BNEW will return in October and expects to double attendees

From October 5 to 8, the Catalan capital will once again be a space to reflect on the future of the economy, contributing to drawing the lines to follow after the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The recovery prospects will be clearer in this second edition than in the first, when the second wave was just beginning, after last year's summer. Despite everything, the first BNEW gathered almost 11,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, sending a message of optimism at a time of paralysis. "It was the most global economic promotion event; BNEW has come to stay," defends the special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), Pere Navarro.

BNEW 2021 will maintain its original spirit, with digital coverage of all content, but will allow for in-person attendance, hoping that the epidemiological situation has improved. "The soul of BNEW will be breathed throughout the city," says the general director of the CZFB, Blanca Sorigué, who details that the event will reach more spaces than last year, which featured the Estación de Francia, Casa Seat and the Movistar building in Plaça Catalunya. Sorigué does not specify at the moment what the new scenarios will be, but emphasizes that they will be emblematic. Likewise, they are working to organize meetings and product presentations on hotel terraces.

With a planned investment of between two and three million euros, the second edition of BNEW will improve its technological platform, which will be faster and more dynamic. The new themes to be addressed will be mobility, sustainability, talent, science and cities, which will be added to last year's logistics, digital industry, e-commerce, economic zones and real estate sector. The program will feature a total of 700 speakers, complying with parity, and the business meeting space will grow to 400. All this will allow more than doubling the number of attendees, reaching up to 25,000.

The BMP and SIL will be held in 2022

After last year's cancellation, this 2021 will also not allow the organization of other CZFB trade shows, such as the Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP), the International Logistics Exhibition (SIL) and eDelivery, which will have to wait another year to be held again. Regarding their final dates, Sorigué indicates that they may be different from usual, taking into account that trade fair calendars have been disrupted by the impact of the pandemic and the sector's standstill.