The International Spring Fair in Bulgaria’s second largest city of Plovdiv will welcome 650 Bulgarian companies, 12 per cent more companies than last year, and 320 firms from abroad, the general manager of International Fair Plovdiv Ivan Sokolov told a news conference.

The exhibition, traditionally focusing on consumer goods and technologies, will for the first time feature firms from Ukraine, Singapore, Norway and San Marino.

This year’s special fringe event will be the new specialised yacht, boat, water sports and equipment expo, which will to resume after a several-year recess. So is the Impressia salon of arts, Sokolov added.

The growing interest shown by municipalities in the fair was an emerging trend, Sokolov said. First-timers in the expo include municipalities from Greece and Spain. This year, exhibition space will sell at 2007 rates, which means 85 euro a sq m of indoor and 75 euro a sq m of outdoor space.

The exhibition starts on May 12 and will run until May 17.