The biennial EMO machine tool exhibition (www.emo-hannover.de), which is promoted by Cecimo — the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries — is being held in Hannover 18-23 September and will be formally opened by Germany’s President, Frank-Walter Steinmeir.

Carl Martin Welcker, general commissioner of EMO Hannover, said: “We are absolutely delighted that our head of state will be honouring this event with is presence, confirming the importance accorded to the nation’s industrial sector.”

Speaking at the EMO Preview 2017 in June, Mr Welcker said more than 2,050 firms from 45 countries had signed up for the event, of which more than 1,400 were from Europe.

“Moreover, the number of Asian participants has increased from 21 to 25%. These figures put the number of registrations considerably above those for the previous event, and the indications are that we are heading for a record level of participation.”