Hanover Fair opens with machinery makers buoyant

Apr 4, 2011, 9:33 GMT

Hanover, Germany - The Hanover Fair, the world's biggest trade show for machinery, opened to business visitors in Germany Monday with exhibitors buoyant about sales prospects.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon toured the event accompanied by two German cabinet ministers. France holds 'special guest' rank this year among the 65 nations participating.

Two talking robots welcomed Fillon at one booth. He also inspected an all-electric racing car, the Citroen Survolt, which is made in France.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany had inaugurated the event the previous evening at a Hanover theatre but was not on hand for the booth openings because she was undergoing a scheduled operation on her knee.

VDMA, the German plant engineering federation, said machinery makers were optimistic despite the risks of an economic slowdown in Japan after its earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

German companies had booked 38 per cent more orders in February than a year ago, VDMA said. The group expected the sector to grow its output this year in Germany alone by 14 per cent.

The five-day trade fair in Hanover has 6,500 companies exhibiting high-technology coatings, gearboxes, pumps and a huge variety of electricial components ranging from rocker switches to giant transformers.

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