SASO – the most significant economic event in the region

The twelfth international construction fair SASO in Split’s Žnjan last week (October 24 – 28) showcased itself in the most lavish attire to date. Specifically, the fair was attended by 2,154 exhibitors from sixteen countries across 153,000 square meters of exhibition space, and the five-day event attracted over 21,000 visitors.

In addition to the Construction Fair, this year’s event gathered a series of international specialized fairs: the Wood Industry Fair, the Metal Industry Fair, the Tools, Machinery and Equipment Fair, the Crafts, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Fair, the Electrical Engineering, Energy and Telecommunications Fair, and for the second time, SAFIR – the Fair of Finance, Investments and Development. Among the leading companies in the sector were Zagrebačka banka, Cemex – Dalmacijacement d.d., Weinerberger Ilovac d.d, Samoborka, Bramac, Knauf, Bitumina, Sika Croatia, Tondach Hrvatska, as well as numerous companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Canada.

“We are very satisfied with the results achieved at the SASO fair, which has once again proven to be the most significant economic event in the region. It is the only fair in the wider region that records constant growth in all economic indicators, which this year amounts to 35%. The total value of exhibited exhibits was over one billion and three hundred euros, and according to feedback from exhibitors, the value of sold construction machinery amounts to around 26,000,000 euros,” emphasized the fair director Igor Bagarić. In addition to the exhibition part of the fair, numerous innovations, economic conferences, an Energy Summit with topics on Renewable Energy Sources and Gasification of Dalmatia, Architect Day with the theme of the Croatian coastline, Builder Day with the theme of preparing Croatian construction for international appearances, Croatian Wood Product, and SAFIR – conference were presented. Under the auspices of the SAFIR fair, the Entrepreneurial Ideas Incubator project was presented to the public for the first time on Thursday.

The Ideas Incubator project provides the opportunity for interactive presentation of new entrepreneurial ideas and projects, and the goal of the entire project is to stimulate the creation of entrepreneurial ideas, but also to enable their realization through guidance and consulting for entrepreneurs by successful businesspeople, directly at the fair.
“We are particularly pleased that this year’s fair event was opened by President Mesić, who is also the patron of the SASO fair, and yesterday, after the fair’s closure, we received the first figure of over 21 thousand visitors, which certainly indicates great public interest in events of this type,” concluded Marija Dupor, head of marketing and public relations for the Split Fair. (Jelena Gotovac)