technology has ranked third worldwide after the USA and Japan in previous years. Overall, the export quota of German manufacturers of medical technology came to over 64 percent in 2007.

Also in view of the trade fair’s venue on the densely populated east coast of the US, the cooperation with FIME ensures excellent prospects for exhibiting companies. What’s more, the Miami Beach event serves not only as a launch pad into the US but also the highly promising Central and South American markets. Forty percent of visitors to FIME 2008 arrived from this region, with particularly strong turnouts from Venezuela, Mexico und Colombia.

In contrast to many other US-based medical trade fairs, FIME presents a wide palette of exhibits. As this spectrum is not limited to a handful of specialisations, a visit to FIME proves highly efficient for international experts – something attendees greatly appreciate. A survey of the more than 24,000 visitors to the August 2008 staging revealed a large number of decision makers in their ranks. Just under half of them were CEOs, managing directors or business owners. The priorities they listed were the high-calibre offerings in the areas of disposable products, diagnostic devices, laboratory equipment, medical services, biomedical and pharmaceutical items, equipment for casualty, rehabilitation and orthopaedic products as well as nursing.

As is the tradition at American trade fairs, the high-quality offerings of international exhibitors at FIME are rounded out by an extensive and stimulating seminar and congress programme. For more information on the subject, go to: www.edufime.com.

In Messe Düsseldorf, potential European exhibitors have an expert partner with decades of experience in activities conducted around the world. The trade fair company has 66 foreign representative offices serving a total of 117 countries across the globe. Messe Düsseldorf coordinates the MEDICAL FAIR brand of events staged in Brno, Bangkok, Singapore, New Delhi, and Sydney in addition to partnering ZDRAVOOKHRANENIYE Moscow, CHINA MED Beijing as well as HOPITALAR São Paulo. It also organises MEDICA, which attracted more than 4,300 exhibitors and just short of 137,000 visitors in 2008, REHACARE, International Trade Fair and Congress Rehabilitation, Care, Prevention, Integration, with its more than 700 exhibitors and 52,000 visitors, as well as A + A, International Trade Fair with Congress and Special Events Safety, Security and Health at Work with its 1,449 exhibitors and 55,000 visitors.

Companies interested in participating can find further information online at www.medica.de and www.fimeshow.com. Alternatively, they can contact Stephan Küppers at Messe Düsseldorf directly at KueppersS@messe-duesseldorf.de or +49 (0)211 4560-7715.

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