Leading print service providers from across south-east Asia met at the two-day FESPA Asia Summit in Singapore last week.
Delivered by FESPA in partnership with ASGA, this strategic business leadership event brought together a representative group of innovative and influential players in the Asian wide-format digital, screen and textile print community.
The Summit’s 70 international delegates had the opportunity to network, share knowledge and best practice with their peers, while also hearing from industry authorities from Asia, Europe and North America. Topics explored during the Summit included the impact of economic trends and opportunities, identifying and exploiting new market niches, devising cutting edge marketing strategies, applying alternative business models, and the pressing global business issue of sustainability.
For FESPA, the Summit delivered deeper insights into the regional market ahead of FESPA’s forthcoming pan-regional FESPA Asia 2011 exhibition, which takes place at the Suntec Exhibition Centre in Singapore from 26 - 28 October 2011. The exhibition will occupy 5000 square metres (net), with around 200 exhibitors, and an anticipated 7,500 visits.
FESPA Asia 2011 is close to three-quarters sold at this stage, and the exceptional success of the recent FESPA Digital 2011 event in Hamburg, Germany - which delivered a visitor audience 35% larger than the same event in Spring 2009 – has provoked significant interest from suppliers with ambitions in the Asian market.
FESPA Managing Director Neil Felton comments: “Our Asian community is very significant to FESPA. We embrace nine industry associations in the region, representing hundreds of printers across Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The appetite of members in these regions to gather and exchange technical and commercial knowledge is enormous. 900 Asian printers made the trip to our flagship FESPA 2010 show in Munich, and there’s growing Asian interest in our dedicated FESPA Digital show too, reflecting the region’s progress towards blended screen/digital production.”
FESPA launched its pan-Asian event in 2008, in response to strong demand from its Asian associate members for a branded regional event offering FESPA’s market-leading combination of vendor exhibits, educational features and opportunities to network and share knowledge with experts and peers.
While the October 2008 launch event was marred by the political turmoil in Bangkok that coincided with the show, enthusiasm and demand from exhibitors and visitors for a follow-up event remained high. In response, FESPA announced the move to Singapore for 2011, a destination offering an ideal combination of world-class exhibition and visitor facilities with political and economic stability.
Neil Felton adds: “Last week’s Summit has given all of us an exciting taste of how FESPA can deliver vital platforms for interaction between printers within Asia and across continents. There’s little doubt that Asia is currently the world’s economic success story. Business performance in the region has been robust in the face of the recent global economic crisis, and future growth indicators are extremely positive.”
Recent research by UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, indicates that while the number of business events in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is static, growth in Asia Pacific is running at 15%, a further indicator of the region’s enthusiasm for live events.
Felton concludes: “Consumers and entrepreneurs in Asia have a reputation for being quick to identify and embrace opportunities and adopt technological innovations, and the region’s urban centres embody a vibrant and entrepreneurial culture. I’m confident that exhibitors and visitors can look forward to a dynamic and directional FESPA event here in Singapore in October.”
FESPA will publish its strategic BluePrint summarising the outcomes of the FESPA Asia Summit in July 2011.
FESPA
www.fespa.com
