Asia Business Media: December 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

Record 4,900+ exhibitors at Automechanika Shanghai

News this week: Messe Frankfurt’s Automechanika Shanghai 2014 recently concluded a record-breaking edition at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The four-day automotive trade show featured a total of 4,906 exhibitors from 39 countries and regions – a 6% increase over last year’s show. Gross exhibition space increased by 5% to 220,000 m² – reaching the full capacity of the venue’s 17 exhibition halls as well as an additional 10 temporary halls.

Running from 9^th to 12^th December 2014, Automechanika’s international exhibitors increased by 11% reaching 581. Local exhibitors were up 5% to 4,325. First time group pavilions from Argentina and Pakistan formed part of a total of 17 overseas pavilions which included France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.K. and U.S.

Jason Cao, senior general manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK), said, “The increased level of support for Automechanika Shanghai demonstrates the broad and deep influence the show has within the industry. Our strong efforts in promoting the show in emerging markets and extending our product line depth have been rewarded with gaining supporters from Hebei and Jiangsu in China as well as internationally in Turkey, which will have a positive impact on both exhibitors and visitors this year.”

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Suntec Singapore unveils 2015 line-up

News this week: This week, Suntec Singapore released its scheduled line-up of 100 key events for 2015 which included various B2B and B2C events with 18 serving the medical-related industries. The venue reported on a “very strong 2014 performance” since reopening in June 2013 after a period of renovations.

Trade exhibitions to be hosted at Suntec Singapore in 2015 include the Singapore Motorshow, ICMAT and JEC Asia, and new client events such as the CMBE South East Asia, Inside Bitcoins, Expo Inside 3D printing and Parcel-Expo Asia Pacific. The venue also recently launched an online customer portal which features virtual event planning and organisers’ real-time access to booking information.

Arun Madhok, CEO of Suntec, was quoted saying, “This has been a great year for us and we look forward to building on our momentum in 2015. We are pleased to host a growing number of new clients. It has been a pleasure to see the return of many of our existing partners to our new centre.”

Political instability hits Pico Thailand’s bottom line

News this week: Earlier this week, Pico Thailand, the Thai-listed subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Pico Far East Holdings, released its results for the financial year ended 31^st October 2014. The company posted revenues of US$30 million, a year-on-year decrease of 19%. Pico Thailand recorded a net loss of US$156,000 this year, compared to a profit of US$1.3 million in the previous year.

Pico Thailand’s management attributed the drop in revenues to the downturn in the company’s event marketing business and government projects, and postponement of projects due to the country’s political uncertainty during the financial year.

Australian government assists business events industry

News this week: Last month, the Australian federal government entered into a partnership to assist the country’s business events sector during the bidding and event delivery process. Australia’s minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, recently unveiled a new framework, “Attracting Business Events to Australia: Role of Government Agencies”, to highlight international business events as part of the government’s economic agenda.

The framework will involve collaboration between the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and Tourism Australia, the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) and the wider business events sector to attract world-class events to Australia.

Lyn Lewis-Smith, president of AACB, commented, “This is a ground-breaking win for the sector. International business events offer high yield benefits beyond the event that drive prosperity for Australia and contribute to the visitor and knowledge economies. With the growth potential of Asian markets, government support and involvement is essential to ensure AACB is in the best-possible position to identify, bid for and win business events that align with the national priority areas, and better connect industry, academia, government and the private sector.”

MyCEB roadshow tours China

News this week: The Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) recently organised a roadshow to China to promote the country’s business events sector. MyCEB toured several major Chinese cities from 28^th November to 5^th December 2014 which included Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The roadshow featured a delegation of 17 MICE industry players including Resorts World Genting, YTL Hotels & Resorts, Sunway Lagoon, Sarawak Convention Bureau and the Sabah Tourism Board. The roadshow delegation held destination workshops focusing on Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak.

Ms Ho Yoke Ping, general manager, Business Events, MyCEB, said, “Our roadshows to China have always been rewarding in terms of the events originating in China that we manage to attract to Malaysia. Besides the proximity of our two nations and the commonalities we share which have gone a long way towards understanding Chinese culture, Malaysia remains a perfect destination in terms of its multitude of offerings and diversity.”

MMI’s bauma China reaches 300,000 m2

News this week: bauma China 2014, the International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Equipment, recently concluded occupying 300,000 m² of gross exhibition space (including outdoor space) at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). This year’s show gathered 3,104 exhibitors from 41 countries and regions – up 14% compared to the 2012 edition. The four-day event was held on 25^th to 28^th November.

Messe München International (MMI) reported the participation of more than 900 international exhibitors this year. The top five exhibiting countries from outside China were Germany, the U.S., Italy, Korea and Japan. bauma China also hosted nine national pavilions representing: Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Korea, Spain, Turkey, the U.K. and U.S. New features this year saw the launch of a business matchmaking system to facilitate contacts between exhibitors and visitors.

The show attracted 191,000 visitors from 149 countries and regions despite a slowing economy. The number of international buyers were up by 12% this year, with the top overseas visitors originating from Russia, followed by Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Friday, December 05, 2014

Alibaba Group looks to the Indian market

News this week: The Alibaba Group is turning its sights on the Indian market. The group’s founder and chairman visited India in late November, leading a large Chinese delegation.

In October, one of Alibaba’s largest shareholders, Japan’s Softbank, invested more than US$800 million in two Indian e-commerce companies (Snapdeal.com and Ola Cabs). Snapdeal has a similar model to Alibaba’s which aims to connect small businesses directly to buyers. The e-commerce market in India remains small. In 2013, it was valued at US$2 billion compared with US$300 billion in China.

Indian businesses are active on Alibaba’s network of e-commerce platforms. Indian businesses are second only to Chinese business on Alibaba’s sites. Approximately 400,000 consumers in China bought from Indian businesses last year according to Alibaba. While in India, Ma commented, “We will invest more in India, we will work with the Indian entrepreneurs going forward.”

ITE Group profits down, positive on Asia

News this week: This week, U.K.-based exhibition organiser, ITE Group, reported profit attributable to equity holders of US$53 million (£33.9 million) – down slightly compared with US$54.3 million (£34.7 million) the year before. Annual revenues were US$273.6 million (£174.8 million) compared with US$301 million (£192.3 million) the year before. Revenues from Asia increased 55% in 2014 rising from US$5.8 million (£3.7 million) in 2013 to US$8.9 million (£5.7 million) this year.

ITE’s CEO, Russell Taylor, highlighted the group’s expansion and success in Asia, commenting, “ITE has a portfolio of leading events which continue to perform well and helped to deliver a good trading performance this year despite currency headwinds and difficult trading conditions in Russia and Ukraine. The Group has continued to execute its strategy of diversifying its business into new geographical markets and this year has established a presence in China and Indonesia.”

The group entered the exhibition markets in both China and Indonesia in the past two years with 50% acquisitions of a coatings exhibition in China and a construction event in Jakarta. The ChinaCoat exhibition was held this week and covered more than 34,000 m². Management also stated that it has plans to expand ChinaCoat into Southeast-Asia.

KLCC’s 2014 Q4 expected to be strong

News this week: The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) will end 2014 on a high note. The venue reports that it will host a total of 21 medium- to large-sized events in October, November and December. These events will attract a total of 538,000 participants. Some of the larger events include: the PIKOM PC Fair, Malaysia International Jewellery Festival, Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition, International Baby Expo, Facon Education Fair and the HOMEDEC exhibition.

KLCC general manager, Alan Pryor, commented, “The loyalty afforded to us by our clients since opening has been second to none. We are grateful for their continuing support as returning clients attest to our continuing delivery of quality products and services with flexible, innovative and value-added solutions to meet their evolving needs.”

The venue opened in mid-2005, and since that time it has recorded a total of more than 16.8 million visitors to nearly 9,500 events with a reported economic impact of an estimated US$1.58 billion to the Malaysian economy.

MICE event numbers up in Macau in Q3

News this week: The Macau government has released its latest MICE data via the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). In the third quarter of this year, 240 MICE events were held in the city – a modest increase of 14 vs. last year. Revenues from exhibitions in the third quarter, however, were up 81% year-on-year and exhibition revenues in the first nine months of the year were up an impressive 94%.

Overall, there were nearly 725,000 participants at MICE events in the third quarter. That is an increase of more than 16%. It is worth noting that 90% of the 240 events held in the quarter were meetings.

However, exhibitions generated 96% of the MICE visitors in the quarter – a total of 695,456 participants including visitors and exhibitors. Exhibition revenues remained low at just US$4.6 million.

UBM Asia launches another Indian jewellery event

News this week: UBM Asia has announced the results of its inaugural Gujarat Jewellery and Gem Fair 2014 (GJGF). Held in late November at the Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Centre, the exhibition was organised in cooperation with the Gem & Jewellery Trade Council of India (GJTCI).

The exhibition featured nearly 130 exhibitors from all 29 Indian states. Visitors and exhibiors covered a wide range of industry players: jewellery wholesalers, retailers, exporters, importers, manufacturers, diamond and gemstone suppliers and government trade organisations.

UBM’s managing director in India, Joji George, commented, “India is one of the world's largest and fastest growing gem and jewellery markets and Gujarat accounts for almost 80% of the diamonds processed in India; it is a business advantage that Gujarat has over other regions. UBM India is proud to partner with GJTCI to host our maiden show in Gujarat which will not only strengthen our dominance in the jewellery sector but also add to our India footprint with successful established shows in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.”

TCEB kicks-off new campaign in London

New this week: Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) organised a roadshow in London this week to promote its brand communications campaign, “Thailand CONNECTS The World”. The roadshow, held in London at a series of events, reportedly brought together more than 150 buyers, suppliers and media representatives.

Senior representatives from Thai Airways, the Ministry of Commerce, the Tourism Authority of Thailand as well as the Royal Thai Embassy all showed their support by participating. The U.K. and European markets are in the top 10 source markets for Thailand’s business events industry. Travellers from the U.K. to Thai business events increased 84% to 15,262 in first three quarters of 2014, compared to same period last year.

Mrs. Supawan Teerarat, vice president of Strategic and Business Development of TCEB stated that, “The strategic direction to promote Thailand’s MICE industry is in response to the government policy of reinforcing international confidence in Thailand, and especially boosting the vibrancy of the country’s MICE industry, which helps connect business events to global success. For 2015, TCEB has developed the ‘Thailand CONNECT The World: Global Businesses and Local Experts Link to Boost Business Events Success’ brand communications campaign, building on Thailand’s 2014 brand campaign.”

Asia Business Media