Capac Expo Habitat expects 35,000 visitors

With over 400 exhibitors, 18,000 square meters of exhibition space, 18 banks and the typical traffic congestion around the Atlapa Convention Center, the XXV Capac Expo Habitat, the country's biggest construction fair, opened yesterday. The organization expects to make transactions valued over $280 million dollars and receive 35,000 attendees at the convention center until next Sunday.

Gabriel Diez, president of the organizing committee, stated that visitors will be able to find projects in a wide price range, from less than $35,000 all the way to $120,000 and higher. This is the first time that Capac Expo Habitat is held with a preferential interest limit of $120,000. When asked if this measure will have an impact on a rise in housing prices, Diez said that the new preferential interests create more purchasing options.

"Construction costs have gone up due to increased prices for raw materials and freight. It is an imported issue and that is reflected in the sales prices," he emphasized. In addition to real estate, the Capac Expo Habitat brings together suppliers of the construction industry, which is undergoing constant growth lately. This dynamism can also be noted from the demand for exhibition space. "The fair grounds are too small," lamented Diez.

As a special guest at the opening ceremony, the former administrador of the Panama Canal Authority, Alberto Alemán Zubieta, received an honor by the construction workers union. Also present were José Domingo Arias, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Roberto Roy, Minister of Canal Affairs, and Jaime Ford, Minister of Public Works.