HONG KONG, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The second edition of the bi-ennial Imabari Maritime Fair, popularly known as "Bari-Ship," closed on Saturday (21 May 2011) at Texport Imabari having recorded a 20% increase in exhibition space and a 10% increase in overall visitors.
Organised by UBM Japan (www.ubmjapan.com), this is UBM's first exhibition in Japan after the March earthquake and was declared an overwhelming success by local maritime industry community. The number of trade visitors to the exhibition was up 12% on the previous, inaugural edition at 6,479. The final day of the exhibition was open to the general public and the number of non-trade visitors on that day was 8,876, up 9%. The combined visitor total was 15,355, up 10% on Bari-Ship 2009.
Bari-Ship is an exhibition of shipbuilding technology, marine equipment and other products and services for the shipping industry. The number of exhibitors increased from 179 to 216 companies. Of these, 35 companies were from overseas, including a national pavilion from South Korea. The concurrent two-day Bari-Ship International Conference attracted over 430 delegates and featured speakers from the top ranks of Japan's maritime industry such as Mr. Akimitsu Ashida, Chairman of Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd., one of Japan's leading shipping companies, and Yukito Higaki, president of Japan's biggest privately-owned shipbuilding company, Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
Christopher Eve, Senior Vice President of UBM Asia and Managing Director of UBM Japan commented: "The success of Bari-Ship not only sends a very clear message to the global marine community that Imabari's shipbuilding and ship owning industries are vibrant and strong, but also proves that Japan's exhibition industry is now back on track following the disruption caused by the earthquake. Demand for space at this year's show was so high that we were unable to offer space to some companies. The conference was fully booked one month before the show and all the seminar and workshop sessions were completely oversubscribed. The number of foreign exhibitors at this year's Bari-Ship was more than double that of the previous edition and we received a large number of overseas visitors this year."
Eve continues: "I am looking forward to our upcoming events in Japan, including two newly launched events in June and July."
The city of Imabari is located on Shikoku island facing the Inland Sea of Japan. It is considered to be the heartland of Japan's maritime industry. Shipbuilding companies headquartered in Imabari account for one third of all the ships built in Japan each year. Meanwhile, independent ship owners based in Imabari and the surrounding Ehime prefecture area own some 830 vessels, around one third of Japan's total ocean-going merchant fleet. Imabari is home to 160 companies specialising in the manufacture of ships' parts and equipment.
The next Bari-Ship, Imabari Maritime Fair will be held in May 2013. The Sea Japan International Maritime Exhibition and Conference, Japan's largest maritime exhibition which is also organised by UBM Japan, will be held from 18-20 April 2012 at Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Center.
UBM's other shipbuilding and maritime events include Marintec China (29 November - 2 December 2011) in Shanghai, China and Navalshore (3 - 5 August 2011) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Having served the industry for over 30 years, Marintec China is now Asia's largest martime fair, attracting over 1,200 exhibiting companies and 42,000 visitors from around the world. Navalshore is the most important maritime event in Brazil.
Notes to Editors
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Email: Jennifer.Law@ubm.com