Integra Madrid designs a trade forum for the immigrant demand sectors

The fair will bring together companies from the main sectors that provide products and services to immigrants Banks and financial bodies, along with telecommunications companies, real estate agent's, training centres and travel and tourism agencies, not to mention food companies, employment agencies, insurance companies and car dealers, among many other enterprises that have discovered business opportunities within the immigrant community, will all come together at INTEGRA Madrid, the Fair on Products and Services for Immigrants, which will stage its first edition in Madrid between 11th and 14th October, organised by IFEMA

The incorporation of this fair within the Madrid trade fair scene entails the creation of a business and promotional forum for a series of economic sectors whose growth prospects are closely linked to the phenomenon of immigration, as well as the existence of a new outlet adapted to the current market situation. The fair's aim will be to cater for the consumer needs of this section of the population.

Spain currently has more than 5 million registered immigrants, which represents some 10% of the population. The average expenditure per person among these immigrants comes to 1,081 euros. In this respect, these new citizens are among the leading wealth creators in Spain, spending some 4,000 million euros on shopping, 6,250 million euros on sending money back to their countries of origin, 1,500 million on telecommunications services, 1,400 million on the purchase of properties and 4,000 million on the purchase of vehicles, among other items.

INTEGRA Madrid, which will feature Colombia as its Guest Country at this first edition of the fair, will also feature the attendance of associations and consular delegations corresponding to the different nations from which immigrants originate in Spain, focusing in particular on Madrid, where immigrants make up some 15% of the population, based on some 170 different nationalities. Immigrants account for 10% of the Madrid Region's GDP. The fair will also feature the participation of public and private institutions and bodies that operate in sectors closely linked to immigrants.

This fair, whose commercial raison d'être is combined with the purely social objective of promoting integration and cohesion, will present a wide-ranging programme of entertainment and cultural activities to complement the exhibition of products and services from many different sectors. The fair will also include a series of Trade Conferences and an International Congress on the challenges posed by immigration within the European context.