ILMAC (Basel, Switzerland)

The pharmaceutical and chemical sectors are very strongly represented in Switzerland and constitute a key pillar of the economy. Within this market, companies are currently starting to move their focus back to Switzerland again. Production is returning to Switzerland, and companies that are established here are investing in their home location to a greater extent once more. The Basel conurbation is one of Europe’s biggest life sciences regions. Almost two thirds of those employed in the Swiss pharmaceutical industry work in this cluster. In addition, a major portion of the Swiss added value chain is generated in Basel and its surroundings. Around one third of all Swiss exports and a fifth of all Swiss imports are attributable to pharmaceutical products. Global sales of the top ten Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies totalled CHF 147 thousand million in 2017.

Since 1959, ILMAC has been the sole Swiss industry fair for pharmaceuticals and chemicals that depicts all the industrial applications in process and laboratory technology. As a user-oriented trade fair, ILMAC is geared to experts in pharmacuticals, chemicals, food, drinks, cosmetics and biotechnology. Despite this wide range of sectors, ILMAC is still of particularly manageable proportions (it can be visited in a single day), is close to hand (staged in the midst of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries) and depicts the Swiss market in its entirety.