Messe Frankfurt, the agency that organises trade shows in Frankfurt, has decided to set up a 100 per cent owned subsidiary in India.
The company plans to organise one of its most popular industry shows for the first time in Delhi next year.
Michael Peters, the Frankfurt-based director of Messe Frankfurt, was in India a few months ago to make a presentation of the Frankfurt shows to Indian companies. He said as a result of excellent contacts built up with Indian industry, the company had decided to create a new associate firm in India to better serve their needs and tap the Indian market.
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Our new associate company in Mumbai will organise its own trade shows in India and position them as meeting points for specialised segments of the international industry, Peters said.
Peters disclosed that while the head office of the new company will be in Mumbai a branch office will be opened in Delhi. The Mumbai associate, he said, will promote the foreign trade shows outside India, whereas the office in Delhi will be responsible for trade shows in India.
There will be 21 persons employed in both the offices. Peters said that a small part of the equity capital will initially be earmarked for the establishment of the Indian associate company, although we can already visualise that the company will be self-dependent from the very beginning.
Messe Frankfurt, which was represented until now in India by the Mumbai-based Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), has terminated its contract with the chamber. The IGCC also represents a number of other German trade show organisers in India.
Trying to play down the irritation caused to the IGCC by the termination of the contract, Peters stated that such a step had since long been envisaged by both sides because Messe Frankfurts business in India had increased manifold. We had to decide, because of reasons of corporate policy, to create our own associate company in India, he said.
Messe Frankfurt has unveiled plans of staging its first ever show in India Automechanika India from February 12 to 17, 1999, in Delhi. The Automechanika at Frankfurt has become a barometer of the global automobile parts and accessories trade and attracts large numbers of Indian exhibitors and trade visitors.
India is one of the fastest growing automobile markets of the world, which has been showing an increasing demand for spare parts, equipment used in automobile repair shops and services, Peters said.
Messe Frankfurt has, therefore, started with Automechanika India at the right time and the right place, he said, emphasising that his company was not exporting its shows to India but merely transferring its knowhow and expertise in trade show organisation and the industry to foreign markets.
Peters claimed to have the cooperation of Indian organisations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) to organise the Automechanika India show.
He said that Automechanika India will be integrated into Messe Frankfurts concept of Automechanika Global which envisages a worldwide coordination of the dates of its trade shows in the automobile and automobile technology sector. Automechanika Global embraces ten specialised shows worldwide.
Asked if Messe Frankfurt was following a trend noticeable among German trade show organisers, who were increasingly looking for sites in Asia, including India, Peters said against the backdrop of the growing trend towards globalisation, Messe Frankfurt was also inclined to think in global terms.
India is a major source of business for Messe Frankfurt, which presented India as a partner country at the recent Frankfurt Heimtextil specialised trade show for household textiles. India was represented by a record contingent of 235 exhibitors at this event.
Messe Frankfurt has identified India as an important market for its line of work and Peters underscored the fact that such shows bring India closer to the world markets.
Peters said that India stands to benefit from its participation at the shows a fact which was mirrored not only in the growing number of exhibitors and trade visitors from India at the Frankfurt shows, but also from the rest of the world at the Indian booths at the shows.
The number of exhibitors from India has very nearly doubled since 1990 at the consumer goods trade shows Ambiente and Tendence. At last years Ambiente, there were 88 Indian exhibitors while Tendence 97 attracted 73 Indian exhibitors.