Adfest pleads for more govt assistance
To maintain Thailand's position as a regional powerhouse for creative advertising, the working committee for the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival is urging more financial support from the government because of increasing costs and higher competition amo
Committee chairman Vinit Suraphongchai said yesterday that though this year’s show had received support from both private and government bodies including the Commerce Ministry’s Intellectual Property and International Trade Promotion departments and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, it was not enough to meet increased expectations and quality development. The operating costs of this flagship show, now about Bt40 million, rise by about 10 per cent every year.
“We must continue improving the quality of the show, inviting world-famous judges for the contests. This will lure participants from across the region,” Vinit said.
He explained that the regional show would be permanently staged in the Kingdom. There will be more than 1,000 professionals from the advertising, communication and film-production industries visiting the country every year, bringing economic gain, promoting tourism, and stimulating advertising-related business, such as the film shoots for TV commercials.
Meanwhile, AdFest’s key rivals such as Singapore’s Spikes Asia enjoy full support from government and their quality continues to improve. Now the Singapore show’s reputation is very close to AdFest’s.
“We just want to maintain Thailand as the regional hub for creativity with this show,” he said.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of AdFest. The mega-event will be held under the “Fast Forward” concept from March 18-20 at Royal Cliff Hotel in Pattaya. It expects to attract more than 3,200 entries in 14 categories for its Lotus Award competition, up from 2,700 last year.
