High levels of visitor engagement on the inaugural Australian pavilion at ProPak Asia 2016 is a good indicator of the potential for Australian packaging and equipment suppliers to extend their footprint to Asia.
The trade show, held in Bangkok from 15-18 June, created a platform for 1976 exhibitors from 48 countries showcasing food, drink and pharmaceutical processing and packaging technology.
The exhibition included 16 international pavilions of which the inaugural Australian Pavilion was one of the standouts for the show.
Exhibitors within the pavilion included Accupak, Adaptapack, Confoil, HMPS, Rhima, the AIP and pavilion host, the APPMA. Outside of the pavilion APPMA member companies Fibre King, Heat and Control and TNA also exhibited.
The resounding message from all of the exhibitors within the pavilion was that they enjoyed a stronger presence and profile by exhibiting under the Australian Pavilion banner.
Australian companies on the pavilion who had exhibited at ProPak previously indicated that they received more visitors and more interest as a result of being part of the pavilion.
High quality and quantity visitors were recorded across all four show days. Overall, ProPak Asia visitor numbers reached 40,893 in total, with Asian delegations attending from across the region including Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and from a total of 68 countries.
Creating networking opportunities was a proirity for the APPMA. In addition to hosting the Australian Pavilion, the APPMA also coordinated a briefing session with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) for all of their exhibitors on Day One, a networking event with Austrade for over 40 people in the pavilion on Day Three which saw His Excellency Paul Robilliard, the Ambassador for Thailand as their special guest.
The Australian Institute of Packaging, which provided speakers for two of the seminars that were held alongside the exhibition, was promoting its educational services at the pavilion and education director Pierre Pienaar reports a resoundingly positive response to the AIP programs on offer.
For the pavilion participants, the event allowed them to gauge the extent of opportunities within Thailand and the surrounding region and helped to create awareness about their products.
The APPMA looks forward to not only hosting the Australian Pavilion again in 2017 but also speaking to other companies who are interested in being a part of this successful initiative. If your company is interested in exhibiting at ProPak Asia 2017 please contact the APPMA on appma@appma.com.au to find out more.