DMG World Media, organiser of the Chemspec shows and publisher of Speciality Chemicals Magazine, has announced that the Chemspec Europe 2008 show will take place in all four halls of the M,O,C Event Centre in Munich on 18-19 June 2008.

Munich has not previously hosted a Chemspec event. However, Chemspec Europe has taken place in Germany many times, most recently in 2005 at Messe D¨¹sseldorf. It had also previously been in Essen.

The decision followed consultations with the Chemspec advisory panel, representing the European Fine Chemicals Group (EFCG) and senior executives in long-time exhibitor companies, as well as more informal soundings in the fine and speciality chemicals industry. Munich emerged as the clear favourite among the candidate cities.

The M,O,C, - which is not to be confused with the much larger Messe M¨¹nchen - offers a number of benefits that should make it a very good venue. It is only 15 years old, with every modern facility. There are also a large number of meeting rooms available as required and Chemspec will be the only show at the venue at the time.

Catering facilities at the site are excellent, with a 200-seat main restaurant, 100 more seats outside and kiosks within each hall selling snacks and drinks. Three major hotels are close by the venue, as well as many more in the centre of Munich.

The M,O,C, is approximately a 20-minute, €40 taxi ride from the airport (however times may vary during peak times) and is 15 minutes by the U-Bahn from Marienplatz station in the city centre to Kieferngarten station, which is five minutes¡¯ walk from the venue. The M,O,C, also has an underground car park with a capacity of 1,500

Munich is also very well connected to the European motorway network via the A9 and to the wider European rail network. The city airport is Lufthansa¡¯s second German hub after Frankfurt, so that there will be a good array of possible connections for visitors from the Americas and Asia.

As well as being ranked the world¡¯s second safest large city (i.e. of more than one million inhabitants), Munich has numerous attractions to visitors for those who might want to stay on for the weekend after the show. It has a number of top rank tourist attractions, is close to the Alps and benefits from a delightful climate in summer.

Although the Rhine Valley is the traditional heartland of the German chemicals industry, Bavaria is the third largest chemicals region in Germany in terms of employment. Wacker-Chemie and S¨¹d-Chemie are both based here; Degussa, BASF, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Clariant all have research and/or production facilities and some 250 SMEs are also active in the industry.

Much of the action is to be found in the so-called ¡®Bavarian Chemicals Triangle¡¯ between the rivers Inn and Salzach. This includes the very large sites at Burghausen (Wacker-Chemie) and Trostberg (Degussa), among various others, and employs about 17,000 people, generating one third of the province¡¯s chemicals revenues.

Other smaller chemical agglomerations¨C some of which are in the form of integrated chemical parks ¨C are to be found in the areas of Munich, Starnberg & Weilheim and Nuremberg/Erlangen (in both of which pharmaceuticals and speciality chemical products are core), as well as in Ingolstadt, M¨¹chsm¨¹nster & Kelheim and in the Augsburg area.

Among the products strongly represented are pharmaceutical specialities, paints and lacquers, body care products, chemical fibres, textile auxiliaries and construction chemicals, as well as petrochemicals and plastics. Bavaria is also strong in many sectors supplied by the chemicals industry, including paper, the automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, leather and textiles.

Six Bavarian universities have chemistry faculties and various non-university research and development institutions in Bavaria focus on chemicals, notably the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsreid. Finally, there are also chemicals parks at Gendorf, Gersthofen, Bobingen and M¨¹nchsm¨¹nster.

Recently, as part of its Allianz Bayern initiative, the state of Bavaria has set up a chemicals cluster to forge links between the R&D activities of some 380 local firms with some 60,000 employees and combined sales of over €13 billion. This is the 19th such cluster to have been created in the province.

M,O,C Munich belongs to the Munich Trade Fairs International Group (MMI) and boasts an impressive 30,000 sqm of exhibition space and characterized by its great flexibility, functionality and central location all offered under one roof.

The M,O,C has excellent travel connections and links to public transport.  The venue is a short 12 minute journey from the City centre via the cities underground transport service and located 20 minutes from Munich International Airport, however travel times may vary at peak times.  The M,O,C also has a direct link from the A9 motorway (Nuremburg - Salzburg) as well as an underground car park with space for 1,500 cars.
 
Visitors wishing to drive to the M,O,C can plan their journey via the route planner available on the homepage of the M,O,C's website. 

www.chemspeceurope.com