Called Horti Asia 2007, the fair will be held next January 11-14 in Chiang Mai as part of the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006 botanical exhibition.

More than 100 exhibitors are expected to participate, as well as about 10,000 buyers, most of them domestic, but some from Japan, the Netherlands and the UK. The event is expected to generate about Bt100 million worth of business deals, says Reed Tradex vice president and co-general manager Chainarong Limpkittisin.

Half of the exhibition will feature orchids, since these are Thailand's main flowers for export. The total value of orchids exported in the first half of this year was US$36.8 million (Bt1.38 billion), up 1.7 per cent from the same period last year.

Despite this, Chainarong said Thailand's reputation as a supplier of orchids still lagged well behind Singapore's, even though Thailand had many more varieties to offer. He blamed weak marketing as the main problem.

The fair is also aimed at showing international buyers how well Thai growers can produce flowers that normally come from cold climates, because they are currently unaware of this capacity.

Reed Tradex plans to match targeted sellers and buyers directly at the exhibition, in accordance with information gleaned beforehand from questionnaires.

About Bt10 million is being spent in organising the event, mainly to promote it internationally through advertising and arranging booths at foreign flower trade exhibitions, including Ifex 2006 and International Flower Expo Tokyo 2006, the latter of which is being arranged by Reed Tradex later this month.

Exporting flowers might be a small business compared with the export value of other industries, yet Thailand is considered one of the world's leading flower exporters. The Kingdom exported cut flowers worth $67.7 million in the first half of this year, compared with $63.4 million in the same period last year.

Chainarong said Thailand's flower-growing industry had a good future, because it had a greater variety of flowers than did some nearby competitors.

He said better cooperation among Thai flower growers and companies would help in terms of know-how, exporting power and marketing.

Also, the country should determine its exact position in the global flower industry, so it can promote its image accurately. It should show off its broad production capabilities rather than limiting its marketing to orchid breeds.

Chainarong said Thailand's major competitor seemed to be China, a country with almost every climatic condition in the world. As a result, it has enormous capacity to grow many varieties.

Reed Tradex is planning to make Horti Asia an annual event, but after the first fair in Chiang Mai, it will move to Bangkok.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation