Australia's strong presence at Korea Boat Show

THE Korea International Boat show once again opened with a strong contingency from Australian marine companies showcasing their products and services.

Whilst, according to reports, day one was relatively slow there was a lot of networking amongst exhibitors, with many of the Australian exhibitors being surprised by the number of companies from overseas who were exhibiting at the show.

AIMEX said the show has certainly taken on a more professional look with some powerful brands being promoted within the marquees despite the fact this is a very new emerging market. Companies such as Sunseeker, Volvo, Beneteau, Fairline, had significant stands and are clearly seeing the future potential of this market.

“It is important to understand that the Asia boating culture is different and in reality it is going to take time to have any established leisure boating market,” said AIMEX CEO Mary Anne Edwards.

“There is still low acceptance of leisure boating in Korea currently but this province is certainly doing its best to educate the children and general public. It was once again evident looking at the boats being displayed in the marina that there needs to be a lot of education of people regarding how to maintain their boats. The on water display was a little bigger but still few additions from 2009”.

AIMEX continues to strengthen the Australian brand in this market, having organised the Australian pavilion for the past 3 years. Governor Moon-Soo Kim of Gyeonggi Province and the key driver behind this show said he was impressed by the strong support given to the show by AIMEX commenting that Australia had the biggest group of companies at the show.

AIMEX said the Koreans like the way Australian companies do business and are impressed by the marina developers who have been at the show now for the past three years - Bellingham Marine and Superior Jetties. Both companies are at the forefront of what is happening in Korea and both are in discussions regarding new marinas to be built over the next few years.

Seawind is also a company strongly on the Governor's radar given they signed an MOU last year with a Korean company and have followed through the relationship with this company. Governor Kim had invited Richard Ward MD of Seawind, Everett Babbitt president of Bellingham Marine and MaryAnne Edwards as his VIP guests at the opening dinner of the show.

He also confirmed that he would continue to offer incentives to foreign companies to exhibit at this show until such time as the Korean Marine Industry can comfortably stand on its own merits. AIMEX said this is an amazing commitment from the Gyeonggi Province and one that is sure to be honoured given Governor Kim has been re-elected for a further four year period.