Bangkok, 3rd August: The first Asian MICE Cruise Conference will be held as part of IT&CMA 2018 on 18th September. Industry leaders are expected to gather at the conference. It will include a panel discussion led by cruise CEOs as well as an exchange on the case for forecast growth of MICE cruises. The conference will address a wide variety of other topics and it will offer networking opportunities at hosted breakfasts, coffee breaks and luncheons.

Foshan/Hannover, 23rd July: Deutsche Messe, an international exhibition organiser, will launch a new international fair for the metalworking and sheet metal working industry, Metal + Tech, in Foshan, Guangdong province.

Paris/Hong Kong, 9th August: UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, released the 14th edition of its Trade Fair Industry in Asia annual report, covering 17 markets including Greater China and Southeast Asian markets, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Australia, Cambodia and Myanmar. The report provides complete data on these regions up to 31st December 2017, with additional figures and commentary on likely trends for the following year.

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Paris & Singapore, 26th July: Last week, UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Singapore MICE Forum 2018.

New Delhi, 26th July: UBM India will launch the inaugural edition of ProPak India next month. The event will run from 30th August to 1st September 2018 and serve India’s growing processing and packaging industries.

Singapore, 27th July: Aloysius Arlando has been elected as the new president of Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS). Arlando was elected at the recent SACEOS annual general meeting (AGM). He replaces outgoing president, Janet Tan-Collis.

London, 26th July: Last week, London-listed RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier) reported its results for the six months ended 30th June 2018. The group’s total revenues were £3.7 billion (US$4.8 billion), an underlying growth of 4%. Adjusted operating profit in the period increased by 6% amounting to £1.1 billion (US$1.5 billion).

Beijing, 31st July: Earlier this week, Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30th June 2018. Total revenues in the quarter were US$3.9 billion, a 32% increase over the same period in 2017. Net income in the second quarter grew 45% year-on-year amounting to US$967 million. Diluted earnings per share in the quarter were RMB 18.14 (US$2.74).

London, 26th July: U.K.-based exhibition organiser, the Tarsus Group has announced its interim results for the first half of 2018. Group revenues in the first half were £35.6 million (US$47 million) which is an increase of 32% compared with the 2016 figure and an increase of 12% (excluding acquisition and biennial events) on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted profit before tax was £5.8 million (US$7.7 million) in the six-month period. The company recorded buyer/visitor growth of 13% across its portfolio.

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London, 25th July: London-based Informa plc announced its results for the six months ended 30th June 2018. Revenues in that six-month period were £957 million (US$1.26 billion) with underlying growth of 4.3%. Adjusted operating profit recorded growth of 1.9%, reaching £294 million (US$389 million).

New Delhi, 24th July: A consortium led by the eSang Networks, a leading exhibition organiser in Korea, and KINTEX, operator of Korea’s largest exhibition venue, has won a bid to manage and operate the India International Convention and Exhibition Center (IICC) in New Delhi for 20 years. IICC is often referred to as the Dwarka project.

Taipei, 25th July: UBM Taiwan opened the second edition of its Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum this week at the Taipei World Trade Center. More than 210 exhibitors will occupy some 400 booths, showcasing innovative, eco-friendly and sustainable products and technologies serving the agriculture, aquaculture and livestock industries.

China, 23rd July: WPP, a leading global, marketing communications service company, is in preliminary talks to sell a minority stake in its China business to a consortium which includes Alibaba, Tencent and China Media Capital (CMC).

London, 17th July: Ascential plc announced the completion of its sale of Ascential Exhibitions to ITE Group plc for a total cash consideration of £300 million (US$395 million).

London, 25th July: Following Informa’s acquisition of UBM earlier this year, Informa has announced changes to the senior management team at UBM Asia.

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Shanghai, 19th July: This week, China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, announced the company would pay US$1.43 billion for a 6.62% share in Focus Media Information Technology Company. Alibaba also announced plans to acquire an additional 5% interest in Focus Media within the next 12 months.

Shanghai, 11th July: Recently, ISPO Shanghai was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The event presented key summer sports products and trends for the coming season.  ISPO Shanghai featured 526 exhibitors and 655 sports brands.