Barcelona will be the audiovisual capital of Latin America in January 2024

Barcelona will be the audiovisual capital of Latin America in January 2024. On January 30 and 31, the first AV Latin American Summit will be held, an event in which presidents and ministers from the main Latin American countries will participate within the framework of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual technology fair. This was announced this Tuesday by the general director of ISE, Mike Blackman, from Brussels, where he attended the European Union-Latin America Summit, invited by the EU council.

"From ISE, we have made the decision to strongly commit to Barcelona being, during the days of the fair, also the audiovisual capital of Latin America. A commitment that the Government of Spain and specifically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and European Union have fully supported," Blackman advanced, after pointing out that the Generalitat ---through Acció's network of offices in America--- and the Barcelona City Council are also involved in this project.

According to the executive, the AV Latin American Summit will be "an event of great transcendence" in which governments and companies from both continents "will have the opportunity to share challenges, good practices, study investments and work together on key aspects for the sector such as Artificial Intelligence, the green transition, or productivity and talent." In Blackman's opinion, these topics make up "a top-level agenda" that will also allow the European Union "to further improve its relations with that great continent, which goes from Mexico to Chile and Argentina."

"In Barcelona, ministerial and business delegations will meet so that the city once again becomes a bridge between Europe and Latin America, resuming its key role as a global capital and, in this case, as a reference for all of Latin America. A clear case where, with the same language, similar culture, the welcoming Barcelona and Catalonia bring out the best in themselves to favor exchanges and business, and become, in the context of the most important fair in the sector, a global space for business and global relations," Blackman pointed out in an institutional statement.

The executive has assured that the organization of this new forum is another example of "ISE's determined and secure commitment" to Barcelona, a city it has chosen to grow and develop in the coming years. "By adding this opportunity that this AV Latin American Summit represents for everyone, we ensure a lasting relationship of affection, admiration, and shared success," he insisted.

ISE reminds that in its last edition, held at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona last February with 58,000 attendees, 10% of the exhibitors came from Latin America, with Brazil being the country with the most presence at the show, followed by Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. For the 2024 edition, ISE highlights as interesting products at the fair new scoreboards for stadiums, screens for large shows, public address and signage systems, home audio, party rooms or commercial complexes, screens and sound systems for large clothing chains, or systems for urban mappings. To all these novelties, now is added the fact that, in addition, "governments, institutions, and companies will have a new platform for exchange, good practices, and business, which will be the AV Latin American Summit."

The show points out that the audiovisual technology sector represents a business volume of 307,000 million dollars, with an annual growth of 5%. Of this figure, Europe represents 82,000 million, Spain 3,900 million, and Latin America 13,000 million.