Joaquín Varela, director of the IGAPE, had a meeting with the president and vice-president of the World Fishing Exhibition Executive Committee, Alfonso Paz-Andrade and Juan Vieites. During the meeting, also attended by the manager of the WFE, they talked about the good course of the event, as well as about the possibility of providing some type of support for Galician exhibitors.

One of the main unresolved matters of the Galician small and medium enterprises is to obtain a higher level of internationalization in their activities. The World Fishing Exhibition is the fisheries exhibition with the highest percentage of foreign visitors, which exceeds 50%. Furthermore, it also relies on the presence of a great number of decision-taking authorities from fishing countries. The exhibition is a perfect showcase for small and medium enterprises to exhibit the Galician know-how, as we cannot forget that, on the other hand, they have a great deal of experience and a high specialization in the fisheries sector. However, the lack of resources to gain access to international markets have limited the international capacity of these companies; an opportunity that the World Fishing Exhibition offers by attracting the best customers from a wide range of countries.

On the other hand, we can neither forget the moment which small and medium enterprises linked to the Galician naval sector are going through, as the industry has sunk on a strike that already surpasses 20 days. This situation is leading to important problems in the financial solvency of the companies, which are seeing how the results of their operating accounts and viability plans are at risk. For this reason, during the meeting, the World Fishing Exhibition and the IGAPE analyzed the possibility that the Galician autonomous bodies will grant a financial aid for small and medium enterprises, so they will not lose this ideal opportunity.

In 2003, the number of professional visitors attending the World Fishing Exhibition went beyond 70,000 people coming from 115 different countries. This variety of countries is a clear example of the exhibition’s international level. A large number of firms from all around the world have already booked their stands for the WFE, which will take place from 16 to 19 September 2009 in Vigo. They will travel from Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, China, Korea, Vietnam, Namibia, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal and Mauritius. A large group of companies will also arrive from the Americas and especially from the U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina; as well as from the Middle East: Israel, Pakistan and Iran.

Only a hundred days to go till the doors of the ‘José Nogueira Dalmás’ Exhibition Centre open and a great number of professionals have already registered through the World Fishing Exhibition website. They will be coming from countries such as Nigeria, the U.S.A., Algeria, Uruguay, Russia, Colombia, Norway, Mozambique, Israel, Mexico, Peru, Faroe Islands, Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia, Scotland, Korea, Argentina, Turkey, Lithuania, Canada, India, Iceland, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Angola, South Africa and from a variety of EEC countries.