Presse Press 2008

August 2008

The remarkable achievements of Seguriexpo BISEC Buenos Aires 2008 meant much more than the closure of a new edition; they rather showed an event that consolidates itself and climbs in the international agenda of safety and security fairs.

One of the indicators to bear in mind was the growth in the number of foreign visitors from countries such as: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Overall the exhibition received 12,103 professional visitors and had 185 exhibitors on a 13,000 sq mt surface area.

The "know how" of Argentinean professionals supports the country’s positioning as the largest exporter of know-how about the implementation, application and development of safety and security systems vis-á-vis the rest of the Latin American region. This became apparent at the debrief of the 1st Business Round, which convened 29 local companies that held more than 100 meetings with prospects from: Spain: Grupo OHP; South Africa: EMS; Brazil: Balaska; Chile: Neuron Systems, Pesco and ABF / Firexpress and Paraguay: Power System.

Academic activities were a special, very important chapter of this exhibition: 46 conferences were held with 1,300 attendees who came with the purpose of getting training and updating their knowledge base.

The organizers of Seguriexpo BISEC Buenos Aires 2008 were very happy with the outcome and agreed that previous editions were largely outdone.

The Presidents of the organizing bodies said a few words at the Opening Ceremony:

Thus, Mr. Fernando Gorbarán, President of Indexport Messe Frankfurt, pointed out: "I would like to thank the more than 40 organizations that support this event and which, together with the four organizing bodies, help us bring it to life. There are one hundred and eighty-five exhibitors, mostly Argentinean companies, together with foreign companies from ten countries: Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and the United States. A true record for this fair. This lets us display the best technology in our country and the best available to integrate solutions associated to the safety and security industries. For the first time we are also holding, within this framework and together with Fundación ExportAr, the First International Round of Safety and Security Service and Product Buyers. And we are very proud of this.

On the other hand, Mr. Eduardo Capelo, President of CASEL, stated: "(…) CASEL is proud of this exhibition. And that is for several reasons: for the message we can give society, which has just discovered safety and security and here, year after year, and through the contribution of companies, government agencies and trade associations we are giving more and more complete and updated responses to this need of people. We are also proud of Argentinean businesspeople, who sometimes are not valued by society. They can build all this, this exhibition, this effort, this display of technology, behind which there are people who have decided to invest, who have made an effort, engineers and technicians (...)"

The reflections of the President of CAS, Mr. Ignacio Bunge in his speech were: "(...) Safety and security, and, more justifiably so, prevention, are objectives of the human being and have always been present throughout the evolution of this species. As man gains knowledge, he develops the capacity of prevention and understands the huge importance of safety and security in life. Many times, however, this is not given the relevance it needs to have, both culturally and in administrative and government decisions. That is why this event we are now opening is so important for all of us. Taking care of lives and property is our obsession, but the will to do it is not enough; you need to know how and what with. That is why we refer to the relevance of this exhibition, because here you will be able to find out how to do it in congresses. And we have to achieve the what-with, because all the local industry is present, showing its capabilities and the most diverse products from different origins, meant to protect lives and property. (...) We want to do as we preach, "toward more safety and security awareness..."

Then, Mr. José Francisco López, President of IRAM, indicated: "I believe that the success of today is the outcome of serious and responsible efforts toward an objective plus the vision that when we, Argentineans, get together to work seriously, we act with enough responsibility to bring to life this kind of endeavor. We are proud of this, which actually gives us permanent motivation to make progress in the different fields in which we can act. I believe that this sets an example that should be followed by many sectors in our country to build a different Argentina. I believe that we can be different, because this is an exhibition that shows that when men and women get together in this kind of effort, the goal is achieved, and this can be replicated in many other sectors. IRAM is proud of being today part of this technical and professional display, because it understands that it is its responsibility, and will continue to act in line with that (...)"

Finally, the President of NFPA, James Shannon, pointed out: "(…) It is an honor for me to be associated to CAS, CASEL, IRAM and Indexport Messe Frankfurt in this project: Seguriexpo BISEC. I believe that this type of fair has never been more important, and they are important precisely for all those who are present. Issues such as security, safety and fire prevention and fighting are in the thoughts of millions and millions of people throughout Latin America and the rest of the world. The purpose is to find answers for people to remain healthy themselves, their families and communities. And they look for these responses in you, the technical specialists. We know that the pace of change all over the planet is faster and faster, and that is why getting education and sharing that knowledge with others is more than just an obligation for all of us. That is the endeavor of all organizations and government agencies that support this event and also all the companies part of this exhibition. (...)"

3M
Sales Manager, Juan Carlos Rovira
"(...) We are taking the opportunity to launch at this fair the recent purchase of Quest Technologies, the number-one company in noise, thermal stress and vibration measurement, noise monitoring and gas detection. We are very proud. We are also launching the helmet developed in Argentina, which is the first 3M helmet all over the world. As a health and safety company, supplier of protection items, we consider that this is a very good opportunity for new generations of health and safety people to find about us and for all our friends of many years to come and visit us, to revive their reliance on 3M and to continue betting on new 3M technologies being introduced today. The exhibition looks quite appealing and undoubtedly we will come back.

ALPARGATAS TEXTIL
Product and Marketing Department, María Sol Sánchez Gavier
"We are quite happy with the fair. We have brought a wide-encompassing offering, with a range of new products, inclusive of shoes, goggles, gloves and impermeable items. We are quite satisfied at the number of visitors. We can see that more people from the inland have come this time, which is very interesting because you can get new leads."

BOSCH
Managing Director, Alberto Mattenet
"I believe that having CAS and CASEL together is something the local safety and security industries need. The exhibition is a real hit and you can tell the outcome from the number of quality visitors, who help spread the knowledge about this industry, something which is most required. (...) I believe that visitor quality is excellent. There is a constant increase, year after year, of the number and quality of exhibitors and products on display (...)"

SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY
Trade Officer, María Isabel Di Liscia
"It is our second time around. We are here representing 17 South African companies interested in opening their doors to the Argentinean market. This year we saw a change. The fair is larger and has received more visitors; there are more people asking questions at our booth. So we have many expectations in coming back again, even bringing more South African companies. The companies we are representing this year are basically in the lines of business of security, access control, biometric systems, gate automation systems, fire monitoring and detection. There were two companies that came all the way from South Africa, had meetings and told us that there is a link in safety and security to be developed between both countries. We expect that these events will boost trade and the possibility of continuing to do business between both countries."

HONEYWELL - ALAR SUR
Director, Sergio Gabriel Ambrosio
Our company is located in the Argentinean Patagonia and distributes Honeywell products through a special program called First Alert Professional. From the southernmost region of Argentina it came to this exhibition, which I consider one of the major fairs in this industry in Latin America. The number of attending people has been remarkable. Exhibitors have brought to the fair all these issues currently in the spotlight in relation to safety and security. I believe that the exhibition largely met the expectations of all exhibitors, for the number and type of public and the interest they have shown. Our future participation is practically a fact for us, and I guess for all those involved in the safety and security industry. Being updated with security issues is a duty and a need. Protection is always required to safeguard lives and property from growing crime. The need and importance of being part of this stems from that. There is a lot of added value to be conquered in turn to be relayed to our customers and clients. "

ISIKAWA
President, Norberto Isikawa
"We believe that the variety of customers and clients attending the fair this year was quite interesting. We have managed to get new leads and strengthen our bond with existing customers and clients. (...)"

PELCO
Marketing Manager, Denise Ahrens
"The exhibition was very good, for the public attending and the leads we got. There were quite a number of attendants to our seminar, where we spoke about IP integration, with the products we have in the IP camera range. We believe we will come back next year. The organization of the exhibition is very good. "

SELNET
Marketing Head, Karina Melidoni
We are quite happy with the fair. We are a security benchmark. Some current customers came to visit us and also we got new leads, which will help the company grow in this new stage. There came people from all over the country. We are quite satisfied at the fair; it is very important for the trade and all the actors in this industry are here. We are coming back because it is a good place to display the efforts of the whole year, to show our products and for sales reps to get in touch with customers and clients and strengthen bonds.

TECIN
Commercial Departament, Matías E. Larrodé
"We manufacture fire trucks and are distributors of different gear for search and rescue. This is our third year at Seguriexpo BISEC Buenos Aires and we have always got a good outcome of our participation. Then we are always willing to be a part of this type of event. We will surely come back to the next exhibition because, as I said before, we are quite interested in this type of event and many customers and clients from our portfolio are regulars."

TELECOM
Customer Relations Manager, Valeria Iglesias Laigle
"We are again at Seguriexpo BISEC Buenos Aires with the security solutions booth for big companies, government customers and SMEs. We are quite happy with the exhibition, which has had a very good impact. Especially because we have had some dynamic and interactive presentations about access control, the 911 integrated emergency system and other solutions, and also for the number and quality of exhibitors and the fair overall.

The visitors were quite satisfied because they were able to see the offerings in this industry brought by different exhibitors.

The outcome was so satisfactory that many people were already asking about the date of the new editions: Seguriexpo Buenos Aires will be held on August 12 – 14, 2009, and Seguriexpo BISEC Buenos Aires on August 25 – 27, 2010. Both will be held at La Rural Trade Center.