T&A/SHOWCASE: The organizers for the IFA consumer electronics trade fair, held every year in Berlin, Germany in September hosted an international press conference for 300 journalists from 45 countries in Malta last week.

Held over three days from 16-19 April at the Hilton Hotel in Malta, the conference saw research firm GfK Asia projecting a total technical consumer equipment (TCE) expenditure year-on-year growth rate of 7% in Asia (including China and Japan) as opposed to just 4% worldwide for 2009.

GfK also projected a zero growth rate for TCE in Europe and a negative 3% decline in North America. Huge markets like South America, Middle-East, Africa and Asia remain the bright spots in an otherwise somber forecast.

Here’s a video summary of what happened at the IFA 2009 International Press Conference in Malta:

At the press conference itself, Miss IFA, the fiery red-dressed symbolism of all things IFA, hosted the journalists to several demos by brands like Philips, Panasonic, Siemens, Miele, Sharp and Bosch at the hotel lobby, an introduction into the beautiful island of Malta and of course, kickstarting the press conference where both organizers, gfu and Messe Berlin, were on hand to share what journalists can expect at the upcoming IFA 2009 show this year.

Takeaways from the conference include 99% booth space rented relative to this time last year and same-size booth spaces among returning brands like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp and so on. The successful 6-hall digital home appliance segment featuring brands like Miele, Bosch, Siemens and so on, which debuted in last year’s show, will also make a comeback. It was also unveiled that Scottish singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald will perform at the IFA 2009 Opening Gala concert in Berlin.

Check out some of the images from both the press conference and the slides presented at the conference: