Thousands of cannabis business leaders from around the world came together on March 9, 2023, for a full day of action at the International Cannabis Business Congress in Barcelona (Spain), Europe’s premier business-to-business cannabis event.
Despite the Spanish city’s tendency to turn people away until the wee hours of the morning, bustling L’Auditori de Cornellà was packed with people from the start of the day. Two floors of exhibitors kept the attendees moving, hoping to catch up with everyone from hardware manufacturers to seed banks and everyone else before the day was over.
International Cannabis Business Conference– also known as ICBC – originated in the United States nearly a decade ago and has made its mark in many countries, including Canada, Switzerland and Croatia, with its main shows taking place annually in Barcelona and Berlin. With a focus on high-impact education and rigorous business-to-business networking, ICB creates the perfect professional landscape for deal flow.
“The cool thing about what we do here at ICBC Barcelona is that we create a b2b element,” said Alex Rogers, Founder and CEO of ICBC. “We get everyone together to talk and do business – we’ve become the B2B meeting point here in Barcelona for it.” spanabis week.”
The professional environment ICBC provides is crucial to the many cannabis industry and thought leaders who come to Barcelona each year to celebrate Spannabis. Having a day focused solely on building relationships and developing the global conversation around the plant ensures movement for the space, something that is not lost on attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors.
said the spokesperson, Luna Storr, Chief Impact Officer Aspire. “It’s the premier networking space for those looking to do good business with good people – everything from the keynote conference to the after party was well organized and ran like a well-stocked machine.”
Popular panels include talks about cannabis and innovation
The ICBC Barcelona 2023 schedule was buzzing, with programming in Spanish and English covering topics such as comparing medical marijuana regulations across Europe, media and marketing, advances in cannabis technology, and the state of the international cannabis scene, all featuring heavy hitters representing every aspect of Vertical – and every corner of the globe.
One of the most talked about paintings was “Squaring the Circle of Industrial Hemp in Spain”. While it focused primarily on the country’s domestic hemp space, it raised important questions about potential industrial hemp around the world. At a time when climate change is ravaging the planet, the myriad uses of hemp as an energy source, building material, and plastic alternative cannot be ignored any longer.
“Jack Herer used to tell me that hemp could save the planet,” said Rogers when asked about the painting’s popularity. “I wasn’t sure if I believed him at the time. But now I am a believer.”
All eyes are on Germany
While many of the talks at ICBC Barcelona 2023 centered on Spain, the real buzz centered on Germany. German officials, who legalized medical cannabis in 2017, are working hard to introduce adult use legalization – the first of its kind in the European Union. Plans are expected to be announced any day and have been very impressive lately European Union officialsA precedent indicating a major shift in the region.
“This is the biggest news in cannabis right now – Germany is the big dog in the EU,” Rogers commented. “Once Germany (legalizes) it gives permission to other countries in Europe to do so as well.”
Ngio Belluma longtime comedian, writer and master of ceremonies for ICBC, also predicts big things for Deutschland.
“I think Germany will really explode. And it will also open it up for everyone in Europe to see how it goes; we can generally have confidence that the Germans are relatively efficient.”
Despite the turmoil facing mature markets in the United States, the booming international market has created a renewed sense of vitality among event participants.
“The ICBC Barcelona 2023 event was one of the best we’ve seen in the last couple of years; we felt we got a lot out of our main sponsor role,” Stower said of Ispire’s participation. Energy is electric.”
Rogers echoed Storr’s sentiments, encouraging everyone to stay tuned for Very Busy ICBC Berlin June 27 – And to think beyond the current market excitement, reminding us all that this is a global movement.
“Europe is the place now,” Rogers quipped. “But the great thing about ICBC is all the people that come from all over the world, so it has become a meeting point for the Eastern Hemisphere and part of the Western Hemisphere. So it is the most international diverse meeting point for cannabis in the world.”
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