Emerging Markets: Countries Find Their Niches

It won't surprise anyone to learn that Asia's economy is booming, and that the continent's tradeshow industry reflects it, attracting overseas investment and participation. But, while the big Asian success story most talked about is China, Southeast Asia also is humming. That includes Singapore and Thailand.

Singapore was, in many ways, the jumping-off point for the development of the modern exhibition industry in Southeast Asia. But its role has changed quite a bit in the past 10 to 15 years as countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand developed more credible local industries of their own, according to Paul Woodward, principal with the Business Strategies Group and manager of the Asia/Pacific office of UFI, The Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry.

“However, it is still home to some of the key major fairs for Southeast Asia,” Woodward said, “most notably, CommunicAsia for telecom, the FHA hospitality show, the Intl. Furniture Fair Singapore and the Singapore Airshow.”

Main venues are the Suntec Singapore Intl. Convention & Exhibition Centre in the central city, with 24,000 square meters (258,333 square feet) of exhibit space, and Singapore Expo (Singex), near the Changi Airport with 100,000 sq. m. (1.08 million sq. ft.). A project under development by the Las Vegas Sands will add about 40,000 sq. m. (430,526 sq. ft.) of exhibit space to Singapore's inventory. It will be part of a convention center-casino-resort facility scheduled to open in early 2010, Woodward said. In addition, the Singapore Indoor Stadium offers 2,925 sq. m. (31,484 sq. ft.) of available space.

The Singapore government, through the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau, plays an active role in promoting the industry and encourages international show organizers to take events to Singapore, Woodward said.

Sarnit Karunyavanij, business development director for the Bangkok Intl. Trade & Exhibition Centre, agreed that in the past, Singapore developed faster than other countries in Southeast Asia, especially in terms of infrastructure and facilities. In fact, up until the late 1990s, it was the only city in the region that had the capability to stage an international exhibition.

He also agreed that, beginning in the late '90s, other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand provided Singapore with competition as they developed comparable facilities, in some cases with costs as much as 30 percent less than Singapore. Still, Singapore remains a financial hub with ultra-modern convention facilities and hotels, he said.

“The Thai and Malaysian exhibition and convention industries now offer state-of-the-art facilities and world-class services at a much more reasonable price tag,” Karunyavanij said. “The fact that the cost of doing business is lower is a nice touch, but the real magnet that encouraged exhibition organizers to move their events to Thailand or Malaysia or launch new trade exhibitions there is the market potential.”

Asia has become the world's supplier of almost everything, from rice and grain to electronics and cars to airplanes and submarines. While the region might have been slow to join the party China started, Southeast Asia has quickly moved into a number of export enterprises.

That's according to BITEC's Karunyavanij, who noted that Thailand, with a population of 65 million, has become one of the world's biggest food exporters; produces more than 1.4 million cars every year, 700,000 of them for export; is the second-largest exporter of gems and jewelry; and ships more computer hard drives than any other country.

Each country's economic development is of a different scale and at a different point in its evolution, Karunyavanij said. In Bangkok, Thailand's capital city and business hub, there are now five modern convention centers, each with its own distinctive quality, positioning and customers. The five combined venues boast more than 250,000 sq. m. (2.7 million sq. ft.) of exhibit space. And, as of this past July, 137 exhibitions had been scheduled for 2008, 50 of which were tradeshows and 87 consumer shows, targeting the 9 million people who live in Bangkok, Karunyavanij said.

Woodward noted that Bangkok emerged during the past 15 years as the largest exhibition city in Southeast Asia. BITEC (36,000 sq. m., 387,500 sq. ft.) and the Impact Muang Thong Thani (60,000 sq. m., 645,834 sq. ft.) are world-class facilities that are unusual for the region in that they were developed by the private sector, he said.

“They complement the city center's Queen Sirikit Natl. Convention Centre, originally built for a World Bank meeting and since used heavily for both conventions and smaller exhibitions,” Woodward said. The facility offers 15,000 sq. m. (161,458 sq. ft.) of exhibit space.

Two new exhibit halls of about 10,000 sq. m. (107,639 sq. ft.) each also recently have opened in central Bangkok, Woodward said, the Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld and The Royal Paragon Hall.

The leading tradeshows in Thailand are industrial exhibitions, serving the country's increasingly important manufacturing sector, he added. Large leisure, furniture, telecom and tourism fairs supplement these. Just as in Singapore, the government, through the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, is working aggressively to attract new events to the country. Major organizers such as CMP Asia, Reed Exhibitions and VNU Exhibitions Europe stage significant events in Thailand.

Gernot Ringling, managing director of Messe Duesseldorf Asia, noted that Thailand is an industrial powerhouse in the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, and, undoubtedly, one of the region's favored destinations for business and leisure. He said Messe Duesseldorf Asia found BITEC to be an excellent venue, and its recent tradeshows in Thailand received extremely positive results.

“In April and October, exhibitors at our packaging and printing show Pack Print Intl. and wire & Tube Southeast Asia reported brisk sales,” Ringling said, “and we have increased the show's size by 25 percent. These tradeshows exceeded our expectations and ... show the importance of Thailand as a tradeshow venue.”

Bangkok's accessibility to regional buyers is a crucial factor in its success as a business destination, Karunyavanij said. The new Suvarnabhumi Intl. Airport, with 100 airlines operating more than 8,000 flights per week, is 15 minutes from BITEC. Consequently, every show stands a good chance of drawing large numbers of buyers from the surrounding ASEAN countries.

Karunyavanij noted that, in addition to Messe Duesseldorf Asia, Messe Frankfurt also holds shows at BITEC and Reed Exhibitions organizes eight large shows at the facility, the most significant being Metalex Thailand, which is the largest machinery show in Southeast Asia.

Karunyavanij added that in 2009, the Bangkok Mass Transit System's Skytrain will have a new station at BITEC, which has prompted the venue to expand its exhibit space to more than 55,000 sq. m. (592,015 sq. ft.).

This year, BITEC will host 38 shows, including 28 trade-only. The consumer shows held there are quite successful as well: The annual Bangkok Intl. Motor Show brings more than 1.5 million visitors to BITEC. However, events lately have shown that any tradeshow destination is vulnerable to conditions beyond its control. In recent weeks, Bangkok has been the scene of political unrest. At least one show, the launch of Intersec Thailand, scheduled for December, was postponed, and the unsettled situation makes it unclear whether other shows will be affected.