UFI elects Deutsche Messe’s Andreas Gruchow as 2017 president

WORLD – International trade fair association UFI’s board of directors has elected Andreas Gruchow of Deutsche Messe AG, as the association’s president for 2017. The decision came during UFI’s meeting this week in Istanbul, Turkey. The next UFI Presidential Trio will comprise: Sergey Alexeev (ExpoForum-International Ltd., Russian Federation), president 2015-2016; Andreas Gruchow, (Deutsche Messe AG), incoming president, and Andrés Lopez-Valderrama (Corferias, Colombia), outgoing president. This decision becomes effective at the conclusion of the 82nd UFI Annual Congress to be held in Milan from 4–7 November 2015. Gruchow has been a member of the UFI Executive Committee since 2011 and involved in helping to drive the overall strategy of the association. Lopez-Valderrama, current UFI president, welcomed the election of Gruchow, saying: “Andreas represents one of the world’s leading trade fair organisations and has played a very full and energetic role in his position as a member of UFI’s Executive Committee. We are all convinced that he will carry over this enthusiasm into his future presidency of UFI in 2017 and, in the meantime, will provide great support to Sergey Alexeev during his presidency next year. I look forward to working with both of them.” Gruchow said he was “delighted” to have been elected as the 2017 UFI president. “The board of directors and all the members of UFI can rely on me to do my utmost to take UFI even further than where we are today. I am 100% dedicated to our global network,” he added. Earlier this week UFI selected another German, Kai Hattendorf, VP of digital business and entertainment at Messe Frankfurt, as its new managing director. He will succeed Paul Woodward, who steps down at the Milan congress centre.