Jochen Witt, President and CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH, is a member of the triumvirate of UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry), which took up its work at the UFI Annual Congress in Moscow late last week. Witt will be the Incoming President in the triumvirate for the business year 2005/2006, and he will take over the presidency of the triumvirate in the fall of 2006.

The Paris-based UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) is the only globally active organization for internationally operating trade fair companies and organizers. The Presidential trio is staffed according to a rolling system that permits each of its three members a three-year term of office. In addition to Incoming President Jochen Witt, the triumvirate currently consists of President Tom Beyer from Sweden and Outgoing President Ruud van Ingen from the Netherlands. Witt has been a member of the UFI Executive Committee since 1998, is a former Chairman of UFI�s European Chapter, and has been Executive Vice President of the UFI since 2004.

The Koelnmesse CEO said that he aims to use his membership in the triumvirate to "sharpen the profile of the trade fair as a marketing instrument among the international public and make globally active companies more aware of how trade fairs can boost their business activities." In addition, he wants to focus on the training process for trade fair management personnel, which he would like to further improve.

The UFI currently represents 334 leading trade fair organizers and owners of trade fair facilities, as well as 40 national and international associations in 73 countries on five continents. As a non-profit association that does not ascribe to political goals, it pursues the objectives of publicizing the advantages of trade fairs as a means of developing international business, while also promoting worldwide trade through the activities of its members.