ISTEP Trade Missions
The Illinois Office of Trade and Investment (OTI) continues to actively offer opportunities to Illinois businesses interested in developing and growing their international sales. In this time of decreased international travel, OTI offers qualified Illinois firms virtual platforms to meet with interested foreign buyers. For the latest schedule, please click here or contact the International Trade Center at 618-650-3851 or International-Trade-Center@siue.edu.
Arab Health l Dubai, UAE l January 30 – February 2, 2023 pdf.
This is the largest, and most comprehensive, healthcare exhibition in the Middle East and the second largest in the world. In it’s 49th year, it is expected to attract more than 55,000 healthcare professionals to visit 3,000 exhibitors. The regional industry is worth $105 billion annually. Approximately 20% of all healthcare seekers are from the Gulf and Arab states, with UAE patients alone estimated to be spending $2 billion on medical travel every year.
Contact: Sam Ntum l sam.ntum@illinois.gov l 312-520-3792
Expo Manufactura l Monterrey, Mexico l February 7 – 9, 2023 pdf.
With over 280 exhibitors and 9200 visitors, Expo Manufactura is the most important meeting place for the manufacturing and processing industry in Mexico. Located in Monterrey, the center of Mexican manufacturing, this show will showcase the latest in manufacturing technology. The growth of advanced manufacturing in Mexico, together with increased interest in product quality and productivity, are generating demand for diverse industrial materials, systems, machinery, equipment, tools, and services.
Contact: Chris Sedgwick l chris.sedgwick@illinois.gov l 312-204-9480
Mobile World Congress l Barcelona, Spain l February 27 – March 2, 2023
Mobile World Congress is the world’s largest gathering for the mobile communication and information technology industry. Over 2,000 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees from 200 countries are expected to attend this show. This trade show presents a unique opportunity for Illinois’ companies that manufacture mobile information and communication technology components and devices, as well as systems, applications and software developers to launch new products to a global audience.
Contact: Sharon Stead I sstead@illinoiseurope.com I 011(32)2-646-5730
AMCHAM Kenya Business Summit and Tanzania B2B l Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania l March 27 – April 5, 2023 pdf.
The AmCham Business Summit will anchor the first leg of the mission. It will bring together American and East African business executives, investors, senior government officials and multilateral stakeholders, to dialogue, showcase, and leverage opportunities for increased two-way trade and investment between the U.S., Kenya and the East African region. Kenya is the most developed economy and one of the main ports in the East Africa region.
Then the delegation will fly down to Dar es Salaam for two days of structured business to business meetings. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and economic heartbeat of Tanzania and main seaport for many Eastern and Central African countries, with numerous business opportunities for Illinois companies. Tanzania is an attractive market for U.S. exporters due to its relatively large population estimated to be 62 million people. This makes Tanzania the 24th largest country in the world by population, larger than South Africa.
Contact: Sam Ntum l sam.ntum@illinois.gov l 312-520-3792
EXPOMIN l Santiago, Chile l April 24 – 27, 2023 pdf.
Latin America's largest mining fair is well established as a space that promotes the exchange of knowledge, experience and especially technology. EXPOMIN gathers all the key players in the sector and attracts the largest concentration of world-class local and international supply companies. EXPOMIN has global attendance, gathering over 1,000 exhibitors and 46,000 visitors from 35 countries.
EXPOMIN is a sector meeting focused strongly on technology, leading to solutions for the industry's needs, improving its competitiveness and strengthening its development in the long term. There are important export opportunities in this industry, particularly for those offering mining technologies and that bring cost reduction, improved productivity, and cleaner processes.
Contact: Chris Sedgwick l chris.sedgwick@illinois.gov l 312-204-9480
SIAL l Toronto, Canada l May 9 – 11, 2023 pdf.
SIAL Canada is Canada’s largest trade show for retail and foodservice trade. In 2022, the show had over 1000+ exhibitors from 60 different countries with over 20,000 professional visitors from more than 50 countries. Canada is the ideal market to target U.S. food exports with its close proximity, common language and similar culture. Covering every aspect of the Canadian food & beverage industry, SIAL Canada provides the perfect platform for Illinois exporters servicing institutional foodservices, restaurants, or grocery.
Contact: Chris Sedgwick l chris.sedgwick@illinois.gov l 312-204-9480
Paris Airshow l Paris, France l June 19 -25, 2023
Since its launch in 1909, the International Paris Airshow has constantly grown, and remains the largest aerospace event in the world. It will provide an occasion to meet up with all the key players in the aerospace industry, seize fresh commercial opportunities, present your expertise and innovations to the world, and form technological and industrial partnerships. The show is the premier event for all the key players from military, commercial, private and aerospace industries. The growing number of exhibitors, 2453 in 2019 from 49 countries and close to 140,000 trade visitors, clearly illustrates the importance of this premier event.
Contact: Sharon Stead I sstead@illinoiseurope.com I 011(32)2-646-5730
Florida International Medical Exposition l Miami, Florida l June 21 – 23, 2023 pdf.
FIME is the most important trade show for the medical device and equipment sector for the Americas. This event will have over 600 exhibiting companies and more than 10,000 attendees. Featured products will include medical equipment and devices, disposables and consumer goods, imaging and diagnostics, healthcare and general services, pharma and supplements, IT systems and solutions, and dental. This is the ideal venue to connect with distributors throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region.
With a population of over 650 million people, the Latin American and Caribbean region is a huge market for medical devices and equipment. More than 75% of the medical devices in Latin America are imported from other countries. This makes the region an excellent market to grow your exports.
Contact: Chris Sedgwick l chris.sedgwick@illinois.gov l 312-204-9480
Collision l Toronto, Canada l June 26 – 29, 2023 pdf.
Collision is one of the world’s largest tech conferences. There will be 33,000 attendees, 850+ investors, 800+ speakers, 1,250+ start-ups, 1,200+ journalists, and 120+ countries represented. Make valuable global connections and meet peers and mentors in the tech industry. Collision builds community through networking.
At Collision, you will have opportunities to:
- Network with peers and mentors in the technology industry
- Learn through Collision’s program with topics ranging from data science, to auto tech and environmental sustainability
- Generate leads that can help your company grow
OTI will provide a limited number of start-up packages to Illinois technology companies that meet the criteria.
Contact: Chris Sedgwick l chris.sedgwick@illinois.gov l 312-204-9480
