Turkish Gov't Supports SMM Istanbul

The first SMM Istanbul is to be held at the centrally located L¸tfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC) on the European side of Istanbul, from 21 to 23 January 2009. Funding is provided by the Turkish Development Centre for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (KOSGEB), which is supervised by the Turkish Economics Ministry, to all exhibitors that have a production facility in Turkey. KOSGEB funding goes not only to the 75 or so Turkish companies among the 150 exhibitors, but also to foreign companies which have an official company office and production facilities in Turkey. The Turkish Government will also be well represented at the Opening of SMM Istanbul. Prominent guests will be Transport Minister Binali Yildirim and State Secretary K¸rsat T¸zmen-Ihracat, and also Kadir Topbas (Mayor of Istanbul), and Murat Bayrak (President of the Turkish Shipbuildersí Association GISBIR). Their presence is welcomed and appreciated by the organizers, Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC), the organiser of the worldís leading shipbuilding industry SMM, together with their partner Goca Fuar Kongre ve Sergi Hizmetleri Ltd.fiti (Goca Exhibitions). SMM Istanbul is a three-day conference, with a comprehensive program covering all the key issues of the global shipbuilding and marine equipment industries. The various sessions focus on safety and security, market trends, green technologies on ships, modern propulsion systems and coatings, software applications in the shipbuilding industry, ship financing, trends in the superyacht segment, and the openings for Turkish shipyards to get into wind turbine construction. Following the pirate attacks last year, especially the incidents off the Somalian coast, the session on Ship & Port Security on the first day of SMM Istanbul is expected to attract particular attention. Speakers include Turkish security experts. The Chairman is Oryal ‹nver, Captain (Ret.) of the Turkish Navy and President of the Turkish Security Association G¸sod, and a member of CoESS (Confederation of European Security Services, established in 1989). Green technologies are moving up the priority lists of developers as tougher regulations come in from the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Jochen Deerberg, owner and CEO of Deerberg-Systems GmbH, presents the latest environmental engineering development of his company, an intelligent combined system for drying solid and liquid wastes such as food waste, oils and sludges, using the waste heat from the shipís combustion system.