Index aims at Asean top slot

Index aims at Asean top slot

Index Creative Village Plc, Thailand's largest events organiser, has set an aggressive goal to become the event-organising leader in Southeast Asia, driven by the emergence of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) at the end of the year.

Kriengkrai Karnchanapokin (left) and his twin brother Kriengkran, co-chief executives of Index Creative Village, intend to turn their company into the event-organising leader in Southeast Asia.

Co-chief executive Kriengkrai Karnchanapokin said the 25-year-old company would run its organisation under a 4Cs strategy — creative, connectivity, community and concrete — to sustain business and create a strong presence across the region.

"When the AEC takes effect late this year, we predict the event-organising business will be more dynamic with the free flow of operators to do business and trade in the region, and events will be used as a tool to help newcomers hit locals' minds," he said.

The AEC will create a single market of 603 million people. However, Index has been preparing itself for a while to establish a strong presence in the region.

It already has business operations in Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Currently, Index runs six business arms related to marketing communications strategies.

Its services cover festive events and seasonal shows, trade shows and professional exhibitions, interactive in-store media, permanent exhibitions and museums, creative content for TV and providing marketing tools in Southeast Asia.

Mr Kriengkrai said Index was also looking beyond AEC by partnering with local organisers to provide events in the Middle East and the US, areas that still have market potential.

The outlook for the event-organising business this year will be better than last year, which saw a sharp decline due to the political turbulence.

A few months ago, the company saw a business revival from the private sector such as consumer goods and beverage companies, which started spending their budgets to stimulate the market and boost consumer sentiment.

Events by government agencies also helped the overall event-organising business.

The event-organising business witnessed a 10% drop to 11.8 billion baht in 2014, while many companies predict the market will recover this year, with revenue reaching 13.5 billion.

Index, the world's No.7 events organiser, which is also a subsidiary of GMM Grammy Plc, aims to grow its revenue by 15% this year, as it has a number of major annual events to hold such as the New Year Countdown and the Myanmar Academy Awards.

Among its more well-known projects was the construction and management of the Thailand pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Index will focus more on its event-organising business in Myanmar, which is a very strong market with high growth.

It operates five businesses in the neighbouring country, covering events marketing, integrated media, consumer insights, trade shows and tourism business.

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