After a two-year hiatus, the CamBuild, CamFood and CamHotel exhibitions are back at Diamond Island this week, starting on Wednesday and going through to Friday.

Andrew Siow, director of the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered AMB Exhibitions, says the three industry shows at the same time should attract more than 12,000 people this year.

Compared with two years ago, exhibitors have grown by 39 per cent. Siow says the three industry shows at one time under one roof complement each other with overlapping industries.

“The hotel people are also looking for building materials,” Siow said.

The CamFood and CamHotel exhibitions cater to the hospitality and food service industry, while CamBuild focuses on building materials, equipment and services.

This year for the first time there is an additional exhibition called AgriLivestock, with a focus on feed production, animal husbandry, food security and modern farming systems.

“There are some synergies, because the livestock is upstream of the food industry,” Siow said. “We address three key growth economic drivers: food and hotels, building and agriculture.”

Siow said CamBuild is looking to attract people involved in the construction industry including architects, developers, contractors, designers and material suppliers.

The hospitality industry crowd will include professionals from hotels, restaurants and the catering industry.

“When we speak to hoteliers, one of the key issues is sources of supply, where to get things from, and this is a one stop place where they can get a full range of supplies and services if they are in the hotel sector.”

Exhibitors coming from Singapore account for about 20 per cent, Malaysia about 15 per cent, China 15 per cent, Taiwan 10 per cent, the rest of the world 10 per cent and Cambodian exhibitors make up about 30 per cent of the total booths.

“We see an inrease in Cambodian companies that are now realising the trade shows are a good way to connect with other businesses for growth. Cambodian companies are seeing the value of business-to-business trade shows where they can meet face-to-face with buyers and decision-makers.

The exhibition will include pavilions from Malaysia, the United States, Singapore and Taiwan. Siow said his company was so pleased with the response that CamBuild will now be an annual event, instead of every two years.

“CamBuild will return next year from September 10 to 12 and this is in response to what we see will be continue growth in the building and construction industry,” Siow said.

However next year is just going to be CamBuild, without the CamFood and CamHotel.

“We have confidence in the continual development of the Cambodian economy and that confidence is reflected in turning from a biannual to annual event. We are going to launch more new events in Cambodia to really support the MICE industry.”

One of next year’s events will be Oil and Gas Cambodia along with the electric power-focused CamEnergy, which will both be added to CamBuild next year under the same roof.

“We think oil and gas will be important industry driver, and we want to bring in industry experts,” said Siow. “CamEnergy is geared toward power generation and electrical engineering, and we see there’s a need in Cambodia for that,” said Siow.  “As the economy grows, the demand for power will increase,” he said.

CamEnergy would also focus on electricity distribution and energy savings next year, according to Siow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Alan Becker at [email protected]