Expo Italia boosts partnerships with public bodies

Expo Italia Real Estate (EIRE) 2011 is strengthening its partnership with the public sector as it widens the range of conferences and events promoted by municipalities and regional development agencies.

'In order to support our role as promoter of the development of an Italian real estate community, EIRE has set the growth of its relation with the public institutions as one of its priorities,' EIRE's director Antonio Intiglietta told PropertyEU.

This year's programme includes a conference on "Extracting value from state-owned real estate portfolios" as well as a congress on development opportunities in the Milan and Rome municipalities. A number of Mediterranean agencies and cities such as Nice Côte d'Azur, Epamarne and the Semapa Paris Rive Gauche will showcase their projects at the three-day event.

EIRE, which runs from 7 to 9 June, is expected to attract exhibitors from over 50 countries this year. Over 450 institutions and operators will attend the event, which is held under the curving roof of star architect Massimiliano Fuksas' trade fair in Milan. Talking about the fair, Intiglietta added that EIRE has developed a number of online platforms which help create and maintain a community of real estate professionals throughout the year. These include the EIRE Forum, with in-depth online interviews and features, as well as the EIRE One To One, a new platform allowing all exhibitors and visitors to arrange personal appointments before the event.

Real estate development in Italy has long been dominated by local construction companies, but this has changed in the past 10 years, Intiglietta added. 'A series of skills and professional categories have emerged, and real estate has therefore become an increasingly specialised business.' As such, the fair is proposing over one hundred conferences, seminars and events focused on specific topics, ranging from development to investment and finance.

Main themes include the role of retail in city centre regeneration with a seminar organised with the Italian ICSC, known as CNCC, as well as the opportunities for investments in the tourism and hospitality sector and the development of the real estate fund industry.

In this year's edition, the fair's international presence has widened to include participants from around 20 countries worldwide. The Mediterranean countries are particularly active with several companies from France, Austria, Malta, Egypt and Greece. In Eastern Europe, operators from Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Russia will also attend the event.