Index Creative Village spreads wings
Index Creative Village, Thailand's top events organising agency, will next month sign a joint-venture contract to set up operations in Qatar in what is seen as its first significant move to penetrate the Middle East market.
The company will also open branch offices in Myanmar and Vietnam next month in partnership with local investors. It also plans to expand into Indonesia and the Philippines in order to take advantage of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which will be fully implemented in 2015.
Co-CEO Kriengkrai Kanchanapokin said Index Creative Village expected its overseas business to contribute to about 20 per cent of its revenue next year, but it should double by 2015 when the AEC goes into effect.
“It is time for the company to sell its creativity to potential customers within and beyond Asean. Creativity is our selling point and with strong creative skills, we can beat other event organising agencies inside and outside the region,” he said.
Index Creative Village received accolades and was named seventh best in world-class rankings from the Special Events Magazine last year. It expects to achieve Bt2 billion in revenue this year, up 15 per cent from last year.
“Our expansion strategy in any market overseas will be enhanced strategically through partnership with locals, who can capitalise on our know-how and creativity based on in-depth study of consumer insight,” Kriengkrai said.
Index Creative Village was recently appointed by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s Marine and Coastal Resources Department to build the Thailand Pavilion at South Korea’s Expo 2012. The pavilion is designed to represent the government’s vision on the protection of marine and coastal resources. At the expo, the pavilion will present spectacular exhibitions of local culture, beautiful marine resources and advanced technology under the “Colours of Diversity: Capacity of Thailand” theme.
“Our main objective is to promote the national branding of Thailand and encourage South Korean people, especially those living in Yeosu, to learn more about Thailand and its beautiful tourist destinations and natural resources. It will help our tourist industry,” Bamroongsak Chatananthawej, director of the Thailand Pavilion, said.
Expo 2012 Yeosu, which kicked off on May 12, will run until August 12 and is expected to attract about 8 million visitors, of whom at least 900,000 are expected to stop at the Thailand Pavilion. Organisers believe that more than 90 per cent of the visitors to the Thai pavilion would be South Korean people.
