Event managers expanding into Indochina to tap potential

Both global chains and Thailand’s leading event organisers are expanding into this market.
CMO Group chief executive officer Sermkhun Kunawong said that although the event business in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma was at an early stage, there was room to grow as foreign firms invested in those countries.
To prepare CMO, formally known as GM Organiser, for the opportunities lying ahead, last week it announced an investment of about Bt200 million on a new office and upgraded equipment and support facilities to welcome both local and regional clients.
It also plans to form joint ventures with three companies in the information-technology, new-media and design businesses, at home and overseas.
“Such moves are aimed at strengthening our existing core businesses,” Sermkhun said.
This was also part of a re-branding and restructuring strategy as it plans to diversify from event organising into a total event-management and communication service. For example, The Eyes, which provides mul-timedia production services for local clients, will start exporting technology to neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Burma.
CMO will focus on organising cultural events such as sound-and-light performances at major tourist attractions in those countries, Sermkhun said.
Sermkhun added that by the end of 2014 before the AEC is fully implemented, his company expected Bt2 billion in annual revenue. Of that, Bt400 million would come from its business in neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, another leading event organiser, Index Creative Village, is marking its 22nd anniversary this year with an aggressive expansion plan into Burma and Vietnam.
Index Creative Village co-CEO Kriengkrai Kanchanapokin considers this a big step for the company. It has earmarked about Bt100 million for support facilities and equipment as well as establishing “event depot” offices in both countries while working with local partners to train staff.
Index Creative Village has signed contracts to organise three events next month, two of them with the Burmese government and one with a private company.
Burma’s Information and Culture Ministry selected Index Creative Village to hold the Myanmar Academy 2010 Awards from February 7-9 in the new capital, Naypyidaw.
The firm will focus on the government sector in Burma, and on private events in Vietnam.
Although purchasing power in those two countries remains limited, there is room to grow because of the size of their populations – 55 million in Burma and 70 million in Vietnam – Kriengkrai added. After those countries, Index Creative Village will move into Malaysia, and then Indonesia.
In the next three years, the company expects overseas business to contribute about 20-25 per cent of its annual income.
Yod Sukwiwat, managing director of Momentum, a subsidiary of McCann Worldgroup, a leading global marketing communications firm, said his company was ready for the AEC in 2015.
The firm will utilise its expertise and creative communication from its network in the Asia-Pacific region, including in Australia, mainland China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, according to Yod.
“With our strong connections, we are committed to providing international standard of service through multi-platform marketing, on the ground, on mobile phones, online and on the air, for our clients,” Yod said.