A Glory Night of the New Era Exhibitions

BANGKOK, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Exhibition department of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau has recently hosted a dinner talk & charity night under the theme "Synergy of ASEAN, the Way to Success" for industry stakeholders at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The special event is aimed to be a platform that encourages knowledge exchange and networking for the exhibition industry gearing toward the commencement of ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 while doing good deeds to Thai society. To mark the 10th anniversary of TCEB operation, the donation collected from industry people at the event will be given to the Prostheses Foundation of the H.R.H. the Princess Mother.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120925/HK80447LOGO )

TCEB has partnered with Thai Exhibition Association (TEA), Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA), Thailand Management Association (TMA), Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) and Thai Airways International (TG) while inviting over 300 guests of private and public stakeholders from business sectors, trade associations, chambers of commerce, professional exhibition organizers (PEOs), exhibition venues, government related agencies and MICE Cities officials to attend the event. The event stressed on overall economy and trend of the high growth markets in Asia and in ASEAN in particular and how exhibition platform comes in as the effective mechanic to stimulating trade, investments as well as tourism in the country.

Mr. Thongchai Sridama, Board of Director and Acting President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau said, "This is a very special occasion for TCEB to bring in key figures from the industry to come and share their view on the current global trend of exhibitions and the challenges the industry is facing on the rise of ASEAN. We also want to put spotlight on Thailand's exhibition industry by having the awarding ceremony of Better the Best and the Next Best Shows, TCEB's Exhibition subsidy initiatives that are designed to help raise the competitiveness of overall domestic trade shows."

The key highlight of the night was the panel discussion under the topic "A Secret of Partnering under ASEAN Rising and Beyond"  by industry gurus including Mr. Paul Beh, President of Asia-Pacific, Reed Exhibitions Ltd., Mr. Michael Dreyer, Vice President of Asia Pacific Koeln Messe GmbH and Mr. Marcel Ewals, Managing Director of KENES Asia. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Steve Monnington, Managing Director of Mayfield Media Strategies.

TCEB was honored by Mr. Paul Woodward, Managing Director of UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry to address on the most mainstream topic in the industry regarding the global exhibition trend and the challenges that come with the emerging Asian markets.

With its role of industry promoter and facilitator, TCEB also held an award presentation to winning contestants of Believe in Thailand; the Next Best Shows, a matching fund for international activities program that provides support to Thailand's high-potential exhibitions. The winners are namely Pack Print 2011 by Messe Dusseldorf Asia for the Increase in Overseas Visitors, TFBO&TRAFS 2011 by Kavin Intertrade Co., Ltd for Increase in Overseas Exhibitors, Food & Hotel Thailand 2011 by Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd. for Increase in Net Space and Food Ingredient Asia 2011 by UBM Asia (Thailand) Co., Ltd. for Increase in Total Overseas Participants.     

The bureau also presented Appreciation Token to the VNU Exhibition Asia Pacific Co., Ltd & N.C.C.Exhibition Organizer Co., Ltd, Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd., Reed Tradex Company, UBM Asia (Thailand) Co., Ltd. who are the organizers of the four champion exhibitions under the 'Better the Best' campaign namely  VIV Asia, ProPak Asia, Metalex and Renewable Energy Asia, respectively.  With three years support from Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau in offering excellent tailor-made marketing & promotion to the 4 shows, the international visitors had grew up to 36%.

Speaking at the dinner talk, Mr. Thongchai added that "Amid the rising challenges that Asia's emerging markets bring toward exhibition industry globally, Thailand is still at its forefront when it comes to the country's competitiveness as the exhibition center of ASEAN. We are doing everything to ensure the industry collaboration and maintain its attractiveness. Tonight's dinner talk is a part of that strategy."

According to "The Trade Fair Industry of Asia 8th Edition, 2012" reported by the Union des Foires International (UFI), Thailand's trade fair industry is the 8th largest trade fair market in Asia, and the largest in Southeast Asia, the same position it held in 2011. The report covers the Greater China and South-East Asian markets, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan and Australia.

Thailand continued to enjoy average growth of 6.9% growth year-on-year in its trade fair industry. Total revenues generated by Thailand's trade fair industry reached USD 151 million with some 77 trade fairs identified. In terms of estimated annual size, total space sales were 462,500 sq. m. as well as having nine well-equipped exhibition venues.  The report is also confident of positive trend in the Thai trade fair industry, thanks to the country's facilities and growing, export-led economy. When the ASEAN Economic Community integration becomes effective in 2015 and with the government's consistent support via TCEB's promotions, subsidies and incentives, the industry will expectedly enjoy strong growth.

In 2012, Thailand is expected to welcome approximately 750,000 MICE visitors to the country, generating expected revenues of 1,940 million US dollars whereby accumulated to exhibitions and trade fairs of 80,000 visitors, generating expected revenues of 255 million US dollars.

About Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau

Working under the Prime Minister's Office, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) was created as a vibrant, 21st-century, cutting-edge professional organization. TCEB's organizational design, with its flat and agile structure, facilitates rapid response, thus enabling the TCEB Team to deliver prompt and superior services, whilst achieving the highest level of operational efficiency and effectiveness. These are essential to Thailand's MICE competitiveness on the regional and global stage. TCEB promotes ethical and responsible business behaviour based on its core values of customer enthusiasm, integrity, teamwork, innovation, continuous improvement, and responsibility. Knowledge sharing at TCEB has evolved over time. We aim to become the standard-setters for the industry.

www.tceb.or.th

For more information please contact;

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau

Ms. Arisara Thanuplang
Tel: +66-2-694-6096
[email protected]

Ms. Atichit Akkarakittikul
Tel: +66-2-694-6000 ext. 6112
[email protected]

SOURCE Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau