VIV ASIA 2017: RED CARPET FOR CHINESE VISITORS

Executives from some of China’s top animal protein companies will receive a special welcome when they attend the VIV Asia 2017 international feed to food show in March this year. The show’s organizers have arranged a complete Chinese-language package to make sure that the visit of these VIP delegations is as informative and productive as possible. “We want to reach out to important company leaders in China with a programme designed to meet their particular needs. The result is what we call our Welcome China programme.”

Anneke van Rooijen is co-ordinating this programme on behalf of VIV worldwide. “China is a large player in our industry, gaining more and more importance especially in this region,” she says. “It brings a substantial number of exhibitors as well as visitors to the VIV Asia show. In 2015 China was the fourth-largest source of visitors from outside Thailand, which was already a fantastic achievement. “Obviously, however, language remains something of a problem. At VIV Asia the most used language is English. To really help our visitors from China we needed to offer something in their own language.

“That was how the idea for Welcome China started. With its features we try to bridge the language gap. For example, in addition to adding a Chinese section to the VIV Asia website, when delegates from China arrive at the show they will find a leaflet in their language providing them with practical on-site information to assist their visit.”

Programme highlights

From that basis has evolved a VIP programme for targeted delegations from China in which they are offered hotel assistance in Bangkok and priority badges for the show, along with access to an exclusive meeting room at BITEC. Each delegation then joins an agenda of Chinese-language highlights. VIV worldwide’s promotion of the programme within China via social media site WeChat makes clear that the delegations can expect a guided tour of the show, assisted by interpreters, on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th March and that each tour will go to the stands of nominated suppliers according to delegates’ wishes.

Another guaranteed feature is a Chinese-language seminar at BITEC on the afternoon of Thursday 16th March, looking at aspects of demand from the point of view of the China market. It will be followed on the Thursday evening by a cocktail reception on the showground that is designed to be an exclusive networking event for the benefit of delegation members.

Then on Friday 17th March the delegates will have the option of business tours for their group within the Bangkok area. One possibility is to visit a highly efficient dairy farm, another would take the group to meet Chinese-speaking representatives of one of Asia’s most important food and agribusiness enterprises.

Confirmed delegations

Among the first VIP groups confirming that they will participate in this programme at VIV Asia 2017 was a delegation of about 40 executives of medium-sized to large pig production companies, Anneke van Rooijen reports. Another early booking was from the Beijing branch of the BFIA (Beijing Feed Industry Association) to bring about 20 feed manufacturers. The programme for the BFIA has already been adapted to include a meeting for the group with directors of Thailand’s own feed mill association.

“Also known, for example, is that there will be a high-level delegation led by the China Dairy Association,” Anneke comments. “It gives some idea of the quality of the visitors who are being attracted to VIV Asia 2017 by the Welcome China programme and of the range of their animal protein interests. You can be sure that VIV will have the red carpet ready for them!”

15th edition VIV Asia

VIV Asia 2017 takes place 15th to 17th March at the BITEC expo grounds in Bangkok, Thailand, where there will be about 1,000 exhibitors and approximately 40,000 visitors are expected. In the series of VIV Asia shows held every two years in Bangkok since 1993, every edition has brought a significant increase both in the total attendance and in the number of people visiting from China.

“We really broke some records again at the most recent edition in 2015,” notes show manager Zhenja Antochin. “We received 38,422 visitors from 124 countries, itself a 15 per cent increase compared with 2013. The number of exhibitors was also up by 15 per cent. Equally notable was that, out of the 21,723 people attending from outside Thailand, almost 9 per cent were from China.