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The 9th edition of fair Business on Rails, which took place last week in the city of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, brought together 140 exhibitors, an increase of 40% when compared to the previous edition, which took place in 2004.
More than an increase in the number of participants, for the first time the event included the presence of exhibitors from Spain, France, South Africa, India, Germany and the United States. "The fair is growing together with the railway sector itself," said the coordinator of the fair and executive director of magazine Revista Ferroviária, Gerson Toller-Gomes. The first edition of the fair took place in 1998, in the old Hilton hotel, in the center of the city of São Paulo, after privatization of the national railway network. The fair currently brings together a large part of the sector chain, from suppliers of parts, to wagon factories and operators of the railway system. "The fair currently follows more or less the same model as the auto industry fair, which includes makers of auto parts, carmakers and buyers," stated Gomes. According to him, the level of satisfaction was high, as the 6,000 visitors who visited the Green Pavilion at Expo Center Norte in the three days of the event were connected to the sector and were seeking news and business. According to Gomes, around 25% of the space of next year's edition of the event was reserved by exhibitors during the event this year. In the sidelines of the fair, seminar "Encontrem" took place, which brought together professionals of various areas connected to the railway sector. One of the themes discussed was the need for greater investment in transport so that the country may grow even more. Also during the fair, the National Association of Railway Transport (ANTF) gave the 2nd ANTF Journalism Award, won by the Brazilian Arab News Agency in the website category for series of articles "Brazil on tracks", published in April. Anba - www.anba.com.br
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