Asia Business Media

Friday, September 28, 2012

Messe Düsseldorf to launch footwear event in Shanghai

News this week: Messe Düsseldorf will launch a new footwear trade fair in Shanghai - GDS Select – Premium European Shoe Fair. GDS Select will be held from 17^th to 19^th April 2013 at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

The new fair will be part of the China International Footwear & Leathergoods Exhibition (CIFL) and will be supported by the China Commerce Association for General Merchandise (CCAGM). Messe Dusseldorf also plans to launch a Beijing edition of GDS Select in autumn 2013 together with the CHIC fashion fair.

GDS Select 2013 will showcase selected international brands and the fair will be open to trade visitors from the retail fashion industry. The organiser expects the fair to occupy an exhibition space of more than 20,000 m² and to feature approximately 200 exhibitors.

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Buyers numbers up 4.5% at HKTDC Watch & Clock Fair

News this week: The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) concluded its five-day Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair with more than 17,500 buyers – an increase of 4.5% over last year’s edition. According to the HKTDC, emerging market buyers were up significantly, particularly those from Iran (up 32%), mainland China (up 17%) and Russia (up 17%).

The Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair reportedly attracted 720 exhibitors from 12 countries and regions and is co-organised by the HKTDC Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association and The Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries. The event ran from 5^th to 9^th September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Chinese exhibitors dominate North Korean trade fair

News this week: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) hosted the eight edition of the Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair featuring more than 200 companies from 12 countries. Over 60% of the total number of exhibitors (126 of 200) were from China. The fair which closed on 27^th September focuses on machines, electronics, clothing and vehicles.

O Il Hun, vice director of the Korean International Exhibition Corporation, was quoted as saying, “The annual trade fair plays a positive role in expanding economic relations among countries through joint ventures, investment and science and technology exchanges.”

Alibaba’s mobile OS team spins-off from Aliyun

News this week: Hangzhou-based e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, will reportedly spin-off its mobile operating system (OS) development team from its Aliyun subsidiary. This announcement follows the cancellation last week of the Alibaba-Acer smartphone launch.

According to an internal memo from company CEO Jack Ma, the Alibaba Group will invest US$200 million to expand the mobile OS team. The smartphone launch and news conference was cancelled at the last minute as Google stepped-in to halt what Google deemed to be a breach of its Android Open Handset Alliance agreement by Acer.

Jack Ma’s company memo reportedly read, “To better safeguard the healthy growth of Aliyun OS business and further implement the Group’s Aliyun wireless strategy, we need to make adjustments in terms of talent, organisational structure and the Group’s resource allocation.”

Londero assumes regional role at Reed Exhibitions

News this week: Earlier this week, international exhibition organiser, Reed Exhibitions, announced the promotion of Dan Londero to Regional President for Turkey, India and the Middle East.

Chairman and CEO of Reed Exhibitions, Mike Rusbridge, said, “The formation of Reed Tuyap in Turkey, Reed Manch in India and new partnerships in the Middle East meant that additional senior management capacity was needed in order to meet growth expectations.”

In the meantime, Londero will continue to serve as Global Head of Sales at Reed’s export division. Londero was quoted, “Our global network, which provides valuable support to our customers entering new geographies, will play a significant role in bringing new business into the regions. With experienced local teams focused on adding value for our customers and a strong portfolio of events we look forward to an exciting period of accelerated growth.”

UBM Asia expands livestock portfolio to Myanmar

News this week: UBM Asia, subsidiary of UBM plc., announced the launch of the inaugural Livestock Myanmar Expo at the Tatmadaw Exhibition Hall. The inaugural event will run from 24^th to 26^th October 2013.

Livestock Myanmar will focus on animal husbandry, animal health and bio-security, grain & feed production and the aqua-culture sectors. The event is supported by the Myanmar Livestock Federation and will also feature a 500-delegate conference.

Dr. Mya Han (B,V.S), Chairman of the Myanmar Livestock Federation commented, “The Myanmar Livestock Federation is delighted to support Livestock Myanmar 2013 Expo & Forum as it provides a great occasion for all industry professionals and players including farmers, integrators, feed millers, mixers, veterinarians and processors to convene and exchange their invaluable experiences, ideas and innovation while at the same time it will foster valuable partnerships between Myanmar companies and international enterprises.”

Tarsus partners to launch auto aftermarket show in Jakarta

News this week: Tarsus Group, organiser of the China International Automotive Aftermarket Industry and Tuning Trade Fair (AAITF), has announced its partnership with Indonesian organiser, Dyandra Promosindo, to launch the inaugural AAITF Jakarta in March 2014. Mayfield Media Strategies acted as the broker in this deal.

AAITF Jakarta will be the first aftermarket auto parts trade fair in Indonesia. The event will be held in Hall B of Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) – which has available space of 3,900 m². The exact date of the fair has not yet been announced, but it will run over three days from a Wednesday to a Friday. The organisers expect more than 170 companies to showcase their products to about 10,000 trade buyers.

Tarsus’ partner, Dyandra Promosindo, is a leading professional exhibition organiser established in Indonesia in 1994. Dyandra has organised more than 200 exhibitions in Jakarta and in other major cities across Indonesia.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Thailand’s TCEB unveils plans for 2013

News this week: The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has released details of its “2013 Strategic Plan for Thailand’s MICE industry.” Mr. Thongchai Sridama, Acting Director of TCEB noted, “For 2012, TCEB set a target of 750,000 MICE visitors to Thailand, generating revenues of over 60.12 billion Baht (US$1.95 billion). So far, in the first three quarters of this year, we have already welcomed 639,590 MICE visitors, with revenues estimated at 59 billion Baht (US$1.9 billion). We are therefore confident of meeting or exceeding our annual target this year.”

In 2013, TCEB expects the MICE industry will grow by 7% or more and the agency has set a target of 792,000 MICE visitors and revenues of 63.9 billion Baht (US$2.1 billion).

The 2013 budget will be 870 million Baht of which there are four key areas of focus: management (17% of the total budget), attracting overseas events (37%), market promotion activities (27%) and development activities comprising 19% of the total budget.

Strong showing at Global Sources’ electronic exhibitions

News this week: Earlier this month, Global Sources organised the 14^th edition of the China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE), at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center (SZCEC) from 6^th to 9^th September 2012.

According to Global Sources, CIOE is the largest optoelectronics event in the world and close to 100,000 international and local professionals attended the event. CIOE is also expected to have attracted close to 3,000 exhibitors and occupy 100,000 m² of exhibition space together with the co-located Global Sourcing Fair: Electronics & Components.

Separately, Global Sources’ fall 2012 electronics trade shows are expected to feature a record of 4,000 booths. The co-located events include the China Sourcing Fairs: Electronics & Components, Security Products and Korea Sourcing Fair: Electronics & Components which will be held from 12^th to 15^th October at the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE).

Alibaba’s mobile OS partnership launch halted

News this week: Hangzhou-based e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, and computer manufacturer Acer had scheduled a joint press conference to launch a new smartphone. The event was cancelled at the last minute as Google stepped in to halt what Google deems to be a breach of the Android Open Handset Alliance agreement – signed by Acer.

Acer and Alibaba’s Cloud Computing unit were set to unveil the Acer CloudMobile A800 smartphone, which runs on the Alibaba developed mobile operating system, Aliyun 2.0 cloud OS.

Google’s Android chief, Andy Rubin, described the Aliyun platform as a modified version of Android which is incompatible with other Android devices and thus, as a member of the Open Handset Alliance, Acer’s use of Aliyun would be a breach of that alliance agreement.