Driving Thailand as ASEAN’s exhibition hub
Bangkok: 25 January 2012 –Famed international exhibition organizer Mack Brooks Exhibitions Limited brings to Thailand for the first time the renowned Fastener Fair to cater demand of cost-effective fastening and fixing solutions in Thailand and its neighboring countries, further portraying Thailand as the central hub of exhibition business in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Fastener Fair Thailand 2012 will bring together in one roof the latest technological innovations and cost-effective solutions for the automotive, electronics, infrastructure, airport and general manufacturing industries right in the heart of Thailand and ASEAN region, with 120 international and local exhibitors, numerous international pavilions and at least 5,000 trade visitors from around the world. The event will take place on September 6-8, 2012 at BITEC Bang Na.
Mr. Mangkorn Dhanasarnsilp, Vice Chairman of The Federation of Thai Industries, explained that the fastener and fixing industry is essential in the production chain for the interrelated industries of electronics, automobiles and furnitures. One of the pillars of Thai industry is automobile production, which utilizes the largest number of pieces of fastener and fixing items.
The domestic and global automotive industry is expected to recover in the first half of this year, resulting in more demands for automobile parts. Therefore, the more-than 2,000 automotive part producers in Thailand have to supply both the domestic and export markets to support the growth of the global automobile producers. It is expected that the automotive parts industry will grow by 12% in the first quarter of 2012, which is already evidenced by strong initial orders.
“With the bright outlook in automotive industry, the fastener and fixing industry will certainly see the growth in their business as well as the Thai economy as a whole,” Mr. Mangkorn said.
Mrs. Supawan Teerarat, Director of Exhibition Department, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) said, “TCEB has the primary commitment to support, promote and develop the Thai exhibition industry to move towards being the top player at ASEAN level under the campaign “Believe in Thailand.” The strategy in 2012 will emphasize on establishing the country’s image as the hub of exhibition in ASEAN by attracting international exhibitions with niche profiles at the scale serving visitors from the Southeast Asian region—such as the support to Fastener Fair Thailand 2012, which is a brand new show for this year.”
The support to Fastener Fair Thailand 2012 is significant to the country for fair organizers, exhibitors and visitors, as they will experience the potential of Thailand in being the production bases of fastener and fixing industry and the world-class exhibition venue for business. TCEB has professionally supported the staging of Fastener Fair Thailand 2012 with activities including visits to the venue and marketing research to help establish business opportunities in the region. The bureau also supported marketing campaigns in foreign markets by offering promotion to fair visitors such as the “100 A-HEAD” campaign to draw visitors from countries in the ASEAN Plus Six region and the “Be My Guest” program, which offers accommodations to large buyers.
Mr. Michael Wilton, Exhibition Director of Mack Brooks Exhibitions Limited said “Thailand is a major fastener markets. Demand for fasteners and fixings are on the rise on the back of the bright outlook of the major fasteners and fixing users such as automotive, electronics, infrastructure and airport industry. Not to mention that Thailand is gaining momentum to become the hub of ASEAN manufacturing industry.”
Thailand’s automotive sector grew by 64% in 2010 and is forecasted to be one of the top 10 producers of cars by 2015 with a 10% growth rate for car production. During January to November, 2011, the automotive parts export from Thailand totaled to 14.778 billion baht, which was higher than the total value in 2010 at 14.45 billion baht.
Thailand has become the center of automobile production in Asia by producing more than 1 million units since 2003 and in 2012. The Thailand Automotive Institute projects that production will exceed 2 million units for the first time in the history, pushing Thailand as one of the top 10 global automobile producers.
In the electronics industry, 85% of Thailand’s electronic goods production are for export. Electronics and electrical appliances saw 108 projects, with a total investment of $950 million.
Additionally, the outlook of the infrastructure is second to none. Modernization and development of the urban traffic network in Bangkok will be a driving factor. A $50 billion high-speed rail network between Thailand and China—transnational rail link between Greater Mekong countries with investment of $130 million—is also in the pipeline.
Mr. Wilton further explained that even though the recent floods gravely affected several communities and industrial estates in Thailand, historical data has shown that Thailand is incredibly resilient to such setbacks and industries are predicted to recover quickly.
“In the absence of a fair focusing of fastening solutions and trade in this region, the time seems ripe to bring the Fastener Fair model to this marketplace. The exhibitors will display their cost-saving products which in turn will help users cut their total production cost. Cost of each fastener and fixing item may be little but industries have to use them in large quantity so a cut in price per piece will result in an effective cost saving,” Mr. Wilton noted.
“TCEB has a strong confidence that the Fastener Fair Thailand 2012 will create business connections and trade negotiations domestically and regionally especially among countries in ASEAN. Thailand pays high attention to this market in order to prepare Thai industries in entering the ASEAN Economic Community. The staging of this fair is forecasted to bring the total MICE visitors in 2012 to reach 750,000 and to generate revenue of over 60.12 billion baht to the country, more than 8 billion baht of which will come from exhibition industry,” Mrs. Supawan concluded.
Fastener Fair’s flagship event was first launched in Stuttgart, Germany and was later followed by the Fastener Fair series, which includes Fastener Fair Hannover, Germany; Fastener Fair India; Fastener Fair Brazil and the next and exciting Fastener Fair Thailand.
