The first edition of ISSA/INTERCLEAN Istanbul, held 25 – 27 September at the Wow Convention Centre. Istanbul was deemed a success by all parties involved. With 100 leading brands and a high level conference, the event fulfilled its role as an international networking platform for the cleaning industry in Turkey and the Middle East in finding solutions for the region’s cleaning related challenges.
ISSA/INTERCLEAN Istanbul was well appreciated by both national and international exhibitors. Roger Klunder of R & T and SYR Europe, “The potential of the Turkish market is immense, we will definitely participate again in 2016. We have been able to gather quality contacts and meet with existing customers throughout Europe.” Dave O’Donoghue, Export Manager, Vectair Systems labeled the show as “Ideal meeting place for business opportunities in both Europe and Asia. It reflects the growing hygiene standards and increasing interest in cleaning technologies in Turkey and surrounding countries.” Also Nilfisk Advance and Kärcher were very pleased with their participations. Burcu Guder from Kärcher Turkey praised the international attendance at the show. “The show was outstanding for meeting with our friends and customers, not only from Turkey, from all countries around Turkey (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Russia).”
In three days, ISSA/INTERCLEAN Istanbul attracted some 2,746 visitors, 100 conference delegates and over 800 exhibitor representatives to the show. Next to that, international delegations of government leaders from Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia came to see the show. A unique mix of municipal as well as industrial cleaning professionals were present and learned about the latest innovations in their field of expertise. The majority of the visitors were from decision making units of their organizations resulting in valuable business conversations on the show floor.
The keynote address by Ilham Kadri, president of Diversey Care highlighted challenges present in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), ‘how to balance sustainability goals while maintaining effective hygiene’. More than 100 people attended the keynote. Also featured was a session on why hygiene is important in the washroom which was presented by the European Tissue Symposium, then international certification and training, doing business in the international community and finishing with a seminar on European working at height regulations.