Memorandum of Understanding. The Association of Korean Exhibition Industry (AKEI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) on April 24, 2014. The signing ceremony was held at the Landmark Hotel Bangkok attended by Mr. Yang-whan Jeong (Vice-Chairman of AKEI), Mr. Sang-kon Kim (Deputy Director of MOTIE), Mr. Nopparat Maythaveekulchai (President of TCEB), Mr. Patrapee Chinachoti (President of TEA) and executives and members of TEA in Bangkok.
AKEI is the representative organization in Korean exhibition industry with its 53 members, conducting various roles from supporting and promoting exhibitions to formulating related policies since its establishment in 2002. TCEB is a public organization established by Royal Decree published in the Royal Gazette in 2002, and it is the Thai government’s official flagship body for the MICE sector, tasked with enhancing and developing business events in Thailand.
Exchanging the MOU, both sides emphasized the importance of the partnership between Korea and Thailand. Mr. Jeong Yang-whan mentioned, “We see more opportunities opening up on the both sides. For Korean exhibition organizers, understanding Thailand as the gateway to ASEAN is becoming important than ever.”
Mr. Nopparat Maythaveekulchai added that, “AKEI and TCEB share a core mission to nurture the exhibition industry as a vital force in promoting trade and better international understanding. I am confident that with this MOU, we can increase international buyers to both Thailand and Korea, through offering marketing and event support, sharing market intelligence, conducting training and many other initiatives.”
With the MOU, both AKEI and TCEB will support each other in fostering success of the exhibition industry to cooperate in marketing and promotion, exchange information and data, develop new business, and other ways to bridge potential business partners mutually.
Promoting the healthy growth of the exhibition industry in both countries will be realized through several specific areas of collaboration. The first is achieving a mutual increase in exhibitors from Thailand to Korea, and vice-versa. Additionally, both parties will investigate a win-win strategy of bartering pavilions at major exhibitions in Thailand and Korea, serving to globalize and enlarge exhibitions. The third area is establishing an exchange program for exhibition centers, helping employees to benchmark and share best practices, while the fourth area is conducting matchmaking between Thai and Korean exhibition organizers, encouraging mutually-profitable joint ventures.
In order to encourage Thai exhibition organizers and other contractors to actively develop businesses in Korean market, AKEI introduced a new informational session, ‘K-Exhibition PLUS’ after the MOU signing ceremony between AKEI and TCEB. The ‘K-Exhibition PLUS’ is a mission to endeavor to give attendees information about the Korean exhibition industry’s latest trends as well as the current status of major Korean industries.
