José Manuel Soria, President of the Cabildo, inaugurated yesterday at INFECAR the X International Exhibition of Water, Energy and the Environment, CANAGUA 2005. In his speech, given in the Bandama Room of the Gran Canaria Conference Centre, the President emphasised the importance for the island of its designation as a World Biosphere Reserve and venue for the International Desalination Congress, which will take place in 2007, coinciding with the next edition of this fair.

In addition, he highlighted the importance of CANAGUA in the calendar of the Fairgrounds, as well as the great interest it arouses among professionals in these sectors (Water, Energy and Environment), whom he encouraged to continue working on improving the quality of life of the population.

“As chance would have it, the celebration of CANAGUA 2005 coincides with the latest edition of the REDBIOS World Congress, which until next Friday brings together in Gran Canaria the most important experts in Biosphere Reserves,” said Soria, for whom the island has become a world reference and exporter in the field of environment and water.

A novelty of this edition will be the celebration of the I Eco-Business Forum, in which twenty companies dedicated to ecotourism, environmental studies and projects, education and certification management will take part. Along with it, the traditional technical conferences will be held, which, as in previous editions, constitute one of the main attractions of this fair, eminently professional.

I ECO-BUSINESS FORUM

At the I Forum on Eco-Companies in Gran Canaria, some twenty entities working on the island linked to the environment (environmental education, environmental studies and projects, ecotourism and environmental certifications) will be represented.

The initiative has been promoted by the Ministry of Environment and Water of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, which aims to contribute to the development of employment related to the natural environment, promoting employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability, equal opportunities and investment in human resources.

The First Forum on Eco-Enterprises in Gran Canaria, 70 per cent co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Biodiversity Foundation, is part of the set of free actions for workers of SMEs and self-employed professionals in the environmental sector in Gran Canaria of the Operational Programmes for Business Initiation and Continuous Training 2000-2006.