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The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) was in the UK in May to promote its latest exhibition campaigns to international event organisers seeking a springboard in South East Asia.

A team of representatives from the bureau visited the UFI European Conference at NEC Birmingham to fly the flag for Thailand and secure new business from organisers not yet active in the country, or unaware of the fresh opportunities presented by TCEB’s latest campaigns.

The event was preceded by two days of meetings and an exclusive networking dinner opportunity for UK tradeshow organisers with Thailand’s ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Pisanu Suvanajata.

TCEB has been riding high on the back of an increased appetite for events in Thailand. Seventeen new shows launch in the country this year with support from the bureau; a record high that includes the technology show CEBIT, AV and integrated experience event InfoComm, medical event CPhI Southeast Asia and engineered materials event ANDTEX.

The bureau attributes much of this growth to fresh opportunities for business and professional growth arising from Thailand’s celebrated Thailand 4.0 central policy, an initiative that champions the growth of 10 S-Curve industries actively aiding the evolution of the national economy from one of labour-intensive to high-tech industry.

Speaking at the conference at NEC Birmingham, TCEB’s Director of Exhibitions Ms Kanokporn Damrongkul said Thailand is “evolving into a new era” powered by the growing economies of its neighbours in the CLMV group and throughout the ASEAN, a fact reflected in its latest REDEFINE events campaign.

“This campaign aims to make staging trade shows in Thailand as simple and effective as possible, while producing return on investment and return on time. More and more trade shows are now taking place in high-tech industries such as Automation and Robotics, Future Automotive, Aviation & Logistics and of course Digital Technology, industries at the forefront of our economic growth,” she told the audience.

“The United Kingdom is a top priority for Thailand and TCEB’s role has never been more valuable to UK organisers looking to trade outside the European Union.”

The UK is home to seven of the world’s leading international trade show organisers, including by far the two largest – Reed Exhibitions and the recently rebranded Informa Markets (a merger including the company that formerly traded as UBM).

The bureau hopes to build on the success of May’s European event later in the year at the annual UFI Global Congress, which it will host in the Thai capital Bangkok during 6-9 Nov.