Shaking hands, exchanging business cards, and making meaningful business connections with exhibitors were 8,420 trade visitors from both government and commercial sectors who roamed across 7,000 sqm of exhibition space at the Bangkok International Convention and Exhibition Center.
“Smart city was an overarching theme at this 6th edition of the fair,” said Ms Regina Tsai, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Limited. “This, together with three concurrent events for fire & safety, smart home, and info security, ensured that all of the market’s most important needs were covered.”
Understanding market
Exhibitors at this year’s fair came from 16 different countries and regions and included some of the providers of security technology
“The feedback from visitors and exhibitors alike on the quality and comprehensiveness of the show has been highly encouraging, and the general consensus is that there is still huge potential for growth in the Thai security industry, particularly in light of the construction taking place across the country.”
Bidding to tap into the huge potential of the Thai market, exhibitors at this year’s fair came from 16 different countries and regions and included some of the providers of security technology. Dahua, Full Enterprise, Great Lite, Hikvision, HIP global, JVCKenwood, Konica Minolta and ZKTeco were all in attendance with a selection of the latest video surveillance, access control systems and smart city solutions. Ian Shi, Dahua’s overseas business manager for Thailand, spoke about how the company’s participation at Secutech Thailand allows them to deepen their understanding of the market:
Smart city products
“Secutech Thailand is the most professional security show in the country. All of the big brands are here and this year we can see customers from many different vertical markets, including the government. For this reason it is a very fruitful exhibition for us to gather market information and understand customer demands. Our surveillance systems can carry out facial and number plate recognition through the use of artificial intelligence. Given that the government is continuing to plan for Thailand 4.0, we see many opportunities in the future for our smart city products.”
The smart city theme was also featured at two international pavilions from Taiwan and Singapore. NewDVR, a Singaporean company that specialises in cloud based solutions for smart city were participating at the show for the first time this year in order to launch their smart community solution to property developers.
Big property developers
The market in Thailand at the moment is definitely embracing the smart city concept, and we are positive about the future outlook"
The company’s Regional Product Manager, Mr Jonathan Chan said that the market for their solutions is primed for growth and that Secutech Thailand is an excellent way for them to reach potential partners: “The market in Thailand at the moment is definitely embracing the smart city concept, and we are positive about the future outlook. Secutech Thailand gives us a great platform from which to connect with big property developers and partners such as Sunsiri, Design 103 and many more.”
With so many different high-tech solutions on display across the fairground, the show was an excellent one stop sourcing platform for trade visitors from across the ASEAN region. Mr Aibert Josha Sainz, a system integrator and IT manager travelled to the show from Laos in order to find the best access control and surveillance systems for his projects.
Comprehensive exhibition
“I’m involved in security software integration and I’m here at the show to find CCTV and access control systems that can integrate with our software. This is my first time at Secutech Thailand, it’s a very comprehensive exhibition. Whether you are in the smart city, smart home or smart building sector, whatever you are looking for you can find it here.”
The excitement surrounding the smart city, smart home and smart building sectors was equally palpable with regards to Thailand’s fire and safety market. Mr Joji Jose, Marketing Manager of Al Khoory Pumps, a first time exhibitor at the concurrent Fire & Safety Thailand event, recognised the fair as an ideal gateway for international suppliers to enter the market:
Gain new contacts
Thailand is a country where a lot of construction is taking place and for this reason we see huge potential in the market for our products"
“Thailand is a country where a lot of construction is taking place and for this reason we see huge potential in the market for our products. We manufacture fire pumps in Dubai and by participating at Secutech Thailand we are able to promote our brand, gain new contacts, find the right distributors and gather valuable market data.”
Another exhibitor to speak in positive tones about the fire and safety market was Mr Ian Brough, General Manager of Raidrop International: “This is the first time we’ve exhibited at Secutech Thailand. We’re a UK manufacturer of fire protection products. The Thai government has enacted some quite strict fire and safety regulations which helps us because our products are all internationally certified.”
Educational seminars
“Exhibiting at Secutech Thailand allows us to develop our presence in the market and find distributors. The visitor flow this morning has been very good and we have been able to gain plenty of new contacts.” While business contacts were being made in the aisles of the exhibition hall, a series of nine educational seminars and events were also taking place. With the IoT and digitisation as central themes, the events illuminated the development opportunities for Thailand’s smart cities.
Just one of many highlights was the well-received Thailand mayor’s summit, which involved a panel discussion on the key requirements for smart city development and sustainability. Valuable insights about info security, NB – IoT, smart policing, smart building technology and hotel security could also be gained through the fringe programme.
Safety certification regulations
Mr Apichart Prasitnarit, a speaker at the ‘Realtech: IoT for Smart Buildings’ seminar and President of the Real Estate and Partnership Trade Association, spoke about how Secutech Thailand’s fringe events help to spark new business growth:
These seminars are so important for spreading ideas and informing stakeholders about new technology in areas such as the IoT and cloud computing"
“These seminars are so important for spreading ideas and informing stakeholders about new technology in areas such as the IoT and cloud computing. Through the seminars, attendees can pick up new ideas which they can then apply to their own businesses. This in turn can stimulate growth within the security industry.” In addition to spotlighting new opportunities, several concurrent events also dealt with the fire and safety challenges that have emerged due to urbanisation. The government has enacted stricter fire and safety certification regulations but there remain large issues with non-compliance.
Importance of certification
Mr Lothar Sysk, Chief Representative of VdS, a security and fire safety certification provider, spoke about how attending Secutech Thailand’s fire and safety forums have helped him to spread the word on the importance of certification:
“The seminar is vital for engaging directly with local stakeholders. Even though we have an Asian representative office in Shanghai, VdS is still not very well known in Thailand, so by speaking at the seminar today, we are not only able to promote our brand, but we can also spread the word about the importance of certification, which is a hot topic now in Thailand. I definitely intend to return again to future Secutech Thailand shows.”
