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Baucon
Asia 1. Introduction
British companies exhibiting at Baucon were eligible for a grant of 60% of their space and construction costs up to a ceiling of £2,300 per exhibitor.
CEA staff took enquiries and trade leads from visitors – a database of visitors is available to CEA Members and is included on disk with this report for display package participants. Many of the companies who used the display facility were looking for distributors in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. Those who already had a distributor used the facility to raise awareness of their product. All companies in the display package were able to use the stand as a hospitality base for their British personnel to meet potential customers.
A number of visitors, from a variety of countries, to the stand were distributors looking for new products and we are hopeful that useful contacts have been made.
2. The Exhibition 2.1 Venue Baucon Asia – the 6th International Trade Fair for Building Materials, Building Services, Prefabricated Parts, Construction Technology, Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery was held at the excellent Singapore Expo centre located in Changi (about 5 miles east of the city centre in Singapore). Also running in tandem with Baucon was Restroom Asia and Fenestration Asia as well as the World Toilet Summit. The exhibition center is extremly modern with light, airy well appointed halls. Baucon Aisa occupied Hall 4 with outdoor exhibitors located in the car park outside the front entrance to the show. It was refreshing to find an exhibition centre which provided food and drink at affordable prices. The Expo centre accommodated a food court on the upper level serving a large meal with a choice of 7 national cuisines for under £3.00. There was an excellent exhibitor’s shop in the centre selling all the bits and pieces that exhibitors forget to bring at reasonable prices. A hole in the wall machine is available on site. Most exhibitors stayed at hotels in Singapore city centre – which was where all the evening activities and restaurants were located. Access to the Expo Centre was by either taxi – about 25 minutes from the city centre costing around S$12 (about £4.50) – or by MRT (underground), which now runs to the exhibition centre. Complimentary shuttle buses were provided by the organisers from the three official hotels in the city centre. Some exhibitors who had local agents drove to the show but this would not be recommended unless one had local knowledge of Singapore due to heavy traffic congestion and Central Business District electronic road pricing tolls. 2.2 Organisers Baucon Asia is a joint collaboration between Messe München GmbH and CEMS Pte Ltd Singapore and technically managed by IMAG Co-organisers are the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), and the Singapore Institute of Architects Building Centre. The UK agents for the exhibition were Pattern Ltd who provided valuable assistance in the recruitment of exhibitors for the show. Roger Sherman, Managing Director of Pattern, proved to be a lifesaver for the five exhibitors from the insolvent Sponsor and brokered their new stands with the organisers to ensure their participation at Baucon. Joanna Oliver arrived on site two days before the show opened and found that preparations were well underway. The stands had been built and all the exhibitor’s freight had arrived on stand. Although the stands were ready by 08.00 on Sunday morning most British indoor exhibitors set up their stands on Monday - the day before the show opened. The organisation and execution of Baucon Asia by the organisers was excellent. The Information Centre was visited by the organisers several times during the show, to check that everything was running smoothly. Baucon Asia was sponsored by the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore, the Singapore Institute of Architects, The Institution of Engineers, Singapore, the Singapore Contractors Association Ltd and the Singapore Confederation of Industries. The Fire Safety and Rescue exhibition and conference ran concurrently with Baucon Asia. This was organised by CEMS and it was noted that a number of visitors attended both exhibitions. 2.3 Stand Contractors Quotes for stand building were obtained from three contractors: Pico Art International and City Neon (official indoor contractors). Pico, who offered an enhanced shell scheme with strong British branding for the same price as the organiser’s standard package, were appointed as stand contractors. CEA have worked with Pico on the last two editions of Baucon Asia and have found them to be excellent contractors. The 10 co-located British exhibitor’s turnkey package comprised: a white Octanorm stand construction, blue with red edged carpet, blue and white name fascia, 2 florescent tubes, a 13 amp power point, lockable walk in store (where required), a reception desk, coffee table, shelves and chairs. British branding was strengthened by 3m high pylons on the corner of the block with the slogan the British at Baucon and topped with a stylised Union Flag together with flags on the top of each stand. At the base of each pylon was a plant filled box. Pico finished the stand construction on schedule and had a representative on site throughout the exhibition. The stands were well constructed and Pico offered a wide range of fixtures and fittings and AV aids at less than the organiser’s price list. Pico also arranged for the CEA to hire computer and AV equipment at discounted prices. 2.4 Freight Forwarders The nominated freight forwarders were Britannic International Exhibition Freight Ltd. Freight arrived on site on the Saturday and the Britannic representative, Bill Young, was on site during the build up and on the first day of the exhibition. DFDS handled return freight on behalf of Britannic. Britannic provided an efficient and courteous service as always. The 5 companies from the insolvent Sponsor had their freight handled by Meritex, represented by Paul Saunders. Despite not having been paid for the work Paul remained cheerful and extremely helpful to his exhibitors. 2.5 Other Exhibitors There were 347 exhibitors at Baucon Asia from 32 countries – including 44 from restroom Asia. Exhibitors took a net exhibit space of 5,014 sqm exhibit space. In addition to the British group there were national pavilions from Germany and Spain. The Germans were by far the largest overseas group at the exhibition as would be expected with a German organised exhibition Exhibitors were a mixture of companies representing the building materials, building services, building material machinery, construction equipment, road making, tunnelling equipment, lifting equipment, sanitary products, publications and services, concrete batching and aggregates sectors. There was an IT workshop throughout the show. 2.4 Visitors The exhibition’s opening hours were 10.00-18.00. The first day of the show was busy. There was an official opening with guest of honour Mr Mah Bow Tan, the Singapore Minister for National Development. He was accompanied by Mr Albert Hong – a leading figure in Singapore industry. Mr Tan drew a large crowd who then toured the exhibition following the opening formalities. The second day was quiet in the morning but busier in the afternoon as was the third. The last day (Friday) was a lot quieter – this could have been due to a lack of Muslim visitors on their holy day, especially as Baucon took place in Ramadan. The CEA Business Tracker interactive CD-ROM was distributed to all visitors making specific enquiries and was well received. Several visitors reported that they had received Business Trackers at Baucon 97 and 99 and had used it to successfully source British products. A British Company Information Brochure had been produced by the CEA detailing British companies exhibiting and displaying at Baucon. A total of 9,137 visitors attended Baucon Asia from 50 countries and regions. The quality of visitors was, on the whole, high with many being of CEO or director status. Most of the visitors spoke English to a greater or lesser degree. All showed a high level of courtesy and asked before taking any literature, CD ROM’s, and brochures. This gave an opportunity to assess the level and seriousness of interest. Although predominantly Singaporean visitors to the British Information Center were recorded from: Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam. 3. Singapore 3.1 Construction Projects: A construction sector summary report complied by the British High Commission in Singapore is included with this report. 3.2 Quality: British equipment is regarded in Singapore to be of a very high quality and therefore much sought after. 3.3 Relationships: To do business in Singapore requires the establishment of a personal relationship between manufacturer and distributor or customer. It is considered rude to launch straight into a sales pitch before getting to know each other. A distributor or agent is essential if a company is to be successful in exporting to Singapore. Companies who have established distributors reported that they had to be carefully nurtured and serviced if a good relationship was to be maintained. 3.4 British Embassy: The Commercial Section of the British high Commission in Singapore is enthusiastic and keen to help British exporters. The department can provide market overviews and tailored market information. However detailed market research will incur a cost. The contact is:- Erica Ackerman:- Opening hours: 08.30 –
17.00 Monday – Friday. 4. Observations The following hints and tips might be useful if you visit Singapore for business – or pleasure.
6. Conclusions Baucon Asia was a well-organised exhibition, which again suffered lower numbers of exhibitors due to the present economic downturn of the economies of Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. Visitors to the show expressed a belief that British companies were producers of high quality products with good after-sales service. It was felt likely that once the economy recovers those British companies who have stuck with the region would be rewarded for their loyalty. British exhibitors felt the exhibition worthwhile and several reported a good level of new orders. Those exhibitors which got the most out of the exhibition were those who had most into their planning. A number of exhibitors had carried out an extensive pre-event publicity campaign and sent out invitations to all their existing and target customers in the region. The importance of good exhibition planning by exhibitors cannot be too highly stressed. Whilst Singapore was an easy place to exhibit the show is just the start of building a relationship with a potential distributor or customer. Opportunities for the sale of construction equipment exist across a wide range of products. There is still extensive construction and renovation of shopping malls, office blocks, hotels and residential apartments in Singapore. Main roads into the city are being widened and improved. If British companies are serious about doing business in the region the opinion was that they must appoint a local distributor or agent and expect to support then through regular contact and visits. Companies who had agents but did not visit them had found that the sales very quickly fell off. Joanna Oliver
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