German textile machinery builders are said to be pleased with the recent ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010, held at the end of June in Shanghai. According to a survey of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, over 60% of German exhibitors evaluate the prospects for post exhibition business to be very good or good.

Fritz P. Mayer, Chairman of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association and Managing Partner of Karl Mayer Textilmaschinenfabrik explained: “The very good order situation of the last few months was reflected in the events at the fair. Our exhibition stand attracted a large, international public. We were happy to welcome our visitors who had specific requests and showed lively interest in our innovations. Particularly our new developments were well received by companies which so far did not belong to our customers. All in all, we showed a presence which emphasized our position as market leader.”

High quality visitors

The VDMA survey, in which 43 German exhibitors participated, showed the following results with regard to visitors: Every third exhibition visitor was a company owner while 52% were classified middle management, which makes the quality of visitors generally high, VDMA says. The strongest visitor group was the Chinese with 30% but the visitor share of 70% from outside China reveals that the German booths were highly frequented especially from visitors from major Asian countries. On average the German companies estimated that the strongest visitor groups apart of the Chinese came from the following countries: India (9 %), Pakistan (9 %), Japan (5 %), Bangladesh (5 %), Indonesia 5 (5 %), Germany (4 %) and Iran (4 %).

Targets reached

According to the VDMA survey, the three most important targets of the German companies at ITMA ASIA were acquisition of new customers, market observation and the launch of new products. Looking at the target achievements reveals that launch of new products, image improvement and closing deals got good to very good marks by German exhibitors. For acquisition of new customers, only two companies graded good to very good.

Organisation much improved

The vast majority of German exhibitors were said to be satisfied with the general organisation this time and the exhibition halls. “The start-up problems of ITMA ASIA belong to the past. This year’s fair in Shanghai was characterised by a professional organisation and accomplishment. A stronger international acceptance and frequency was clearly noticeable”, said Eric Schöller, Member of the Board of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association and Managing Director of the Groz-Beckert Group.

ITMA ASIA 2012

Nearly 70% of the German companies stated in the VDMA survey that they envisaged exhibiting at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2012 in Shanghai. One third had not yet taken a final decision but no single company ruled out participating the 2012 event categorically. The current market situation in Asia is considered to be more positive than for the coming three years but even up to the end of 2013, the optimists in the sector prevail.

“At present China is experiencing an economic boom, and it seems as if there is almost no need for fresh impetus from exhibition activities. Nevertheless, against the background of a possible downturn in the market, the continuous presence of our enterprise at fairs and exhibitions is an important and vital element for securing our company’s future” summarised Fritz P. Mayer.