MICE market is expected to grow after the full-scale ease of COVID-19 restrictions, focusing on drawing over 50 percent foreign exhibitors of cutting-edge innovations
Informa Markets Thailand announced the launches of two major events this year – “ProPak Asia 2023” on June 14–17, 2023, and “FI Asia 2023” (Food Ingredients Asia 2023) on September 20–22, 2023, under the collaboration between public and private organizations, taking part in steering MICE in pursuit of a government policy to shape Thailand as the global MICE leader. The Company affirmed its potential to draw over 50 percent foreign exhibitors to showcase their innovations in the exhibitions of both events.
Ms. Rungphech Chitanuwat, Director of ASEAN Regional Group, Informa Markets Thailand, stated: This marked a return of a remarkable event by Informa Markets. As for this time, it is the 30th anniversary of ProPak Asia 2023 – a trade and innovation exhibition for manufacturing, processing, and packaging industries, and the 26th anniversary of FI Asia 2023 – a trade, technology, and innovation exhibition for Asian ingredients. It will be no surprise that the 30th anniversary of ProPak Asia this year will offer something special to both exhibitors and participants. The core of food manufacturing and processing will still be the ecosystem, covering from the processing steps through to packaging, in order to drive the competitiveness of M-SMEs and soar them to the leading positions in the global arena while also forming Thailand as a hub of new innovations for the production process.
Ms. Rungphech added: This year, thanks to the relaxation of COVID -19 situations, we can now fully forge forward to raise awareness among international visitors and encourage full-scale trips. Thus, it is certain we will drive and promote the strategy of engaging in events that help stimulate the growth of the MICE industry according to the government policy. The target is to achieve over 50 percent foreign exhibitors for ProPak Asia 2023 and 60 percent for FI Asia 2023. Moreover, the organization of the exhibitions will create business continuity thanks to the spending of international and local visitors. With rough statistics on average, it indicates spending of approximately 76,000 baht per 5 days of inbound visits. In addition, there has been an increase in investment in the food industry, whether in introducing national technology and innovations to fuel the growth of the food industrial segment or the integrated agriculture, as the country’s agricultural sector will benefit from adoption of processing technology with product values being enhanced.
At the press conference, it also announced cooperation with the government and a long-standing partner, the Federation of Thai Industries. The event was honored by alliances such as Dr. Chutima Iamchotchavalit, Governor of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of Thailand (TISTR); Dr. Wisit Limlucha, Vice President of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and President of the Trade Association Thai Future Food; Mr. Charoen Kaewsuksai, President of the Food and Beverage Industry Group, the Federation of Thai Industries, who jointly cascaded information on various issues.
Dr. Chutima Iamchotchavalit, Governor of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of Thailand (TISTR),said: We are focusing on being part to help M-SME entrepreneurs throughout the ecosystem based on our mission in research and development of science, technology, innovation to create value for products and services and enhance national competitiveness, as well as manufacturing, so that we can become a total solution to strengthen the presence of the entrepreneurs in the industry. Besides, we also emphasize being Thailand’s Packaging Center that serves as a consultant for innovation, research and development issues while scaling up the manufacturing of medium-size entrepreneurs, whose manufacturing volume is somewhat low, to feed greater volumes to the market.
Dr. Wisit Limlucha, Vice President of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and President of the Trade Association Thai Future Food, mentioned an interesting point about the current situations and post-COVID consumer behavior: If talking about a COVID outbreak in 2022, exports then outperformed, especially those of food, which achieved a record-breaking figure of 22% higher growth, particularly in the processed food as it can be stored for a long time without the need for a fridge – and that fulfills food security needs. As for the end of last year, including this year, there were Russo-Ukrainian conflicts, thus resulting in shortage of vegetable oil in Europe. This became a reason the population needed to order other types of oil in replacement, especially palm oil from Thailand, which achieved a greater trend of export. Apart from the situations above, up to 50% of consumers have relied more on online shopping. With respect to the Thai food trends, an interesting figure shows that 52% of consumers, which is considerably high, are looking for protein choices as an alternative. Thus, the Association launched a campaign, Veggie Wednesday, to shift consumers’ focus more to future food, encouraging them to refrain from meat one day a week, that is, on Wednesday.
Mr. Charoen Kaewsuksai, President of the Food and Beverage Industry Group, the Federation of Thai Industries, talked about the current food market movements: Thai food has grown alongside tourism. When more tourists visit the country, the trend of Thai food rises accordingly. In particular, the country is reopened and draws tourists, especially Chinese, making the Asian market revive. However, what we need to get prepared for is supply chain management to ensure its balance. It is expected that the traffic of tourists will exceed 30 million in 2023 and is foreseen that Thailand will be ranked 11th or 13th for exports, not more or less. The adoption of the BCG model is also encouraged among start-up groups throughout the production chain for business sustainability. The 30thtrade and innovation exhibition for manufacturing, processing, and packaging industries ProPak Asia 2023 will be held between June 14 – 17, 2023, at BITEC Exhibition and Convention Center, with pre-registration available at www.propakasia.com, and trade, technology and innovation exhibition for Asia ingredients Food Ingredients Asia 2023 (Fi Asia 2023) will be onSeptember 20 – 22, 2023, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. More information can be found at https://lnk.bio/FiAsia
