BES sets strategy to make Thailand the epicentre of global exhibitions
WITH THAILAND’S exhibition industry expected to experience good growth driven by a recovery of the local economy and implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Bangkok Exhibition Services Co has revealed its strategy to turn Thailand into an in
BES general manager Justin Powell said the Thai economy was expected to see good signs of recovery this year driven by investment and the government’s economic stimulus schemes as well as benefiting from the growth of trade and investment in the AEC countries.
In addition, the private sector has seen this opportunity and is overhauling production technology and business capacity, which will significantly help the local exhibition industry.
Powell said BES was set to turn Thailand into an international product-exhibition hub. This year it aims to organise six events, two in Thailand and four in Myanmar, with the domestic events expected to generate more than Bt31 billion, an increase of 15-20 per cent over 2015.
He said that despite Thailand’s economic deceleration last year, the exhibition-organising business, particularly in the industrial group, could have grown by about 15-20 per cent, since manufacturers and business operators sought more opportunities and new customers. They considered it worthwhile investing in product exhibitions rather than other channels since they could meet a great number of targeted customers at one time and immediately close sales.
He said the product-exhibition industry would continue to grow this year since the world economy had started to recovery, while trade and investment within the AEC would grow along with investment in infrastructure and government stimulus here in Thailand.
These factors have built up the private sector’s confidence to invest and develop product and service production capacity in order to become more competitive, which has tended to boost the industrial-product exhibition business in the past years.
BES plans to organise six international industrial-product exhibitions this year, two of them in Thailand.
“ProPak Asia” is the region’s biggest exhibition of processing and packaging of industrial products, production technology, food and beverage processing, medical-supply packaging and containers. “Food & Hotel Thailand” is an industrial-product exhibition of international food and hospitality services. These two major events will occupy more than 65,000 square metres of combined space.
The other four industrial-product exhibitions BES organises this year will be held in Myanmar, including “Food & Hotel Myanmar” and “ProPak Myanmar”. “CommuniCast Myanmar” is an exhibition focusing on communication and information systems, and “Construction, Power & Mining Myanmar” showcases the construction, electricity, alternative-
energy and mining industries.
Exhibiting in Myanmar, considered one of the most attractive countries for investors worldwide, can benefit businesspeople and investors from Thailand, since the two countries have several things in common both in their economies and society, BES believes.
BES has set up strategies to turn Thailand into the Asean hub for industrial product exhibitions, since the company has seen Thailand’s potential and strong economic foundations that can be further developed. If the politics remain calm and the economy shows some sign of recovery, it believes Thailand will get back on track as one of Asean’s most attractive countries for investment.
