The 88th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) with Germany as the honoured country will be inaugurated on Saturday evening by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.

An impressive spectacle of digital "fireworks" formed by 500 drones will take place during the fair, which is estimated to have a significant financial 'footprint' amounting of 50 million euros, based on rough estimates.

The above was announced by the president of TIF-Helexpo SA, Tassos Tzikas, and the managing director, Kyriakos Pozrikidis, during a press conference for the 88th TIF, which will take place on September 7-15, with more than 1,300 direct and indirect exhibitors and covering all the available spaces of the exhibition centre (32,000 sq m). Official state participations have also increased (25 compared to 18 last year), and among them are countries participating in the event for the first time after the post-dictatorship era, such as the United Kingdom and Japan.

Tzikas characterised the German participation as the "big attraction" of the 88th TIF and the most interesting stand. He noted that the institution of the honoured country in TIF definitely helps to bring investment funds from abroad to the city, citing the example of the US, whose participation as honoured country attracted great interest and important investments from the USA.

Tzikas added that it is an honour for Greece to have a strong political representation from Germany, which in addition to Vice-Chancellor Habeck will also include the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Ozdemir.

The largest exhibition participation of Germany abroad in the last 25 years

Germany's strong investment presence in Greece, as well as the constant interest of German business people in the country, was underlined, among others, by the German Ambassador in Athens, Andreas Kindl. As he said, German investors are particularly interested in investing in Greece in sectors such as renewable energy sources. "The participation of Germany as an honoured country in the 88th TIF is a first-class opportunity to take our bilateral relations to a new level in the economy, politics, culture and science," he noted, adding that as part of the German participation, there will be approximately 150 events and presentations, with an emphasis on technology, education, environmental protection, energy, start-ups and e-government.

It is the largest participation by Germany in a trade fair abroad in the last 25 years, in the context of which Germany's economic dynamism, innovative power and scientific achievements will be presented. Referring to the German political presence at the fair, Kindl pointed out that, in addition to Habeck and Ozdemir, the Parliamentary Undersecretary for the Federal Ministers for Digital Affairs and Transport, Oliver Luksic, and the German representative for the Greek-German Assembly, Parliamentary State Secretary Sören Bartol will also participate. The exhibition spaces of the German pavilion were designed with a focus on sustainability by the architecture firm gtp2 architekten and include, among other things, a stage for roundtable discussions, a conference room for workshops and seminars, as well as a German "lounge" for business meetings.

The German diplomat singled out two of the events that will take place in Thessaloniki as part of the German participation: the first is the event on disinformation and journalism, organised in collaboration with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (https://www.amna .gr/macedonia/article/844622/Parapliroforisi-kai-Dimosiografia-Ekdilosi-apo-to-APE-MPE-kai-tin-Presbeia-tis-Omospondiakis-Dimokratias-tis-Germanias) and the second is the presence in the city - and at the Concert Hall - of the Sasha Waltz Dance Company, the largest contemporary dance company in Germany, by the famous choreographer Sasha Waltz.