Barcelona Meeting Point 2019 places the focus on providing assistance to people

• The right to access housing, sustainability, smart cities, Proptech and the latest trends in real estate will be the focus of interest at the BMP Congress of 2019, which is doubling in size, with 4 conference rooms this time around.

• BMP 2019 will have an innovation space with more than 40 start-ups, an exhibition space devoted to refurbishments, decoration and furnishings, and a full schedule of activities for the general public.

• Barcelona Meeting Point 2019 will include the participation of 280 companies from 26 countries, 5% more than at the last edition, and will cover nearly 22,000 m² of gross exhibition space.

Barcelona, 9^th October 2019. – Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP), organised by the Free Trade Zone Consortium (CZFB), will be celebrating its 23rd edition from 16^th to 19^th October 2019 in Pavilion 8 at the Montjuïc-Plaza España site in the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds. Pere Navarro, Special State Delegate to the Barcelona Free Trade Zone Consortium Pere Navarro, and the Director General of the CZFB and BMP, Blanca Sorigué presented this edition of the fair to the media, explaining that it will be opening up even more to the people with an extensive schedule of activities. BMP 2019 will include 280 participating companies coming from 26 countries—5% more than at the preceding edition—occupying 22,000 m² of gross exhibition space. Moreover, the BMP Congress is doubling the content it is offering with 4 conference rooms, over 50 sessions and the participation of more than 150 speakers of the highest level from around the world.

Several activities for the public at large

The current edition of Barcelona Meeting Point is being held with the hope of becoming as useful as possible and serving the needs of all people, as well as the companies, professionals, institutions and entities that take part. In this sense, Pere Navarro, the Special State Delegate to the CZFB and President of BMP, explained that ”one of the major objectives we have set for this year has been to increase the programme of activities intended for the general public and create a much more appealing exhibition that goes beyond just the desire to buy and sell real estate properties, also offering solutions in terms of decoration, refurbishment, saving energy, and so on. For that reason, we have launched the new Deco Reform Point area, a new space aimed specifically at showing what companies have to offer in the sector of refurbishments, interior design and furnishings, for both homes and offices, commercial premises and buildings.” 

The schedule of activities intended for the public includes everything from free talks so that the people can get their questions answered and learn about every aspect to bear in mind when buying or renting a real estate property, to a space for families, a furniture auction and a drawing for 2,000 euros.

The first space for thought on real estate in the Mediterranean

The biggest innovation at the BMP Congress will be the holding of the Mediterranean Real Estate Forum for the first time ever. “We will have a programme which places the focus of interest on the urban real estate industry as a basic foundation for economic development of the Mediterranean region,” Pere Navarro assured. BMP’s President also added that “this edition of the Barcelona Meeting Point, as its name indicates, will be a place to come together where all of the role-players in the real estate sector can meet, including companies, institutions, associations, citizens and professionals, to reflect on the present and future challenges which are faced by the sector and attempt to seek solutions.”

BMP Congress will show us notable cases studies and models for success in real estate

The BMP Congress will present to all those attending a series of projects which stand out worldwide and may provide inspiration in terms of seeking solutions in the future, for both the problem of ensuring access to housing for all citizens and achieving projects which are developed in much more energy-efficient and sustainable ways, showing greater respect for the environment. ”We will analyse public-private cooperation models for affordable housing and residential portfolio management. One of the cases which we will take a closest look at is that of Vienna, the city which may have the best social housing policy system, and we will analyse whether this model is applicable and may be valid for a city like Barcelona,”  Blanca Sorigué, Director General of the CZFB and BMP, explained.

Amongst the more than 150 speakers who will be taking part, the most notable include Ernesto Caccavale, former director of Alibaba in Spain and Portugal, Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner of BIG, Óscar Pierre, CEO and Co-founder of Glovo, Antony Slumbers, Founder of Estates Today, Wouter Truffino, Founder and CEO of Global PropTech, Ghassan Aidi, President of IH&SA, and Walid Moussa, World President of FIABCI, as well as others.

Proptech will play one of the starring roles at BMP

The Proptech sector will have a schedule of conferences of its own at the BMP Congress. Similarly, BMP will continue to have a space dedicated to innovation, the BMP Start-up Innovation Hub, an exhibition space in which more than 40 start-ups will be presenting disruptive solutions which have a direct impact on real estate, thus redefining the way in which business is carried out while contributing more efficient and sustainable construction and refurbishment techniques. It should be pointed out that an award will be given out at BMP, as well, for the best participating start-up. Amongst the top 5 finalists you will find:

Daysk (Spain), Deepki (France), Greencatch (Spain), Orse (Holland) and Viviendea (Spain). Moreover, these five start-ups, along with others selected, will form part of BMP Accelerator 2019, the second edition of the start-up accelerator programme being promoted by the Barcelona Free Trade Zone Consortium and directed by La Salle Techonova.

BMP Gala Dinner

La Casa Llotja de Mar of Barcelona will be hosting the BMP Gala Dinner on the evening of 15th October, which will serve as a prelude to the 23^rd edition of BMP 2019 through the attendance of authorities, institutions, presidents, CEOs and managing directors from leading companies in the sector. The 2019 BMP Awards will be presented at the BMP Gala Dinner, which will provide acknowledgement to the real estate start-up which has grown the most over the last year (ScaleUp Award), the best business development in the sector, the best Mediterranean real estate project and the best real estate transformation.