China-Korea exhibition industry cooperation: demands on the increase

Since the signing of China-Korea FTA in 2015， bilateral trade momentum has been increasing， so is cooperation within the exhibition industry. The reporter interviewed Hongyu Lee， Chairman of Association of Korea Exhibition Industry（AKEI）， on the features of the two exhibition industries and ongoing cooperation.

Korean Exhibition Industry 2016 features higher level of international and technology application. Korean organizers went abroad to organize their shows in overseas countries， especially in Asian countries such as China， Vietnam， and Malaysia. Such shows include Exporum Café Show in China， Coex Stylish Life China， KINTEX K-beauty expo in Bangkok， BEXCO ENTECH Hanoi.

On local level， Global organizers advanced to Korea to hold their shows in Korea. For example， Reed Exhibitions established Reed Korea. In terms of infrastructure， Exhibition centers in Korea put efforts to be SMART. Coex has been equipped beacon in its facilities， and visitors can get detailed information on exhibitions or exhibiting companies which they are interested in， while KINTEX pays attention to apply IoT technology to the facilities.

To push for better industrial development， AKEI has launched online registration system for exhibition service suppliers and booth contractors. In Korea， each exhibition center works with registered suppliers and contractors， and suppliers and contractors had to visit all centers to register themselves as official partners. Now， the online registration system makes it easier for them to register all exhibition centers in several regions at one time without visiting.

Hongyu Lee thinks that the Chinese and Korean Exhibition Industry differs distinctively in size. There are 14 exhibition centers in Korea， and those centers are focusing on contents to be filled in their venues efficiently， while most exhibition and convention centers in China are huge over 300，000 square meters， and Korean venues are not as large as Chinese ones.

Hongyu Lee points out that mutual cooperation between China and Korea embraces huge demand and potential. China and Korea concluded FTA last year， making Korean exhibition industry’s cooperation with Chinese market more easily. For instance， both sides can co-promote mutual exhibitions or events to attract trade visitors and exhibiting companies from each other. In 2015， AKEI launched a brand new project to organize Chinese trade visitors group to major Korean shows， and is planning to expand the project to increase Chinese exhibitors to Korean shows in the near future. On association level， last year， AKEI signed MOUs with CCPIT and also with SCEIA， the host organization of 2016 UFI Congress. AKEI says that it will keep good relationship with them， and find the actual ways to cooperate each other.

This year， the UFI Congress was held in Shanghai， and number of participants reached a record breaking 600， among them over 400 from out of China. Hongyu Lee thinks this shows the global players’ huge interest in China market and further Asian exhibition industry. “We are as well in Shanghai for seeking potential cooperation with Chinese players. Moreover， we are doing projects deeply related with China， definitely we should have come here this year.” He observes.