Global Update: Beirut Show Postponed

Gary Tufel -- Tradeshow Week, 10/16/2006

The following are tradeshow launches and postponements to report from around the world:

• Citing as its reason the recent conflict in Lebanon, the Intl. Assn. of Operative Millers postponed the 17th Annual Middle East and Africa District Technical Conference and Trade Show in Beirut from Nov. 5–8 to Oct. 21–24, 2007. Conference Chairman Bachar Boubess said he believed the agriculture industry in the Middle East and North Africa is still strong despite this setback, and that the show can skip a year and remain vibrant for years to come.
  Boubess added that the timing of the Lebanese conflict made it impossible to reschedule the conference for a later date in 2006. If the event had been moved at such short notice to another location, there wouldn't have been enough time for the conference organizers to make arrangements and adequately meet the expectations of attendees, he said.
• Globe will debut March 22–24, 2007, at the New Fiera di Roma in Rome. According to Marco Trucco, business development and marketing manager for show organizer ExpoGlobe, the event will address the Mediterranean as both a source market for outbound tourism and a major destination, focusing on Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. More than 1,000 buyers representing wholesalers dealing with the Mediterranean will be invited and fully hosted to travel to Rome from 40 countries.
• ISSA/INTERCLEAN, the Amsterdam RAI and Italy-based AFIDAMP launched ISSA/INTERCLEAN China Sept. 20–22 at the Shanghaimart Expo in Shanghai. Conference topics touched on cleaning technologies for the target audience of cleaning companies and product manufacturers. The organizers acquired the established Clean Asia Show, which was re-branded as ISSA/INTERCLEAN China, from Clean Asia Media.
• In a first for Durban, South Africa, the Markex exhibition for marketing and promotional products and services will be held at the city's Intl. Conference Centre in August 2007. Markex was first held 20 years ago in Johannesburg, and has been held since in Cape Town. Lynn Chamier, director for Exhibitions for Africa, the event organizer, said that because of the large number of corporations either based in Durban or with offices there, market demand for an exhibition of this nature has been growing and the time was right to respond.
• Reed Exhibitions launched MIPIM Asia, expected to attract 1,800 attendees and more than 200 exhibiting companies from 42 countries, Sept. 27–29 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. The international property event focused specifically on the Asia-Pacific region, featuring conferences and an exhibition. MIPIM Asia will follow the model created by Reed Exhibitions' MIPIM, the Intl. Property Market show, which takes place annually in Cannes, France. It responds to interest in the region shown by many international participants and exhibitors, said Reed Deputy Managing Director Thierry Renault.
• Reed Exhibitions also will launch Interphex, a pharmaceutical manufacturing event, Sept. 13–15, 2007, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India, to be held concurrently with the Indian Pharmaceutical Assn.'s annual convention. John Stuttard, Reed Exhibitions vice president of international brand development for Interphex, said the event would offer an international platform for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, worth about $9.4 billion, according to Espicom Business Intelligence.