“Reed Events Go Wherever The Market Demands”

Han+Li

Reed Exhibitions have joined hands with COEX， a leading exhibition venue in Korea， to launch： “International Franchise Seoul”（IFS） late last year. Not long ago， Reed Exhibitions acquired four events from K. Fairs， a highly regarded trade fair organizer with a great reputation in the industry. More recently， Reed Exhibitions has appointed a new General Manager For Korean Operations. This is all part of the renewed business expansion drive in Asia led by Hu Wei， the new Reed leader in Greater China， ably assisted by his elite team， helping Reed performance to reach a whole new level.

What are some of the plans of Reed Exhibitions for Asia in the future？ What is the strategic thinking behind acquisition and joint events？ Find the answers in this interview with RXGC President Mr. Hu Wei.

Q： Reed Exhibitions reached an agreement with COEX late last year to jointly launch IFS. Please share your Asian business layout and future development strategies in Asia.

Hu： We host over 100 events in Asia， including METALEX and APM in Thailand， Keramika in Indonesia， and NEPCON China， China International Auto Aftermarket Fair （CIAAF）， Shenzhen Gifts and Home， China DailyUse Articles Trade Fair （CDATF）， Sino Corrugated， tHIS in China. These are all leading events in Asia and throughout the world.

Reed entered the Korean market back in 2014， recognizing that Korea represents a key economy in Asia. We have cooperated with K. Fairs， a leading Korean event-organizer， to launch Kormarine， a large-scale maritime show. We have also subsequently set up our Seoul office， secured local partners， and acquired events as part of our effort to accelerate business expansion in Korea. During the process， we have worked together with COEX， Koreas leading venue owner， to launch International Franchise Seoul， a large scale franchising show. We have also worked with K. Fairs to launch Electronics Manufacturing Korea and Home Table Deco Fair that takes place in three cities.

As of now， Reed organizes six events in Korea and our Korean team is growing. Thanks to core resources that include key contacts， business insights， and our commercially progressive communities， the Korean operation will continue to see rapid growth with more M&A and new events in the future.

Q： RXGC events cover 12 industries. Please share your insights on the development of the event-organizing industry. Are there any similarities between the 12 industries that you cover？ Which additional industries are to be covered by your events in the future？

Hu： Reed covers 12 industries， including pharmaceutical and healthcare， electronics manufacturing and assembly， converting， gifts and home， lifestyle， auto aftermarket， gaming， entertainment， publishing， marine， oil and energy. All of these industries are seeing rapid growth. More specifically， we organize over 20 events in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. We lead in the industry in terms of event scale and influence. In addition， we are enhancing our footprint in the electronics manufacturing and assembly industry as we have launched more than 10 events this year in the industry to cover 1st-tier cities and emerging markets.

We choose which industries to cover based on market demands； Reed will be present where market demands drive us. In Greater China， we organize over 60 events each year. Many of our events enjoy great results and exert a big influence， including NEPCON China， CIAAF， Shenzhen Gifts and Home， SinoCorrugated， tHIS， CDATF， China Golf Show， Aluminium China， C-TOUCH & DISPLAY， and G2E Asia.

With the rising income per capita in recent years， Asian populations are demanding more in terms of healthy lifestyle and fashion. In response， we are experimenting with new events in emerging sectors， such as FIBO China， Shanghai Comic Convention （SHCC）， and Beijing Comic Convention （BJCC）. These new events have immediately had good feedback in the market. We have also launched Oceanology International China and China Shanghai International Childrens Book Fair （CCBF） in an effort to further enhance our footprint in China.

In the future， we will continue our leadership in existing and emerging market sectors. By leveraging local and global resources， we will continue to enhance our premier position in the industry.

Q： Reed Exhibitions chooses to work with COEX because COEX has maintained steady grwoth over the years. Since 2012， COEX business has kept its annual growth rate at 8%. Please share what are some of the factors that you consider when it comes to M&A and business parntership， including project strength， HR， and market conditions.

Hu： Indeed， we choose to cooperate with COEX as we see big promises in their event projects. We consider the following factors when it comes to selecting partners or partner projects：

Whether we can achieve win-win results and where the effect of 1+1 comes to more than 2

Whether the projects have a big market potential and whether we can locate mature， effective local partners who have an international mind to work with us.

All these factors and more have to be taken into account when we consider partnership programs.