Mobile World Congress to stay in Barcelona until at least 2023

Barcelona (ACN).- Barcelona will continue to host each year the world's main event of the mobile phone-related industries until at least 2023, it has been confirmed by the company organising the Mobile World Congress, GSMA, on Tuesday through a press release. “We are very pleased to confirm that Barcelona will continue to serve as the Mobile World Capital and home of the Mobile World Congress for the next eight years”, stated the CEO of GSMA, John Hoffman. The current contract was due to end in 2018 and a few months ago Barcelona officially told GSMA it was willing to continue hosting the event until 2023. GSMA has announced that it has just signed the agreement, which also involves Barcelona's City Council, the Catalan Government, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Fira de Barcelona and Barcelona's Tourism Board, as well as the Barcelona Mobile World Capital Foundation (BMWCF).

The Catalan capital has been uninterruptedly hosting the annual event since 2006 and has been declared the Mobile World Capital. The project goes beyond the congress, spans throughout the entire year and involves the development of a business environment focused on this type of industry at international level, developing programmes in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, health, education and smart cities, among others.

"Our 2015 event marked the 10^th year we’ve held the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and over that period of time, we’ve received tremendous support from all of our Mobile World Congress and Mobile World Capital Barcelona partners. We look forward to further building on our success together in the years ahead", stated the event organisers in their press release.

The latest edition of the world's main event of the mobile-related industries attracted more than 94,000 visitor from some 200 countries, many of them business executives from the world’s largest and most influential mobile operators, software companies, equipment providers, internet companies and companies from industry sectors such as the automotive industry, finance and healthcare, as well as government delegations from across the globe. Furthermore, more than 2,000 companies were present and showcased their new products during the 4-day conference.

According to the organisers and the City Council, the event generated an impact of €436 million for the local economy, a figure that continues to increase year after year. In addition, almost 12,700 part-time jobs were created. The next Mobile World Congress will take place from the 22^th to 25^th of February 2016 in the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, located between the Catalan capital's airport and the city centre.