Paris, 21 March 2012: The UFI Open
Seminar in the Middle East/Africa and Expo Summit Africa, organized
by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, in collaboration
with Manch Communications, was held in Cape Town from 15 – 17 March.
Hosted by the Cape Town International Convention Centre and
moderated by the CTICC CEO Rashid Toefy, the event attracted more than 70 participants
from the 18 countries in 4 continents who came from as far afield as China, UK,
USA and Thailand. It was a ‘not-to-be-missed’ chance to have a
closer look at the African market and in particular the
“Reality, Potential, Access and Needs” as its theme proposed.
“We are particularly glad that UFI
could successfully stage its first event in Sub-Saharan Africa and create this
networking and knowledge platform for its members and the industry
professionals at large in such a successful event.
This was possible only with the involvement and support of our partner in this
event Manch Communications, and our host CTICC” commented
Ibrahim Alkhaldi, UFI Middle East Africa Regional Manager.
The CEO of CTICC, Rashid Toefy, was
very happy to host the 2012 Seminar “it has been an immense pleasure
for me to host this UFI Seminar/Expo Summit here in Cape Town, and to be able
to share with the international exhibition industry the potential of
this massive market”. He shared his plans to double the
exhibition facilities within the next few years, a clear sign that business is
booming in Cape Town.
Speakers at the event included Craig
Newman of the Johannesburg Expo Centre who gave a clear illustration
to understanding business in Africa during the UFI Middle East Africa Chapter
meeting which preceded the Open Seminar. JWC Cologne’s Dr. Gerd Weber
focused on the industry’s concern for infrastructure and
the need to improve current exhibition facilities in many countries in the
region. Sylvie Fourn of Reed Exhibitions France and Douglas Emslie, the
CEO of Tarsus plc both provided interesting case studies on their
experience of working in Africa and ‘geo-cloning’ some of their key brands in
the region.
Essam El Haddad, Chairman of the
Arabian Development Group in Egypt, gave a very frank account of the
‘Arab Spring’, with a detailed study of the implications on the economy in general
and the exhibition industry in particular. Thorsten Kolbinger of Ungerboeck
in Germany and Corbin Ball from the USA rounded off the event
with a look at new technologies for the exhibition industry.
UFI is the global
association of the world’s leading tradeshow organizers and exhibition centre
operators, as well as the major national and
international exhibition associations and selected partners of the exhibition
industry. UFI’s main goal is to represent, promote and support the business
interests of its members and the exhibition industry.
UFI represents over
560 member organizations in 84 countries around the world. Almost 900
international trade fairs proudly bear the UFI approved
label, a quality guarantee for visitors and exhibitors alike. UFI members
continue to provide the international business community with a unique
marketing media aimed at developing
outstanding face-to-face business opportunities.
Official release