On March 3-8 the 25th Spanish Machine-tool Biennial (BIEMH) will open at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. This landmark occasion will see one of the most comprehensive exhibitions in the long history of the event.

A total of 1761 firms from 36 countries will be showing off the latest innovations and developments in machinery and technologies on 788 stands, taking up all six exhibition halls at the centre.

The presence of the leading brands in the sector (57% of them foreign) and an updated range of services for exhibitors and visitors this year will reinforce still further the leading position of the event, which enjoys undisputed prestige among top manufacturers and producers world-wide.

The position of BIEMH as a strategic event in Europe is evidenced by the high levels of participation of foreign companies at recent editions. It is currently vying for second place in the ranking of trade fairs in its sector, and thus constitutes a safe bet for top-level international business.

Leading countries in the industry such as Italy, Germany and Switzerland have long since consolidated their presence at this showcase for advanced technology, where US and Japanese firms can also be found. The emergence of new markets such as Taiwan, China, the Czech Republic, India and Russia will multiply the business opportunities available at the event from March 3 onwards.

In all, there will be 1004 foreign firms from the countries mentioned above and from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, South Korea, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, the UK, Romania, Sweden and Turkey, giving this year's event a particularly international flavour.

The most popular sector will once again be Cutting Machinery, followed by Forming Machinery, Tools for Machine-tools and Accessories for Machine-tools. The remaining sections of the exhibition are Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Handling and Robotics, Hydraulic & Pneumatic Equipment, Metrology and Quality Control, Welding and Flame-cutting, Workshop and Business Services, CAD/CAM/CAE and Other Machinery and Equipment.

Every two years, BIEMH welcomes thousands of trade visitors from the most representative sectors of industry related to machine-tools, particularly the areas of capital goods and machine construction, the automobile industry, metal construction, moulds and dies, subcontracting (cutting and plate work), aeronautics and aerospace, domestic appliances, railways, shipbuilding and farm machinery. This year a new shuttle service will be run between the airport and the Bilbao Exhibition Centre throughout the six days of the event so that visitors can make the most of their time.

The many foreign commercial delegations expected are made up of top-level purchasers from all around the world, most of them company managers, owners and purchasing managers. This makes them a group with a high strategic value for the event. The countries considered as "priority" objectives this year are Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Switzerland, Poland, China, India, Russia, the USA, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey, and it is from there that most of these groups will come. This system is co-ordinated by the Bilbao Exhibition Centre itself in co-operation with its international network of agents, SPRI (the Association for the Promotion and Restructuring of Industry), commercial offices and agents and distributors of exhibitors, and is supported by the Basque Government Department of Industry and ICEX (the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).

Other organised visits to BIEMH will include the ferrying in of over 7000 final-year vocational training and university students with their lecturers, on a total of 123 coaches from 22 different locations. This is our country's biggest event for the metal and mechanical industries, and as such it has an active role to play in the training of the younger generations.

This year, BIEMH has introduced an interactive system for contracting services online via its new website. This "online store" offers firms the possibility of designing their own stands and selecting the necessary products on outline plans. This pioneering scheme in the trade fair industry has accounted for 10% of all the space hired in this, its first year of operation.

The facilities provided by the new website have also enabled this year's BIEMH to introduce an advanced exhibitor search function filtered by sector, subsector and place of origin which visitors can use to draw up the agenda for the event.

The 25th BIEMH is the first major event in its sector this year. In 2007 the machine-tool sector in Spain grew by 7.3%, and in nominal terms beating its previous record figure, dating from six years previously.

2008 is shaping up to be a year of challenges and innovation in industry. This provides an excellent basis for an event at which making direct contact with customers and suppliers, concluding deals, identifying potential sellers and buyers, analysing opportunities for exports and imports and learning about the latest advances in the sector are the core objectives of participants.

With this 25th edition, the BIEMH brings to an end a highly significant phase in its commercial, international and technological development with a new landmark in its already long history.

To commemorate this, Bilbao and Barakaldo will be decorating the areas of the cities most frequented by those attending the event (metro entrances, hotels, the venue itself, etc). At the end of day four a celebration will take place to honour the loyalty and commitment of those firms that have backed the BIEMH most firmly (BLM, Construcciones Mecánicas Mupem, Constructora de útiles y Herramientas Crucelegui Hermanos, Echazarra Emix, Etxe-Tar, Danobat Sociedad Cooperativa, Fat, Juaristi Ts Comercial, Kondia M.E. Taldea, Ona Electroerosión and Saim Metal).

It was in 1961 that Feria Internacional de Bilbao, as the exhibition centre was then known, made the significant move of organising Spain's first monographic trade fair for the machine-tool industry. That initiative led to the creation of a forum to offer a more specialised, in-depth vision of the output capacity and commercial potential of Spanish industry, ranging from manufacturing to distribution.

The event took on international status in 1982, when it attracted 420 foreign firms from around 20 countries, most of them European, though firms from the USA, South Africa, Israel, Canada and Japan also took part. Feria Internacional de Bilbao came of age that year, with the expansion of its exhibition area to 22,000 square metres.

Before long the event had grown to the point where it needed to be broken down into sectors. This was done for the first time in 1982

After further expansion of the old exhibition complex to cater for its continued growth, in 2004 BIEMH moved to the new Bilbao Exhibition Centre – a modern, functional, high-capacity venue suited to its specific requirements – and attracted more participants than ever before

Once again this year BAI, the Bizkaia Innovation Agency, in co-operation with AFM (Association of Machine-Tool Manufacturers)and the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, has convened the National Machine-tool Design Award. The ceremony for the handover of these ninth awards will take place on Thursday the sixth, during day four of BIEMH.

The three main categories are Cutting Machine Tools, Forming Machine Tools and Large Machine Tools of both types. However, the jury may also award special mentions under the headings of ergonomics, safety, form and communication. When applied to machine tools, the added value contributed by design result in improvements in appearance, safety, ease of use, ergonomics and maintenance that supplement the technological development of machinery.

BIEMH is jointly organised by the Bilbao Exhibition Centre and AFM (Spanish Association of Machine Tool Manufacturers).