Business

ICT exhibition opens in Singapore

By Anita Joshua

SINGAPORE JUNE 18. Riding the global economic slowdown and post-September 11 climate, Asia's biggest ICT exhibition Communicasia and Broadcastasia opened here today with the organisers putting up a brave front despite a 12 per cent drop in participation and 15 per cent shrinking of show size.

Fully aware of the scepticism with which many a participant has come to the show, the Chief Executive of Singapore Exhibition Services, Stephen Tan, sought to bill the event as "an opportunity for the business community to check the pulse of the ICT industry and gauge the strength of recovery that is expected in the second half of this year".

The optimism of the organisers notwithstanding, statistics reflect the burst in the technology bubble and present a telling picture of an industry that has experienced a steep roller-coaster ride in the past couple of years. As against the 2,401 companies that took part in the 2001 show, the number attending this time round is 2,097, a drop of 12.6 per cent.

An Asian launch pad for many products, Communicasia will have the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which has brought in 15 Indian companies from the IT and telecom industry using the platform to expand into regional markets. Inclusive of the CII initiative, there are 50 Indian companies participating in Communicasia and another 23 in Broadcastasia.

Also, representing India at the governmental level is the Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Tapan Sikdar. While both events seek to provide business-networking opportunities, Broadcastasia this time round has shifted its purely technical focus to encompass policy issues and media strategies.

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