Peter Neven, a high-ranking German trade fair official will be in Atlanta Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 13 and 14 to speak at The Atlanta International Summit, a regional trade conference organized by Atlanta International Magazine.
Dr. Neven also will visit the Bobbin Show, the largest textile trade show in the U.S, and the Georgia World Congress Center, one of the largest exposition halls in the country. He also will meet with local officials of the German-American Chamber of Commerce Inc.
German trade shows attract some nine million visitors annually to fairs in Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Hanover. Dr. Neven is managing director of the “Domestic Trade Fairs” division of the Confederation of German Trade Fair and Exhibition Industries, or AUMA.
Dr. Neven oversees more than 100 international events each year with more than 130,000 exhibitors. Recently his duties included integration of the trade fair activities of the new Federal states with those of the rest of Germany.
In a GlobalFax interview, he said AUMU’s activities in the new Federal States had been important in completing their transition from a state-controlled economy to a market economy.
He also said an extension of a free trade area to include both the European Union and the U.S. would be beneficial economically.
“A closer and less restrictive cooperation between these two economic regions would certainly be welcomed,” Dr. Neven said. Last year, he added Germany had 4,732 U.S. exhibitors at its fairs and each year 60,000 to 70,000 American visitors come to attend German trade fairs.
For more information call Ken Anderberg, at (404) 239-9225; fax, (404) 816-9264.