Last week, Textile World reported in its weekly enewsletter that due to overwhelming response, the owners of ITMA Asia + CITME 2012 have now booked the remaining available space at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), where the event will take place June 12-16, 2012 (See "ITMA ASIA + CITME 2012 Exhibition Attracts Overwhelming Response," TextileWorld.com, April 10, 2012).

China Too Strong
Regular readers of The Rupp Report know the content of interviews with European leaders from the textile machinery business about their experience during ITMA 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. One of the questions that was always raised was one about the rhythm of the ITMAs in Europe and Asia — whether it would be better for the textile machinery industry to have an ITMA in Europe and Asia each every four years only? The reply was unanimous: "It would be good enough to have a show every four years each in Asia and in Europe."

However, the facts are different now. And, frankly speaking, this is not very surprising after all. In spite of all the current troubles, the Asian markets in general, and particularly in China, are just too strong to stay away from that booming region of the world. As the report from last week informs: "The latest statistics from China Customs reveal that China's textile machinery foreign trade registered a year-on-year growth of 25.6% to reach US$7.6 billion in 2011; of this amount, exports contributed US$2.25 billion while imports chalked up US$5.36 billion."

Additional Space
And, furthermore: "With the additional 6,000 square meters of exhibition space, the show will now gross over 132,000 square meters, 30 percent larger than the previous event in 2010. More than 1,230 exhibitors from 27 countries and regions will take part. The Rupp Report talked to Daphne Poon, regional marketing communications director of MP International Pte Ltd. to get some additional information about the forthcoming show.

Rupp Report : Can you give an exhibitor breakdown per country?

Daphne Poon : Besides China, the top exhibiting countries for ITMA Asia + CITME 2012 by space are Germany, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. Now, 11.5 halls have been booked for ITMA Asia + CITME 2012.

RR : If a company wants to sign up for a booth, is it now too late, or do they have a chance?

Poon : Well, exhibitors can still apply for their space at itmaasia.com, but there is a waiting list of applicants for the show. And I must say that allocation of space is dependent on the date of application, and whether there is space in the sector applied for. However, the organizers will keep the waitlisted applicants updated on the available spaces.

Facilitate The Application
RR : To facilitate a visit, is there a website or an email address that visitors from all over the world can contact to ask for a recommendation to make it easier to get a Visa?

Poon : This is a very important question. Visitors can request their visa invitation letters from the official travel agent on the ITMA Asia + CITME 2012 website, itmaasia.com. They can click on the Visa tab under the Visitors section and request a letter of invitation. They can use this letter to support their application for a visa at their local Chinese embassy or consulate. The steps for a visa application and relevant charges for the application can be found on the website. Maybe I can add something quite important: Visitors are advised to plan their visits and apply for their visas as early as possible to buffer for potential delays in the processing of their visas.

Product Piracy
RR : A never-ending issue is product piracy, particularly at Asian textile machinery shows. Will the organizers fight against product piracy? And what are the rules for an exhibitor?

Poon : As you know, protection of intellectual property rights has traditionally been the hallmark of ITMA branded shows. As part of the rental contract for ITMA Asia + CITME 2012, each exhibitor is obliged to sign a legally binding statement confirming that he will not infringe the trademark and intellectual property rights of another exhibitor or a third party.

The general regulations of ITMA Asia + CITME 2012 also clearly state that all exhibitors must respect, and are liable for ensuring protection of, the intellectual property rights of other exhibitors and of third parties — such as, for example, patents, trademarks, copyrights and such — when displaying their products at the show.

RR : Okay, but what do you do if an exhibitor is infringing the rules?

Poon : If it is proven to the show organizer that an exhibitor has infringed the intellectual property rights of another exhibitor or a third party, the organizer is entitled to remove the exhibit/s causing the infringement and to stop the offending exhibitor from continuing with his participation.

RR : There is a persistent rumor that domestic and foreign exhibitors don't pay the same square-meter prices.

Poon : I can assure you that ITMA Asia + CITME works on a principle of unified pricing. However, to facilitate payment by Chinese and international exhibitors, the cost for participation is offered in both renminbi and U.S. dollars.

Visits Should Be Booked As Soon As Possible
RR : Okay, let's have a look at the visitors now: Is there a website or an email address visitors may use to search for a hotel?

Poon : Yes, of course. The visitors may go to the ITMA Asia + CITME 2012 website at itmaasia.com. Under the Visitors tab, click on Hospitality, then Hotel Booking to see the list of hotels with special rates negotiated for the show. That's a very easy way to have access to hotels.

As Poon mentioned above, visitors are advised to plan their visits early. To avoid onsite queues, they may purchase badges at a specially reduced rate online at itmaasia.com or citme.com.cn.