At the upcoming Propak Asia event in Bangkok, Thailand (15-18 June), Australia will, for the first time, have its own stand.
PKN Packaging News asked several Australian packaging companies about their hopes for the show, following the announcement of the new Australian Pavilion.
PKN: Why did you decide to exhibit at ProPak Asia?
AccuPak Australia GM Auke de Ruyter de Wildt: "Following our success at the 2015 ProPak exhibition, we decided to attend again in 2016. We felt the added attraction of the new Australian Pavilion [run by The Australian Packaging & Processing Machinery Association (APPMA)], as well as the depth and breadth of potential customers visiting, was worth returning for."
Adaptapack representative Walls Machinery's GM Rob Lawrence: "We see it as the premier exhibition in the region, and the perfect platform for our automation solutions."
Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) education director Pierre Pienaar: "The AIP made the decision to exhibit for this first time in 2016 as we are already working within the region developing residential packaging training courses through the Asian, Indonesian and Vietnam Packaging Federations and the World Packaging Organisation. It makes sense to have a presence in the Australian Pavilion and showcase our programs."
Confoil head of sales and marketing Andrew Seeley: "This is the first time Confoil will be exhibiting at ProPak Asia. We hope the relationships we're able to develop with local manufacturers and distributors will help us springboard into the supply of quality products within the region. We'll be exhibiting a food packaging solution for frozen/ pre-prepared meals."
HMPS MD Mark Emmett: "This will be the second year HMPS will be exhibiting at ProPak, having successfully exhibited there in 2015. This year we will be a part of the Australian stand to help promote Australian solutions to the packaging industry."
Rhima marketing and contracts executive Sarah Vandertop: "Rhima wants to expand into the South-east Asian market and we believe we have a product that will capture the market."
Q2: What opportunities do you see for your business in Asia?
AccuPak: "We feel Asia holds a lot of opportunity for us, especially as we are unbiased, straight-talking engineers with a depth of experience. Couple this with a weak(er) Australian dollar, and you have a good recipe for the future."
Adaptapack: "We see growing demand for a reliable automation workforce, and we'll introduce our full range of automation to the Asian region."
Confoil: "There are many synergies between the culture at Confoil and the Asian business community. The introduction of the Confoil system of packing and sealing food has the advantage of addressing high levels of food wastage while increasing nutritional benefits to the consumer."
HMPS: "A growing middle class in many regions around the world, especially the Asia Pacific, is leading to increasing disposable incomes. In turn, more consumers are purchasing packaged goods from modern retail locations. In the packaging market, the Asia Pacific region maintains a 46 per cent volume share of the total market (Euromonitor International Ltd, 2015), estimated to be $44.5bn by 2017, growing at around 4.6 per cent pa. This strong growth needs to be matched with automation technology that can provide consistent, high-speed and low-cost production/ packaging."
