At A Glance

The Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) has opened the Bhiraj Convention Centre to support the convention industry. 
The new venue contains floor space of 3,574 square metres and can hold up to 3,600 attendees.
It offers three large halls and 12 contemporary and well-equipped meeting rooms that can support multiple-staging setups to accommodate live performances, corporate meetings, plenary sessions, gala events, weddings and product launches.
It is expected to provide a competitive edge to Bitec. 
In line with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s 20-year roadmap to draw more visitors, Bitec has improved its facilities to attract key players domestically and internationally. 
It can provide not only an upscale, quality location, but also a full in-house service to simplify organisers’ tasks.

Markets warm to ice-machine company
Patkol Plc’s second-quarter net profit exploded 787 per cent to Bt34 million from Bt4 million in the same quarter of last year.
The world’s top producer of ice-making machines is confident that revenue this year will hit a new high of Bt4 billion, up from Bt3.7 billion last year.
It plans to expand its production capacity to support overseas markets, which are expected to contribute half of revenues in five years compared to only 20 per cent now.
Sangchai Chotchuangchatchaval, CEO of one of Asia-Pacific’s leading companies in food machinery engineering, credited sales growth in ice-making machines and industrial refrigeration systems, liquid food processing systems and machinery, and services and parts for the higher earnings. 
For the first half, the company reported Bt2.27 billion in revenue with a net profit of Bt112 million. 
It also maintained its net profit margin of more than 5 per cent from continuous cost control.
It plans to construct an evaporative condenser factory and to invest in new machines for its factory in Phetchaburi. 
The domestic market has good growth potential. There are more |than 20,000 food factories but less than 1 per cent use an automatic system. 
Patkol has applied automatic systems for more than 15 years and covering various manufacturing businesses. The only rivals for its ice-making and refrigeration system are overseas companies, but it has a reputation for better insight into customer needs.
The company aims to expand export markets to all countries in Southeast Asia to capitalise on the Asean Economic Community and replace the domestic market, which keeps slowing down. 
It has sets its sights on opening an office in all countries in Southeast Asia It currently covers Asean, the Middle East, Australia, Europe, the US and Japan. It has received good feedback from customers overseas as its products are developed in line with the needs and requirements in each country.

2,000 cosmetics brands to debut at Bangkok event
Organisers expect a record-breaking event as 2,000 international cosmetics brands debut in Thailand for the latest edition of Beyond Beauty Asean-Bangkok.
Informa Exhibitions has joined forces for the fourth year with Impact Exhibition Management Co, which boasts the largest venue in Thailand, for the event scheduled for September 21-23 at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Supported by the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, the event has grown into an outstanding platform for beauty industry players from the entire product chain. 
The three-day trade show acts as a regional gateway for industry players thinking of expanding in the booming Southeast Asean market, which |represents a population of 600 million and a market of $14 billion (Bt467 billion).