Trade is like a river which flows along the most natural course. Zagreb is situated on one such course on the route from west to east (Austria, Greece, Turkey, Asia) and from north to south (from the Baltic Sea, the Danube region to the Adriatic). Our city lies in the centre of these crossroads. With the removal of the "Iron Curtain", Zagreb's position has become even more important because a new wave of goods and people from Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary will flow to the Mediterranean via our ports. This centuries old trade link with Central Europe was severed from 1914 until our time. The accelerated construction of the road from Karlovac to Rijeka and from Zagreb to Hungary and Austria will open the doors of the Mediterranean to many states in Eastern Europe. The lowland railway will aid the transport of goods to the sea. Zagreb has always been particularly inviting for international trade as it was situated on the crossroads between east and west. It thus became one of the eleven biggest international fair centres in the world thanks mostly to the expert organisers of the Zagreb Fair. The period dating from 1956 was especially significant to the development of the Zagreb Fair when owing to the work of the mayor of Zagreb, Mr. Vjeceslav Holjevac, the Zagreb Fair was relocated across the Sava River. Only then did the full development of the Zagreb Fair begin. The Zagreb Fair is situated on a location measuring 505 thousand square metres, of which more than 180 thousand square metres are indoor exhibition space. A modern infrastructure also enables activities in the winter months. Every year, the Zagreb Fair organises some 25 specialised events where more than seven thousand exhibitors from both here and abroad take part. Around a million visitors, experts and business people pass through the exhibition halls each year. One of the most important events is the Zagreb International Autumn Fair. Apart from these events, the Zagreb Fair also plays host to international congresses, panels and symposiums regularly attended by reputable scientists from Croatia and abroad. Since 1990, the World Trade Centre has also been working at the Zagreb Fair as a part of the WTC association based in New York, a distinguished family of 258 centres in 64 countries around the world. Success and efficiency have become the hallmark of the Zagreb Fair's image, making it renowned around the world.