How can trade fairs fulfil their traditional role as international bridge builders in times of geopolitically fragmented markets? Annika Klar, who now coordinates Deutsche Messe's international business from Hanover after her successful time as Country Director in Turkey, wants to contribute to an intensive dialogue across markets with new formats at foreign trade fairs. China is and remains very relevant for us, she says.
by Annika Klar || Senior Vice President New and Global Business Development, Deutsche Messe AG || 12 February 2025
Annika Klar, you coordinate Deutsche Messe's diverse international activities at a time of major global economic challenges. What are your most important objectives?
As an exhibition organiser, we have to focus on the questions of our customers, especially today: What do they need and where do they need what kind of support in which market? How are these markets changing for our customers? How can we provide them with the best possible support and open up new opportunities for them? For us, this means providing our customers with stability and continuity in these extraordinary times. However they reorganise themselves, wherever they need new contacts - we advise and support them.
What are the topics that you consider central to all of Deutsche Messe's international platforms?
One of the top issues on all our platforms is indeed the global economic change - from global open trade to increasing protectionism - where companies are finding it more difficult to anticipate crises, keep their business stable and remain reliable themselves.
The second major global topic is, of course, artificial intelligence. How it is changing production and enabling new business models is being discussed on all of our platforms.
And the third megatopic remains energy efficiency and sustainability. The EU's Green Deal, transparency and sustainability in supply chains - these are also important for internationally active companies that are not yet familiar with such guidelines in their national markets.
New services that complement traditional space sales are a topic of the future for every exhibition organiser. What do you see as new services that are also in demand internationally?
The aim is to make these major topics more tangible. Conferences and knowledge transfer are becoming increasingly important. This means bringing the right people together all over the world, addressing the major challenges and discussing new business models with customers. Intermediate conferences are also an opportunity worldwide, where we can offer premium partners new participation formats and promote knowledge transfer not just once a year, but also throughout the year. This allows us to set ourselves apart from the competition and we also have opportunities to monetise this.
It is also important to make these trends not only tangible, but also experienceable in Hanover, but also at our trade fairs worldwide. At WIN Eurasia in Turkey, for example, we recreated an entire production line under 5G conditions and controlled by a drone. This makes it transparent for customers which components interact and how. For us as a trade fair, this is a new business model to attract sponsors and companies for such large and completely new joint showcases.
What is the right organisational structure for this: centrally controlled sales, tough global branding or the great freedom of the national companies to compete in the target markets? How do you see this balancing act?
I don't see it as a balancing act, but as a dialogue. Deutsche Messe has taken a big step forward during the Covid pandemic. The subsidiaries worldwide have been given great entrepreneurial freedom according to the motto: you are responsible for your country, you know the topics, you know how to develop events and how you can best build up new business on topics that suit your country. This has resulted in quite a growth spurt.
The aim now is to further professionalise the management of our trade fair brands worldwide in cooperation with the head office and all subsidiaries, to analyse the potential of the trade fairs for the individual markets and to design them appropriately for these markets. And to develop new business independently of the existing brands.
Headquarter: The Venue at Deutsche Messe, Hanover.
So what is your new role at the head office?
It's all about driving our new business forward, both in Germany and globally. With partners, stand-alone and also through mergers & acquisitions. After the pandemic, we are now networking our subsidiaries abroad, not only at the level of the individual trade fair brands, but also in terms of product development.
Deutsche Messe sees itself as a global team in order to better utilise synergies. We want to become faster and more effective and utilise our entrepreneurial freedom together for growth.
Let's take a look at some examples of important national markets, starting of course with Turkey, where you have been responsible for the trade fair business for several years.
What is exciting to recognise in Turkey is that many of the things we consider difficult here in Germany are not considered to be major difficulties there. Economic fluctuations happen there in the familiar V-shape - people there are prepared for this and remain opportunity-orientated.
We had the best annual results we have ever achieved in the years of severe inflation. This is of course due to many factors. Turkey has benefited to some extent from the pandemic. It is present as a nearshoring location and supplies high-quality supplier products. The companies there have also made a huge leap in terms of quality and content, if I compare that with my first visits to Turkey twelve or thirteen years ago. And they have proven to be very adaptable, actively seeking out niches and utilising geopolitical leeway.
In addition, Turkey has reopened to trade fair visitors worldwide at an early stage after Covid. The government has invested in trade fair activities, worked with organisers and associations to attract buyers to trade fairs in the country and expanded export and trade fair promotion for companies.
What role does the visa policy in the Schengen area play for the development of trade fairs in Turkey?
Visa policy in the Schengen area has become much more rigid. Turkey has benefited from this, as it is now possible to meet customers there who cannot enter Germany or Europe as easily as before. North Africa, the Gulf region, the countries of Central Asia. The Schengen area is also very difficult to access for the Turks themselves.
However, high interest rates are currently having a dampening effect on investment in the Turkish economy. The forecasts are no longer quite as positive as they were a year ago, except for the trade fair industry. At the moment, almost every event in Turkey is booming, not only because of the strong domestic market despite inflation and lower growth rates, but also due to the high level of internationality at the trade fairs. We are there to facilitate access to the entire region for our customers.
Let's talk about the Chinese trade fair market. UNIDO, which is an important partner of Deutsche Messe, says in a new study that China will be able to significantly increase its share of global industrial trade fairs?
China is and remains very relevant for us. For various reasons. Firstly, the companies there have developed massively. Gone are the days when people looked down on small Chinese trade fair stands and warned against product piracy.
In addition to Highscale, high-quality and innovative products are now coming from China. The companies are simply part of the global market, nobody can ignore that. Tariffs will not change what has been created in China through expertise, development and research, as well as through international acquisitions.
Even if the local Chinese market is stagnating slightly, it remains a very important domestic market. Even if we have visitors from Japan, Korea, Australia, etc. at our trade fairs in China, the core of the visitors is mostly Chinese, precisely because of the still high domestic demand.
Ecosystems in which strong local supply chains can develop are becoming increasingly important for industrial development and international investment. How do your trade fairs promote the networking that is necessary for this?
It is important that we increasingly go into the so-called second tier cities - which are all cities with millions of inhabitants. At the beginning of our activities in China, we had a very strong presence in Shanghai and partly in Beijing, followed by Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Now we are looking at other cities and provinces: Where is what needed? What are the local supply chains, what topics and products are suitable there?
Incidentally, we are not only developing our existing trade fair brands locally, but are also expanding our portfolio - with local product developers on site. For example, we have launched a business:to:consumer concept for Generation Z in China or, in addition to the classic industry themes, the latest cooperation on security and firefighting in Beijing.
Do you have any wishes for the industrial and trade fair policy in China?
Yes, the wish is simply that the country remains open to input from outside, including on topics relating to the trade fair industry. That people continue to listen to each other and that markets are not closed in a protectionist manner. After all, we need each other. Chinese companies are going out into the world in a big way. But the world should still be able to come to China easily.
The interview was conducted by Hans Gäng, local global, Stuttgart. In the smartville digital interview series launched with this interview, he talks to international trade fair organisers about how they see themselves and their goals in difficult times.
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