International IFAT trade fair network set to help Brazil tackle major water and waste problems

11.05.2023

IFAT, the environmental technology trade fair, is heading to South America next year for the first time, and will be staging IFAT Brasil in São Paulo from April 24 to 26. Brazil faces enormous problems, especially in the fields of drinking water treatment, and sewage and waste management. According to official estimates, around 35 million Brazilians have no access to treated water. This presents IFAT exhibitors and experts with the opportunity of entering a major growth market. Their expertise is in demand worldwide. The world’s leading trade fair for environmental technologies is therefore expanding its international network to ten locations: Munich, China (4), Turkey, India, South Africa, Singapore and Brazil. “The associated technology also comes from Bavaria. We give advice and support to companies as they enter these markets,” Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel, joint CEOs of Messe München, explain.

The international IFAT network is entering Brazil, a growth market that requires private investment in its environmental sector. The problems in the water and sewage sector are so vast that the government has decided to privatize it. In the next decade, private investment will result in massive growth in the market for environmental technologies, including the extraction, treatment and supply of water, as well as the collection and recycling of sewage and waste. “The market potential is impressive. Concessions awarded to private enterprises generated an investment volume of more than 16.5 billion euros from 2020 to 2022,” as Rolf Pickert, CEO of Messe Muenchen do Brasil in São Paulo, explains.

“IFAT, with its international network, provides a central networking platform for all market players in this dynamic environment, and is driving the use of environmental technologies both in Brazil and throughout the region,” as Stefan Rummel and Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, the co-CEOs of Messe München, explain. As part of an international industry network, IFAT Brasil will play a key role in helping to achieve the Brazilian government’s objectives in the fields of drainage, and waste, water and sewage management by 2033.

Experts estimate that around 35 million Brazilians have no access to treated water and that the households of more than 100 million people are not connected to a sewage system. That is why the country needs professionals and companies with the expertise in which IFAT specializes, such as water treatment and supply, sewage treatment plants, waste and sewage management, and alternative energy solutions.

IFAT Brasil will be held in 2024 in parallel with the established M&T Expo, the largest trade fair in the construction and mining segments in Latin America. Both events complement each other perfectly.

IFAT, the world’s leading trade fair, is a key platform for its network, with ten locations in Munich, China (4), India, South Africa, Turkey, Singapore, and from 2024, also in Brazil.