UFI Asia Seminar moves to COEX

In order to accommodate the demand for delegates and showcase the full range of facilities available in Seoul, the UFI Open Seminar in Asia will be relocated to COEX. Dates and programme remain unchanged.

BSG releases first report on M&A activity in Asian B2B media

Hong Kong, 20^th January 2007: Subscribers to Business Strategies Group’s Asian Business Media Tracker Service received a week agao a unique new research report on mergers and acquisitions activities in the business media, information services and events sector Asia.

The report reveals that there were 21 deals in 2006, up from 17 in 2005 with a total value of US$266.4 million. BSG is predicting 25 transactions and a deal value of $300 – 350 million in 2007. Subscribers can track the value of deals over the past five years in terms of value, industry focus and acquiring companies. BSG also provides an analysis of the most important deals of 2006 as well as commentary on the differences between Asian markets and those in the US and Europe.

BSG Principal Paul Woodward commented “2006 was a record year for media M&A activity in the US and Europe. Asia is still small by comparison to those markets but there is strong growth across all sectors, particularly online. So far, we are seeing mainly strategic investments from major multi-national media companies but we do expect to see increased interest from private equity in India and in some aspects of the Chinese market”.

BSG’s Tracker Service was launched in December 2006 and provides subscribers with a variety of regularly-updated industry reports as well as an enhanced version of the company’s regular weekly newsletter.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Jess Wong e-mail: jess at bsgasia.com

Tel: +852 2525 6129

Web site: http://www.bsgasia.com/bsg_tracker.html

UFI Asia Seminar Programme Announced

UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, will hold the second UFI Open Seminar in Asia in Seoul, Korea from 8-9 March 2007. Following the successful model of the first Asia seminar held in Hong Kong in 2006, the event will be open to all professionals in the exhibition industry. As in 2006, the BSG team will manage the seminar on UFI's behalf.

The seminar will be jointly hosted by two UFI members - the Korean national trade promotion organization, KOTRA and the Association of Korean Exhibition Industries (AKEI), a national association. A group of senior level representatives from around the world is expected in Seoul to share their practical experience in the exhibition business through ten interesting topics. The Seminar will focus on two key themes, “Improving Your Exhibition Competitiveness” and “The Changing Role of Venues in Successful Exhibition Business”.

The UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2007 welcomes UFI members and non-members to participate and registration is now open.

A distinguished panel of presenters has been assembled for the programme including:

· Prof. Dr. Bong-Seok Kim, Professor of Trade Fair & Exhibition Management, Kyung Hee University, Korea.

· Katharina Hamma, Executive Director, Messe München GmbH, Germany.

· Ross Yaeger, Vice President, MindComet Corp., USA.

· Silvana Kürschner, Director – Marketing Management/CRM/Alliances, Leipziger Messe GmbH, Germany.

· Michael Dreyer, Vice-President Asia Pacific, Koelnmesse Pte Ltd, Singapore.

· Eric Préat, Vice President Product Development, easyFairs, Belgium.

· Warren Buckley, Managing Director, Suntec Singapore, Singapore

· Pojai Pookakupt, Director of the Board, Chair Person of Education Committee, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), Thailand.

· Paul Thandi, Chief Executive, The NEC Group, UK.

The Seminar runs from 2:00 – 5:30PM on Thursday 8^th and 9:00 – 12:00 on Friday 9^th in Crystal Ballroom at Lotte Hotel Seoul. Full programme and registration details are available at www.ufi.org/seoul2007.