www.interpack.com

Just two months before interpack 2008 Processes and Packaging Show opens, officials have announced that more than 2,700 exhibitors from 58 countries have reserved 1.8 million sq ft of net exhibit space. The show, billed as the world's largest packaging event, will take place April 24 to 30 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

“The interpack 2008 concept responds to the needs of a market which at present is developing very positiviely,” says Wilhelm Niedergoker, managing director of show organizer, Messe Düsseldorf. “This is evident not only in the increased size of traditional exhibitors' stands, but also in the large number of companies that will make their first appearance at interpack.”

Show officials say that interpack is responding to global developments by placing more emphasis on information about packaging machinery, packaging materials and food processing and their roles in the processing value chain. 

Launched in 1958, interpack is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Although the triennial show is based in Germany, it is expected to draw a cosmopolitan crowd. The last show in 2005 attracted 176,000 vistiors from around the world.

The number of U.S. exhibitors includes 33 companies participating within the North American Pavilion, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America, the U.S. subsidiary of the trade fair organizer. The North American Pavilion provides a cost-effective means for companies to enter into or to expand their business in the lucrative overseas marketplace.

Organizers report that 69 percent of the exhibitors are from countries other than Germany. The leading foreign exhibitor nations include Italy, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Turkey, China, Switzerland, the U.S., Spain and Taiwan. For the first time, exhibitors from Iceland, Oman and Jordan will display their products at interpack.

New exhibitors at interpack 2008 will include Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, MAN Roland and STI Stabernack.

For information and to purchase tickets to interpack 2008, visit the interpack website at www.mdna.com or contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 N. Michigan Avenue, Ste. 2920, Chicago, IL 60601--312/781-5180; fax: 312/ 781-5188; e-mail: info@mdna.com. For housing and travel arrangements, contact TTI Travel, Inc., at 866/674-3476.