Jump to full article: Asia Times, 2009-08-29
Author: Marwaan Macan-Markar
Intro: Thailand's reputation as a Southeast Asian country with strong anti-smoking laws faces a direct challenge from the tobacco multinational companies that are due to gather in the Thai capital in November for a major industry congress and exhibition.
The organizers of the cigarette promotion gathering, TABINFO Asia 2009, are not leaving anything to the imagination as to why Bangkok has been chosen as the venue for the Asia-Pacific region's "own dedicated tobacco show".
"The Asia-Pacific region has not escaped the global credit meltdown. But its cigarette market remains more buoyant than elsewhere," declares the Tobacco Reporter trade publication in its
website. "The region remains one of the world's most promising cigarette markets."
Participants are promised an event, which runs from November 11-13, that will feature "The Big Issues. The Big Players", trumpets the conference website. It will offer "a very diverse representation of industry players up and down the supply chain. The expanded list of participants makes this a must-attend event for networking, showcasing, discovering, buying, and selling".
The market opportunities of four countries in the region - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand - are already being highlighted by the trade publication to swell the number of cigarette enthusiasts for the Bangkok trade show. . . .
The choice of a developing country as a venue for this flagship event for tobacco multinationals comes at a time when the tobacco market in the developed world is shrinking due to a battery of tobacco control policies and the world's dominant cigarette producers are looking to the developing world to boost their fortunes.
This trend is reflected in the places where the tobacco industry has gathered every two years prior to Bangkok. The 2007 tobacco trade fair was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil; in 2005 it was the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
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