With the increasing spread of Covid-19, more and more events and trade fairs are being postponed or even completely canceled. Shortly before this issue went to press, this affected Logimat and the Hannover Messe, which was postponed to July 2020. It is difficult to predict what impact this will have. On the one hand, exhibitors and visitors will no longer have to decide whether or not to visit the trade fair. On the other hand, the new date might not suit everyone and the largest industry show could shrink. On the other hand, an argument can be made against this: Better smaller, but not a ghost event. In any case, it has directly prompted us to postpone our Hannover Messe specials planned for March and April until the summer.

The extent of the economic damage can also hardly be predicted at this stage. The Federal Ministry of Economics has not yet issued any forecasts, saying it is too early and much depends on the duration of the epidemic. However, bank analysts and economic researchers are already drawing parallels with the global financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and the stock markets fell significantly in the last week of February - albeit from a high level.

No matter how this development continues, corona shows us how small the world of business has become and how quickly the wheels of globalization can grind to a halt. Trade relations exist across continents, machine manufacturers are worried about the supply of components for production, supply chains are interrupted, sales figures in export markets collapse and, of course, there are adverse effects on trade and tourism.

And what does this mean for us personally? Of course, we should be careful, pay attention to hygiene and wash our hands, but that should go without saying. But we shouldn't let ourselves go crazy and panic either, even if the toilet paper has been sold out for a week.

With this in mind, stay healthy,

Yours
Annina Schopen
Editor handling