No experiments

“No experiments” was the slogan behind one German politician’s successful election campaign some decades ago. Today it still sounds a reasonable way to avoid unnecessary risks – at first glance. But can we afford to maintain this attitude when manoeuvring a company through the turbulence of our globalized economy? In other words, can we afford to stick to our home territory, even if that includes the rest of the European Union outside our own national borders?
It has always been DECHEMA’s mission to offer our exhibitors the most effective opportunities to present themselves to an international audience. In this context the leading event by far is still, of course, ACHEMA in Frankfurt. Yet with China as the main destination for international investment today, suppliers to the process industries now
benefit hugely from DECHEMA’s bold decision, back in the late 1980s, to establish AchemAsia in Beijing. Though AchemAsia began as an experiment, it has grown into a success.

But the global economy never stays still. Investment will go wherever there are opportunities – and opportunities can arise in any region where political stability coincides with favourable demographics. As a result, it would be a serious mistake to ignore Latin America.
This is especially true for Mexico, the world’s tenth-largest economy. Mexico is blessed with a unique strategic location, linking highly-industrialized North America to the developing economies of the south. But it is not just geography that makes Mexico a hotspot for the process industries. The country has a highly-trained workforce and is rich in
natural resources, while the chemical sector has a decisive position within the Mexican economy. All these factors mean that Mexico is a must for the major players in the chemical process industries.
This was the background to DECHEMA’s decision to organize the first AchemAmerica in 2002, in Mexico City. Now it is your turn to join us in expanding the experiment – which the first AchemAmerica certainly was – into a successful business platform. I look forward to seeing you in Mexico City next April!

-Dr. Alfred Oberholz-