Interview with Mark Cochrane, Regional Manager of UFI Asia-Pacific reported by Celion Su of CICE.
Please introduce the success story of the UFI office in Hong Kong and explain how the membership in the region developed over the past few years.
Mark: UFI Hong Kong office was established in 2004, when we only had 44 members in the region. Now, our members in Asia have increased to about 220, covering all the important exhibition countries in the region. About 75% of our members are organizers, venues and organizer & venues. In China alone we have more than 100 members and it is also our largest member source country in the world.
What are the top five countries in Asia based on UFI membership? Do you think these numbers is generally in balance with the development of the exhibition industry in these countries?
Mark: Our largest member source countries in the region include China, Korea, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I think this distribution generally reflect the industrial development in the region. Also, we would like to see more members from Japan, which is the second largest exhibition market in Asia.
Internationalisation is one of the main development goals for the Chinese exhibition industry. How can UFI assist to facilitate communication among members globally?
Mark: I think China is on track to achieve this goal and the industry is doing a lot of the right things. Many world class facilities have been built not only in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, but also in second tier and third tier cities like Chengdu and Chongqing. Major multinational organizers have been operating in China for many years either to organize their own trade shows or through joint venture with local partners. Apart from this, many local Chinese organizers are developing very fast. Last week, I attended a seminar in Shanghai where Chinese organizers were encouraged to hold their brand exhibitions worldwide. Many of these organizers have a clear international mind-set.
In terms of competitive advantages of the exhibition industry, how do you compare China and other major emerging countries like India and Indonesia?
Mark: I think as long an individual exhibition serves its purpose of promoting local or regional markets, then it is a successful exhibition, and there is no need to compare it with other exhibitions or markets. However, the Chinese exhibition industry has been developing very fast, and the level of professionalism should be improved, which can be achieved through training. It is also worth to be noted that in the long run, the governments should weakening the role as organizers and leave room for strong, private exhibition companies, while governments play the regulation role to avoid vicious competition.
The UFI Open Seminar in Asia will take place this week in Chiang Mai. Could you introduce some of the highlights this year?
Mark: The UFI Open Seminar in Asia is the second largest UFI member events next to the annual meeting. There will be many speakers to talk about how the current digital trend is shaping exhibitions and events. On 24 February, there will also be a co-located Focus Meeting on Sustainable Development to talk about sustainability within the exhibition industry. #ufichiangmai
Great interview with Mark !…I had to laugh though as he starts off with ‘ we only had 44 members when we started in 2004’. As Prof Dr Busche UFI President in 2000 asked me to start the UFI Asia, Middle East & Africa chapter [ later shortened thankfully !] based in Hong Kong as pro bono to UFI. The work became so much that we increased membership to 44 members which is when I went to Paul Woodward and said ‘ how about taking on this work?!’…the rest is history as they say, and BSG has done a tremendous job in expanding and professionalising the industry in Asia on behalf of UFI !