Reed Tradex’s trade triumph

Chainarong Limpkittisin, managing director of Thailand’s exhibition organiser Reed Tradex, spoke about the conference with VIR’s Ngoc Linh.

Reed Tradex is organising three industrial exhibitions in Hanoi in September to promote  the development of supporting industries. What are the differences for the exhibitions this year?

We have seen a growth of customers exhibiting at our event. Compared to 2011, the exhibition site has grown around 25 per cent. This year we have problems of how to manage and provide enough space for the exhibitors who want to get space in Hanoi. Today, in early May, we don’t have any space left for sale, and we just have a very small stage for two robots to perform. This is to thank to our partners Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and Hanoi Trade Promotion Centre (HTPC).

This year is very special year for JETRO to organise a very special event in Vietnam, because this year is the 40th year of anniversary of friendship between Vietnam and Japan. So in supporting industries exhibition 50 companies from Japan and 50 companies from Vietnam will show their products. They are part makers or supporting industries relevant companies, they want to find partners.

The second one is technology exhibition named Japanese Monozukuri Technology Exhibition where 45 Japanese companies will show their technology. There is another group coming from HTPC, who participate in industrial and component sub-contracting exhibition. Actually HTPC wants to occupy more space than what they got now. But because we have the limited space, so they have 30 booths, or 300 square meters. HTPC will bring Hanoi entrepreneurs who want to get orders from Japanese or from the other visitors for supporting their business in the future. All are ready now to support Vietnam’s supporting industries.

Do you think the increasing interest from manufacturing exhibitors is a good sign for the Vietnamese economy?

I see that there are some changes in the economy. We have talked about Japanese companies, many of them opened offices or branches in Vietnam over past years. Many more Japanese companies came to open branches for selling the machines, especially in Hanoi. Now more and more Japanese companies look into Hanoi rather than Ho Chi Minh City, because we have already had Japanese multinational companies like Honda, Toyota and Yamaha here. They are going to follow multinational companies, it’s because the market in Vietnam is big for them to invest. What do I see the potential of exhibition business in Vietnam? We need to strengthen exhibition like Metalex, Nepcon to be the number one in this country. We still believe in potential in the future so that we gradually develop business here.

Reed Tradex has been present  in Vietnam over past seven years. Why do you just focus on manufacturing sector, especially on supporting industries?

We now focus in this sector because we believe that we could deliver the best. We think that the path for industry development in Vietnam will be similar to Thailand. Until now, I strongly believe that we made the right decision to stay in this sector. But this does not mean we don’t look into the other sectors. We think market size of the industry in Vietnam will need time to develop more. In Thailand, next year, we are going to launch a new show of cosmetic industry, and I think the cosmetic industry in Vietnam is also quite strong. So we will start on it.

How would you assess your experience of Vietnam after seven years organising exhibitions here?

Frankly, it’s really difficult for us. Doing exhibitions in every country looks like building brand image for the country. In Vietnam, you have population of 90 million - a big market, young demographic, young people who are hard working and willing to learn more. It looks impressive. On the other side, inflation is also very high, some systems are not so good now. A lot of people say that Vietnam should grow faster than this. I heard your prime minister making a speech that they will improve something as some policies did not work well. I think that is a good sign. But moving the big systems to new stage will take time, moving a lot of people will take time. I think now Vietnam is trying to move in the right direction. I talked to JETRO and to many Japanese investors, they are ready to invest for the future, because they still believe that Vietnam is good in the future, in next three or five years. We did not earn good profit in Vietnam, frankly.

But we do think that we will enjoy the future, that why we decide to be here.

Thailand is very strong in supporting industries. Do you think Vietnam will  develop like Thailand?

Thailand is now number nine in the world for car production, and we expect to keep this rank for long time. I don’t think that Vietnam could follow the same path like Thailand because of timing. About 20-30 years ago was the right time for Thailand. But now if Vietnam wants to be number 20 in the world producing car, it’s too late. But I think in some special sectors you can do better to champion. Vietnam was right to become top of the world in shipbuilding and ship-repairing. Now Vinashin is in dire situation, but you can correct it, you can do things fast enough and strong enough.

Shipbuilding can be one of the industries you can compete with others. I agree that government policy is a key success factor for investors to make the right decision. But the government has to find products that they want to be champion. The government also needs to identify sectors that they can develop.