CENS Continues Promoting Trade and Magazines Globally in October

Carrying on its goal to promote export-trade magazines and help advertising clients who are manufacturers, exporters and traders build global presence, CENS sent representatives to attend some eight international trade shows in October, including Baltic Furniture, HCMC Expo, Intermot, Index International Furniture Fair, Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), Orgatec Office & Facility, CIMA Motor, and Hong Kong International Building and Decoration Materials & Hardware Fair.

Baltic Furniture
Baltic Furniture 2010, held Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at the Kipsala Int'l Exhibition Center, Riga, Latvia, featured furniture, lighting and design made in the Baltic States.

Spread across 9,300 square meters and divided into three sectors, Baltic Furniture covered furniture, lighting and design. The furniture section displayed mainly traditional home and office furniture plus interior furnishings and parts. The lighting section showed various chandeliers, floor lamps, office lighting fixtures, and lighting components. The design section presented works by the best Baltic designers and winners' works from different international competitions.

The CENS booth at the show promoted a variety of trade magazines that attracted many buyers and visitors, with CENS Furniture and CENS Lighting being the most popular.

HCMC Expo
The HCMC Expo is a specialized furniture and handicrafts show held annually at the HCMC Int'l Exhibition & Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The event this year, held Oct. 6-10, attracted nearly 300 exhibitors occupying 700 booths.

Tran Vinh Nhung, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, said that the Vietnamese furniture and handicraft sector has created good image and reputation for local companies since 2003, and has attracted many furniture and handicraft importers from around the world, hence fueling the growth of the sectors' export value. In 2001 the export value of the sector was only US$34 million but jumped in 2005 to US$1.56 billion, then soared to US$2.6 billion in 2009 and US$4.5 billion in 2010.

This year the venue was divided into five areas, including interior decoration, indoor & outdoor furniture, furniture materials, traditional handicrafts, bamboo & rattan furniture, and accessories.

A local CENS representative promoted various trade magazines at the event, with CENS Furniture catching ample attention among buyers and visitors.

Intermot
Intermot, an abbreviation for International Motorcycle, Scooter and Bicycle Fair and held annually in Cologne, Germany, has been renowned worldwide as the trendy global trade event and business platform for motorized two-wheelers and key global players from the international motorbike and scooter sectors for over 13 years.

Intermot Cologne, held Oct. 6-10, once again saw rising turnout in 2010, during which the organizers Koelnmesse and the German Motorcycle Industry Association (IVM) registered over 210,000 motorcycle and scooter fans in the motorcycle-renowned city of Cologne. “People come here to view presentations, obtain information and place orders,” says Oliver P. Kuhrt, executive vice president of Koelnmesse.

Reiner Brendicke, general executive manager of IVM, also saw Intermot Cologne as a resounding success. “The industry set a clear signal with its new models and concepts, generating momentum for a market recovery that also extends to the area of alternative drive technologies,” says Brendicke.

This year the fair once again inspired participants with its unique combination of manufacturer presentations, spectacular shows and motor sports events, and an attractive program of hands-on activities. The five-day fair drew 195,000 specialist buyers and motorcycle enthusiasts from 108 countries, with trade visitors accounting for about 30% of the attendees. Besides, the number of exhibitors increased 4% from the previous event to 1,107, coming from 40 countries and presenting 1,596 brands.

Of the exhibitors, 405 came from Germany and 702 from abroad. The foreign exhibitors therefore accounted for 63% of the total, and the countries with the largest number of exhibitors, besides Germany, were China, Taiwan and Italy.

The new Intermot e-motion segment underscored the exhibitors' expertise in and focus on future-oriented mobility, where a spate of electrically powered two-wheelers were on display.

A local representative promoted CENS magazines at the event, with Taiwan Transportation Equipment Guide (TTG), China Transportation Equipment Guide (CTG) and Taiwan Motorcycle and Parts Guide (TMG) proving to be highly popular.

Index International Furniture Fair
The Index International Furniture Fair, a B2B trade event held in India specializing in home furniture and with a focused exhibitors and visitors profile, displays products from Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan, China, Indonesia and India.

The fair this year, held Oct. 8-11 at the MMRDA Exhibition Center, Mumbai, India, attracted 284 exhibitors representing Indian and international brands, with the venue spread across 40,000 square meters and drawing 35,290 visitors, sharply up by 20% from the corresponding figure of last year.

Index 2010 was an ideal platform driving local and international trade, with the products displayed including indoor furniture, outdoor furniture, children's furniture, fabrics and furnishing items, ornaments, and interior accessories.

Buyers who were sourcing for other related products found Index especially practical for other shows were held concurrently, including Index Kitchen & Appliances, Index Office, Index Contract, Index Light, Inter-Furn and Indarch.

CENS sent a representative to promote its trade magazines at the fair, with CENS Furniture, CENS Lighting, and Taiwan Industrial Suppliers catching ample attention among buyers and visitors.

Orgatec Office & Facility
Orgatec Office & Facility is an annual office furniture show held in Cologne, Germany. The event this year, held Oct. 26-30, drew 608 exhibitors from 41 countries and 61,000 visitors from 110 countries, who came to see an overview of the trends and innovations in the global office equipment and facilities trade, with over 60% of the exhibitors and 50% of visitors being foreign.

“The trade fair has become more international. The customers particularly appreciated the high-quality solutions for smart office concepts involving workstations, conference rooms, communication centers and reception areas,” says Hendrik Hund, chairman of the Association of Office, Seating and Office Facility Furniture.

Market leaders attending the fair demonstrated their innovative strength with numerous pioneering solutions and concepts for office and office facility design, which drew great response from visitors. Exhibitors from all sectors were upbeat due to the high visitor turnout and excellent attendance at the stands. Higher numbers of visitors were recorded, especially from Scandinavia, France, Italy, Spain and South America.

“It was a great accomplishment on the part of the sector and Koelnmesse to stage such a good pilot fair for office and office facilities in a time of low demand,” says Thomas Grothkopp, managing director of the Federal Association of the Office Industry.

In line with the slogan of “Better Office – Greater Success,” the exhibitors had attractively designed stands that presented innovative solutions to enhance work efficiency. Many solutions featured impressive open-plan offices that not only created intelligent interaction between communication and work, but also generated a feel-good atmosphere in attractive surroundings.

In general, the trend was toward multifunctional areas that can be adapted to a wide variety of needs as required. Taking cues from public parks and urban squares, various suppliers presented complete furniture systems that can be used for individual work, as well as teamwork, meetings, waiting areas, or relaxation. The exhibitors also displayed modular and adjustable furniture that can be easily moved or adjusted as needed.

CENS sent a local representative to promote its trade magazines, with CENS Furniture and CENS Lighting being clearly the favorites.

Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition)
The 2010 Hong Kong International Lighting Fair, held Oct. 27-30, was the biggest lighting fair in Asia and the second largest in the world. The fair has in recent years become the best platform for suppliers to promote lighting products and buyers to purchase whatever they need.

The lighting industry is at a very exciting stage in its development. Lighting is now recognized as a vital element in interior décor, with thousands of buyers eager to see new designs and evaluate current trends; while lighting plays a key role in the move to reduce carbon footprint of companies and individuals.

This year's autumn show followed last year's model to establish special zones to highlight different lighting products. For instance, ‘Hall of Aurora Zone' showcased branded products and collections in a beautiful setting; ‘LED Lighting Zone' met the surging demand for environmentally-friendly products; ‘Green Lighting Zone' focused on exhibitors and technologies that aim to reduce carbon emissions and use green materials.

CENS organized a large exhibition group to attend the show, as well as manned its own booth to not only serve the group members, but also promote its trade magazines, with CENS Lighting being a crowd pleaser.

CIMA Motor
CIMA Motor or China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition has been held since 2002 and has become one of the most significant events for the global motorcycle industry after eight years of steady growth.

Little wonder CIMA has grown consistently: For 15 consecutive years China has led the world in terms of output and sales of motorcycles due to its huge market. In 2008 China rolled out 27.5 million motorcycles, accounting for 50% of the world's total and of which 10.29 million bikes were exported to 195 countries. In 2009 both the output and sales increased by around 13%, while this year an estimated 30-plus motorbikes will be produced.

CIMA Motor 2010, held Oct. 21-24 at the Chongqing Exhibition Center, Chongqing, Sichuan Province, attracted 450 exhibitors and 70,000 visitors, with the major global brands as Harley-Davidson, Ducati, Piaggio, Yahama, Suzuki, Peugeot all present.

CENS assigned a local representative to promote its trade magazines, with Taiwan Motorcycle and Parts Guide and Guidebook to Taiwan Hand Tools catching ample attention.

Hong Kong International Building and Decoration Materials & Hardware Fair
The Hong Kong International Building and Decoration Materials & Hardware Fair is a leading event showcasing suppliers from Hong Kong, China and abroad, whose products span four main areas: building materials, decoration materials, hardware items and furniture.

An important sourcing point in Asia and a prime opportunity for manufacturers to expand business in this high-potential market, this year's fair, held Oct. 27-30, entered its fifth edition and attracted 180 companies to set up booths at the AsiaWorld-Expo.

With green technologies now a major consideration for construction companies and property developers, the show this year introduced new specialized areas as ‘Green Building Zone' and ‘Testing, Inspection and Certification Zone,' with the former featuring environmentally-friendly building materials and hardware that created opportunities for new business partnerships.

Helping to buoy the event is the fact that Hong Kong's exports of building materials, including hardware, jumped 40% to HK$71.8 billion in the first eight months of 2010, with the top five export markets being China, the United States, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

CENS promoted a variety of trade magazines at the fair, including CENS Furniture, CENS Lighting, the Guidebook to Taiwan Hand Tools, Taiwan Industrial Suppliers, and Taiwan Export Express.