It's time to surf the wave of information technologies, said President Petar Stoyanov at the opening of the sixth edition of BAIT Expo, the national exhibition of computers, networking, software, Internet and IT solutions, on Tuesday. More than 2,500 people visited the expo on the first day.

"If we want to decrease the distance between us and the world we call developed, we cannot do this with the standard methods that we knew 10 years ago," Stoyanov said in his opening speech. "I can say, certainly, that people who use the Internet are the driving force that can make happen the giant economic transformation we have been waiting for so long."

A record number of participants - more than 120 leading companies in the IT branch - are displaying their products and services in an area of 6,000 sq.m. in the International Exhibition Centre (IEC) Bulgarreklama for six days until Sunday.

Representatives of the prominent organizers of international hi-tech CeBIT fairs - Deutche Messe AG - are taking part in the exhibition for the first time with their own stand.

As every year, various lecturers, including 15 foreigners, will present a 60-hour seminar program. Some of the seminar topics are "The system for issuing electronic signature certificates - a basis for building e-government and e-business," and "Solutions for large format colour scanning," among many others.

The first day of the exhibition ended with a Metropolis party, with which the organizers and the DJs from the Bulgarian techno movement Metropolis underlined the idea that young Bulgarians should stay in their country. About 2,000 fans attended the show in spite of the rain.

Earlier, at the opening of BAIT Expo, Stoyanov said: "During all my meetings with members of foreign companies in the IT business, I aimed at lobbying for one thing - instead of our most talented specialists going overseas, isn't it better to invest in countries like Bulgaria?"

BAIT Expo 2001 is organized jointly by the Bulgarian Association for Information Technology (BAIT), Agency Bulgarreklama and the advertising and PR agency ASK'96.

The exhibition hall is open to visitors every day until Sunday, from 10am to 7pm. Three free bus lines run every 20 minutes between the IEC and the railway station, passing by Sofia University, Eagle Bridge and the Pliska Hotel. Entrance is two leva.