By Vasso Vegiri
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India is the honoured country at the 84th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), a virgin territory when it comes to Greek businesses. Greek exports to India, with a population of over 1 billion, are undetectable statistically.
It is not the first time that the TIF is attempting to build bridges of cooperation between Greek and Indian businesses and contribute to attracting up-and-coming Indian business groups to Greece for investments. At the 74th TIF in 2009, exactly ten years ago, by decision of the HELEXPO administration (Aristotelis Thomopoulos served are Chairman and Themis Kartsionis as CEO at the time), India became the honoured country of the Fair for the first time, and the first seeds of cooperation between the two countries were planted. As part of the celebrations for the honoured county at the 74th TIF, HELEXPO constructed a series of elephant sculptures, including the largest elephant in the world, measuring 14m x 9m with a 4.5m trunk, which was displayed at a prominent spot at the TIF. The smaller elephants were displayed in central squares of Athens, Piraeus and Larissa, and central locations around Thessaloniki, while the Greek Film Festival joined in the celebrations with a tribute to Indian cinema.
The issue of redeveloping the Thessaloniki International Fair is a hot issue at the moment, as it was included in the announcements made by the new Prime Minister Mitsotakis regarding major projects-priorities of his government. The Prime Minister is expected to make more specific announcements at the TIF. As for today’s TIF facilities, however, seven designs had been submitted back in 1938 and three of those received an award. In the end, none of them were implemented and
the TIF decided to establish an on-site architectural office that would prepare new designs.
Furthermore, only a handful of persons know and/or remember that the initial decision to move the TIF outside the city centre – a scenario that has been revisited many times, but has since been abandoned as inexpedient – was made in 1971, at the 36th TIF. “By 1980, the TIF will have been moved to Kalochori,” was the decision made at the meeting that took place at the Thessaloniki Government House under the chairmanship of Vice President of the Makarezos Government, before the then Minister of Public Works Mr. Papadimitriou and other government officials. The current TIF facilities had been scheduled to be used to house an administrative and civil centre in Thessaloniki.
Many years later, in 2005, at the 70th TIF, and two hours before the official expo opening ceremony, famous Spanish architect and structural engineer S. Calatrava – an invited guest of then Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikolaos Tsartsionis and then President of TIF Dimitrios Bakatselos – unveiled his vision for the redevelopment of the Thessaloniki Exhibition Centre and the surrounding areas. His design had many avid supporters, but also many fierce opponents, who managed to put a freeze on its implementation.
Traditionally, the Prime Minister of Greece inaugurates the International Thessaloniki Fair. This year, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be visiting the 84th TIF for the first time as prime minister. His father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, had inaugurated the 55th TIF as prime minister back in 1990 at Palais des Sports, having secured an autonomous government just after Xenophon Zolotas’ Coalition Government. An official dinner honouring the Prime Minister was given by the TIF management, followed by the standard back then reception at Government House (“Palataki” in Aretsou).
