KINTEX Has a Good Track
Record
Its performance in the initial year registers a record high of 50 percent

KINTEX has logged a record high operation rate of 50 percent for about nine months after its debut on April 31, 2005 opening a new chapter in history of the domestic exhibition and convention industry.
Korea International Exhibition Center changed its target operational rate for 2005 from 40 percent to 45 percent and posted 50 percent, surpassing even the revised target figure during the period between March 31 and December 31, 2005. "The feat was significant compared to the Pudong Exhibition Center in Shanghai, which recorded an operational rate of 35 percent during the initial 12 months following its opening on December 31, 2001,"KINTEX President Kim In-shik said.
Further, KINTEX has hosted and will host Korea's top five shows ― three held during 2005 and two more in 2006. The Seoul Motor Show, which coincided with the official opening of KINTEX on April 31, attracted more than 1 million spectators amid the spotlight from Korea and abroad. KINTEX will host the Kyunghyang Housing Fair 2006 February 17- 22, 2006 and the Seoul Int'l Machine Tool Show April 12-17, 2006, bringing to the convention and display center all of the nation's top five exhibitions during the period between April 30, 2005 and April 17, 2006. KINTEX has been very impressed with the achievement that this center has successfully attracted all the top 5 exhibitions of Korea. Food Show & Korea that was co-located had 53,047 guests. Five others like the LED, FPD expos that drew great attention from people in that industry, followed these shows.
In order to achieve its missions, KINTEX took a strong move to combine promising shows under 'KINTEX'brand. Co-location of similar shows created synergetic effects on the industry and people was also one of its strategies. Of course, creating new shows out of the market of potential was the main task of it as well. The International Road & Traffic Show, held from July 7 through July 10, 2005 was one of its own brand shows that been organized by mutual efforts of KINTEX, KOTRA and Korea Road & Transportation Association and sponsored by five governmental organizations that included the Ministry of Construction & Transportation and Korea National Police Agency which had been longing to see the launching of the show. An official of KINTEX Exhibition Team said, "People want more comfortable, more environmentally-friendly, safer and faster roads than ever before. And this is what all the world citizens want and with the help of its technological & empirical know-how of Korea and the participants."In his New Year message carried by the KINTEX newsletter, Gyeonggi Gov. Sohn Hak-kyu, said, "It's more important to cultivate software on top of hardware of the convention and exhibition industry."Last November, the provincial government inaugurated the Convention & Visitors Bureau, a body specializing in exhibition and convention, while considering a plan on the cultivation of major exhibitions and conventions. It also secured a support for fostering the exhibition and convention industry from the central government.
Chung Hae-soo, chairman of the Association of Korean Exhibition Industries, said in his message that with the opening of KINTEX is a watershed of the domestic exhibition and convention industry as small- and mid-size exhibitions have been getting bigger. Integration and joint organization of similar exhibitions have emerged as a new paradigm aimed at enhancing exhibitions'competitiveness.
Goyang Mayor Kang Hyun-seok said KINTEX posted a record number of performances -s 54 mega exhibitions, domestically and internationally, until the end of 2005 plus 80 major conventions and 56 others. With the opening of KINTEX, CEOs, financial officials, artists and entertainers, and other knowledge industry people saw Goyang emerging as a Northeast Asian Mecca of the exhibition and convention industry, he noted. nw

KINTEX President Kim In-shik