(openPR) - Exhibitors from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe occupy 40 percent of the international area at EXPO REAL 2007

• Expansion of EU creates incentives for investments

• Approx. seven billion euros invested in real estate in Eastern Europe in 2006

Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007, and Brussels is also negotiating with Croatia and Macedonia. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are considered as additional potential candidates. Europe is not only changing politically; growth in the European Union also has economic consequences, as will be obvious at EXPO REAL 2007, 10th International Commercial Real Estate Trade Fair in Munich from 8 to 10 October 2007. Participation from the countries of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe is larger than ever before. Overall, 15 countries from Eastern and Southern Europe are exhibiting at EXPO REAL 2007 and occupying more than 40 percent of the international area. This corresponds to an increase in area of more than 15 percent for these countries compared to the previous event. Latvia (City of Riga) and Macedonia are participating for the first time. They will present their new projects and market developments to find international partners and investors.

As a result, EXPO REAL 2007 will reflect the complete range of the Eastern European real estate market within the growing participation from other countries. Cities such as Warsaw (Poland), Bucharest (Romania), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Prague (Czech Republic) will present their recent urban development and infrastructure projects. In addition, a number of companies will exhibit, who are active on the respective real estate markets. The Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) will be present from Serbia, the Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments from Slovenia, the TriGránit Development Corporation from Hungary, Albinvest from Albania and AG Capital ISCO from Bulgaria.

The assessments of international real estate experts prove that the Eastern and Southern European real estate markets are moving increasingly into the focus of investors. Approx. seven billion euros were invested in real estate in Eastern Europe in 2006, an increase of 21 percent compared to the previous year. Of this amount, 43 percent was invested in the segment of office real estate followed by 40 percent in retail store property. Shopping centers accounted for 75 percent of these retail store properties. The other investments were in the segments of industry, hotels and property with mixed use. Approximately 75 of the total volume was invested in capital cities, mainly in shopping centers. Four and one-half billion euros of these investments came from Western Europe, and the remaining 2.5 billion euros from other countries (among others, USA, Canada and Australia). The flow of capital into Eastern European real estate exceeded all expectations of experts with that.

Investments in infrastructure projects such as schools, hospital, toll roads, airports, etc. are becoming increasingly attractive, especially for investors who put value on long-term, reliable revenues. This is the conclusion of a survey by the Urban Land Institutes (ULI) conducted in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers among more than 390 investors, project developers, financers and consultants for trends on the real estate market. There is especially a giant market in the new EU member countries, because a lot of modernization is needed there. RREEF estimates the potential of the European infrastructure market to be from four to five billion euros.

You can find more information at www.exporeal.net

About EXPO REAL
EXPO REAL, 10th International Trade Fair for Commercial Real Estate, will take place on the grounds of the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from 8 to 10 October 2007. The event is the trade fair for networking for industry- and country-overlapping real estate projects, investments and financing. It reflects the complete range of the real estate business and provides an international networking platform for the important markets from Europe to Russia, the Middle East and all the way to the USA. The comprehensive conference program with approximately 400 speakers provides a solid overview of current trends and innovations in the real estate, investment and financing markets. EXPO REAL 2006 recorded 1,638 exhibitors from 40 countries and 21,112 visitors from 65 countries. Statistics for EXPO REAL are checked by an independent auditor contracted by the Gesellschaft zur Freiwilligen Kontrolle von Messe- und Ausstellungszahlen (Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics).

Messe München International (MMI) is one of the world´s leading trade-fair organisations. It organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and new technology. Over 30,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200 countries take part each year in the trade fairs in Munich. In addition, MMI organises trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and in South America. With four subsidiaries in Europe and Asia and 66 foreign representatives covering 89 countries, MMI has a truly global network.

Petra Gagel
Tel.: 49 89 / 9 49-20244, Fax: 49 89 / 9 49-20249
E-mail: petra.gagel@messe-muenchen.de
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