The world’s largest construction exhibition, Bauma, was officially opened this morning by the German Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Dr. Volker Wissing, and Bavaria’s Minister President, Dr. Markus Söder, along with Stefan Rummel, CEO of organiser Messe München.

The show, which runs from Monday 24 October to Sunday 30 October, will likely see more than 450,000 visitors. There are around 3,100 exhibitors from 60 countries in Munich.

Speaking at the opening, Bauma CEO Stefan Rummel, said looking back at the 2019 fair’s record numbers, “and thinking about what happened between 2019 and now, the whole world has been upended, not only through the pandemic, but then the attack on Ukraine, the refugee crisis and dramatic inflation.”

He said the focus of this year’s Bauma “was to make sure we can deal with challenges such as inflation and labour shortages. Trade fairs like these are not only inspiring but are a great symbol of optimism.”

“We are trying to get out of this crisis, but we need to set the course for this for this through digitalisation as well as innovative and groundbreaking solutions for decarbonisation.”

The event will provide a global focal point for discussions on the energy transition – there will be hundreds of new electric and hybrid machines on show – as well as more immediate issues such as supply chain delays.