Here at PES we are delighted to bring you our review of the first ever Wind Energy Asia. Wind energy is growing rapidly in Asia, our clients are already excited about it. This event has been met with enthusiasm and it’s set to be a great annual show, a chance to meet up and network with prospective collaborators in a new market venture.
‘This is exactly the type of show I want to come to! It’s not the largest, but no school kids stuffing bags with brochures, and the quality of the meetings? Wow! Excellent!’ said Giordano Toninelli, Sales Manager at FACCIN SpA sitting in his booth on the trade show floor.
And this pretty much summed up the feeling of the vast majority of attendees, exhibitors, visitors, both to the exhibition and the forum of the Asia-Pacific Wind Energy Expo 2019. Held for the first time in the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung, South Taiwan in March this year, the event provided a great platform for B2B discussions, recruitment of employees, industry information-gathering, search for local partners, policy discussions with high level government officials and last but not least to have a drink with your peers in a relaxed networking event with live music under the palm trees by the harbor. To cement strong relationships for the future.
89 exhibitors sharing 158 booths in the exhibition hall were visited by over 1,500 industry professionals. 80% from Taiwan, with the other 20% came from 23 countries and or regions. Japan and Singapore having the largest delegations, but Pakistan, South Africa and USA among others, were also present. Pavilions from 6 nations, Denmark and Singapore were the biggest, jockeyed for attention with large booths from Tier 1 vendors with their local partners and JVs, with a third of the companies being Taiwanese exhibitors.
Simultaneously on the 1st day, 2 floors above, a forum of 26 sessions and over 250 attendees discussed policy, project finance, certification, operation and maintenance, and all other important issues throughout the industry. Plenum sessions on policy and overall market followed the opening speech by Deputy Economics Minister Vincent Tseng, responsible for Energy, in the morning.
In the afternoon the audience picked from 2 tracks on Technology or Finance/Certification to cover a wide range of topics such as project finance, localization, operations & maintenance, supply chain, training, HR, particular weather conditions right across the breadth of the industry. Technicians and project managers took turns with CEOs and Vice Presidents to share their knowledge and approaches from the podium. The conference rooms were buzzing.
For the organizer’s small project team at Intercon Convention Management, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s live communication leader Interplan International Corp. based in Taipei, it had been a tough 9 months. Yes, it had come together in just 9 months. From concept development and the first client meetings in June 2018 to the event in mid-March it was 9 months. They were exhausted, but very happy. Happy with the great feedback (and praise!) that everybody gave them, and knowing that they had together created the largest, most international wind exhibition by far in Taiwan, and already in its 1st version one of the most important in Asia. Double to triple the size and number of exhibitors it attracted when compared to the competitive event in Taipei. Extremely rewarding.
