Dear Zi Readers,

As the Managing Director of Messe München, the trade fair organizing company, may I cordially invite you to the 29th bauma, which will take place in Munich from 19 to 25 April 2010. On 1 January 2010, I took over my post from my predecessor Manfred Wutzlhofer and I relish my new task of accompanying bauma into a successful future.

bauma, the world’s leading trade fair, stands for the world’s widest exhibition of construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment. In cooperation with our long-standing international partners and bauma’s supporter, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), bauma has enjoyed steady further development over its more than 50-year history and repeatedly broken records for exhibition area, exhibitor participation and visitor figures.

With 3 002 exhibitors from 49 countries and more than 500 000 visitors from 191 countries, bauma 2007 set its latest records.

For the forthcoming event too, based on current planning information, we are expecting more than 3 000 exhibitors. Although bauma 2010 has increased its total exhibition area to around 555 000 square metres with two temporary hall structures, it is again booked solid. This makes bauma 2010 the biggest trade fair in the world yet again.

Particularly gratifying is the development in the mining product sector, which was first integrated at bauma in 2004 and extended in the year 2007 with a first-class support programme as part of the bauma Forum. We aim to continue with this success and should like to invite you to attend the discussions and lectures at the bauma Forum in Hall C2, the meeting point for experts in the mining industry.

bauma’s partner country concept can also be rated a success, doubling the number of visitors from the Arabian Peninsula at its last event.

Official partner country for bauma 2010 is India, which holds enormous potential for mining as well as for the construction machinery and equipment manufacturers in the years to come. Numerous delegations and high-calibre visitors from this up and coming economic region will be using bauma as a platform for exchanging experience and developing new business contacts.

Look forward to your visit to the world’s leading trade fair in Munich – bauma 2010 awaits you with a host of innovations and events for an internationally positioned industry looking optimistically into the future.

I hope to welcome you to Munich in April 2010.

Klaus Dittrich

Managing Director of Messe München GmbH