The Far East’s highly international event

The Korean medical market has reached two major milestones: the percentage of GDP spent within the medical sector is expected to top 8% this year bringing this closer to that of OECD major markets.Additionally, the country’s average age has risen to over 40 years. The demography mandates greater medical investment and also drives innovation on ways to provide top quality care. KIMES reflects those trends, reflected, for example, in the number of exhibiting companies from beyond Korea – 615 among the 1,145 total.

Asked if KIMES is the most important show in Asia, Thomas Kocher of HT Labor + Hospitaltechnik, Bavaria, said that a single leading exhibition does not exist, even in countries such China. KIMES is growing and cannot be missed when needing to cover the whole Asian market. ‘Personally, I would like to see this show become the leader due to the show’s timing, the level of organisation and quality of contacts,’ he said.

‘As the search for quality continues to gain importance in Asia, we are positioning ourselves at the KIMES for future success,’ says Cyrus Law from GCX, in California. ‘We enjoy a strong market share providing mounting solutions to top-tier healthcare firms. As more manufacturers, especially those from Korea, continue an up-market shift, they also need the quality we provide to match their ever-improving solutions. We expect this trend to continue.’

Some people at the show had criticised scheduling – this year’s event ran concurrently with the annual European Congress of Radiology. Asked about that conflict, Choong-Jin Kim, Vice Chairman of Korea E&Ex Inc, organiser of KIMES, assured, ‘We are very aware of this situation.’ he said. ‘Next year will not force such a difficult decision on exhibitors and visitors. Both of these world class shows will have their own place on the calendar.‘

28.04.2015

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