Weekly Newsletter
Hong Kong, 26th March: The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will open its Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition), Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) and International ICT Expo in April. In total, the events are expected to feature about 4,900 exhibitors. All of the events are to be held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
Read MoreShanghai, 16th March: International exhibition organiser, Messe München GmbH concluded three electronics exhibitions in Shanghai earlier this month. electronica China, productronica China, and LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA were all held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), running from 14th to 16th March.
Read MoreHong Kong, 28th March: The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited (HML), the management company of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), has announced plans to rebuild its entire Wi-Fi network at the venue. The project will require an investment of US$3.9 million.
Read MoreBeijing, 27th March: Earlier this week, HC International, an online B2B information services provider in China, reported total revenues of US$569 million for the year ended 31st December 2017. That represents an 89% increase over the 2016 figure. The Group’s net profit was US$100 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 18%. HC International’s dilute earnings per share in the year were RMB 0.2559 (US$0.039).
Read MoreBeijing, 22nd March: Last week, CCID Consulting, an IT research and information service provider in China, released its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2017. The company reported that its revenues increased by 10% reaching US$23 million. Net profit in the year was US$3.6 million – representing growth of 58% compared with the previous year. Diluted earnings per share in 2017 were RMB 0.028 (US$0.0043).
Read MoreIndia, 5th March: International exhibition organiser, NürnbergMesse, has plans to expand its Beviale Family series of events to India in July. CRAFT DRINKS INDIA will be held from 4th to 5th July 2018 at the White Orchid Convention Center in Bangalore.
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Read MoreChina/Singapore, 19th March: China’s leading e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, has announced plans to invest an additional US$2 billion in the Lazada Group, an e-commerce platform operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Read MoreHong Kong, 19th March: The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) opened its 22nd edition of the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) this week, featuring more than 850 exhibitors from 37 countries and regions.
Read MoreHong Kong, 20th March: Global Sources will open its spring trade show series next month at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), featuring more than 9,000 booths. The series includes four shows: Global Sources Electronics – Consumer Electronics, Global Sources Electronics – Mobile Electronics, Global Sources Gifts & Home, and Global Sources Fashion.
Read MoreSydney, 20th March: After opening in late 2016, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) has succeeded in bringing back some large-scale business events to Sydney.
Read MoreHong Kong, 21st March: Earlier this week, Hong Kong-listed Sino Splendid (formerly China.com) announced its full year financial results for the year ended 31st December 2017. The company reported revenues of US$12 million in the year, down 7.1% year-on-year. Sino Splendid also posted a large net loss of US$23 million in 2017.
Read MoreSingapore, 5th March: International exhibition organiser, UBM, will launch a new technology event, ConnecTechAsia, running from 26th to 28th June 2018 at two venues in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Suntec Singapore.
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Read MoreKuala Lumpur, 8th March: Organised by UBM Malaysia, the Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) featured 622 exhibitors, an increase of 13% over last year’s edition.
Positioned as the largest international furniture fair in the Southeast Asia, MIFF 2018 took place from 8th to 11th March. The fair was held in two separate venues. It occupied a total of 18 halls in the new Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) and it also filled the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), covering a gross exhibition area of 100,000 m2.
Shanghai, 7th March: Last week, VNU Exhibitions Asia and the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) agreed to form a new joint venture, Europe Asia Global Link Exhibitions (EAGLE) in order to develop trade show businesses in both China and Italy.
The new JV will develop IEG’s business interests in Asia particularly in the wellness, green technology, hospitality and tourism sectors; while VNU Exhibitions Asia will have additional opportunities to develop its commercial relationships with the leading companies in Asia under the terms of the JV.
Australia, 15th March: The Australian government has established a new programme, the Boosting Business Events Bid Fund with initial financing of A$12 million (US$9.4 million). The fund is designed to attract more global conferences, conventions and exhibitions to Australia over the next three years.
The program will be managed by Tourism Australia through its Business Events Australia unit. It is Australia’s first federal government-funded business events bidding fund and it will be tasked with providing financial support to help secure events in across Australia. The fund will begin accepting applications on 1st May.
Indonesia, 15th March: Earlier this week, Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of the China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced the launch its first data center in Indonesia. The centre aims to serve the small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia with reliable, scalable cloud services.
The new data center will offer cloud services ranging from “elastic computing” and database management to networking and security. Alibaba has expanded its business in Indonesia in recent years. The company acquired a minority share in e-commerce player, Tokopedia, last August. In addition, Alibaba’s financial service company, Ant Financial, has teamed up with Emtek, a media conglomerate, to launch digital payments services in Indonesia. Finally, Alibaba also has a majority stake in Singapore-based e-commerce platform Lazada which also operates in Indonesia.
Beijing, 13th March: Baidu, the leading search engine in China, announced that it will merge its mapping unit, Baidu Maps, with its artificial intelligence (AI) division, AI Technology Platform System. The move is part of Baidu’s overall strategic focus on expanding its business beyond its traditional search and advertising revenue streams.
The restructuring also aims to improve the popular mapping service by consolidating and coordinating resources with its AI technology. Baidu’s management stated that it plans to develop high definition-maps, a technology used in autonomous driving.
Bangkok, 9th March: Last week, Pico Thailand, the Thai-listed subsidiary of Pico Far East Holdings, released its financial results for the quarter ended 31st January 2018. Revenues in the quarter were US$13 million, which represents an increase of 67% compared with the same quarter last year.
Pico Thailand posted a net profit of US$468,000 in the quarter, compared with a net loss of US$222,000 the same period in 2017. Earnings per share in the quarter were Baht 0.067 (US$0.0022).
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