INDONESIA International Expo (IIE) and Media Sinar Global (MSG) have signed a contract with Hannover Fairs International, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, to operate Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) centre, which is opening early 2015.
ICE, currently under construction in BSD City on the outskirt of Jakarta, will be the biggest convention and exhibition centre in Indonesia spanning 50,000m2 in indoor space, 50,000m2 in outdoor space, and 33 meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 10,000 people.
A whopping Rp3.8 trillion (US$317 million) has been invested in the facility.
IIE is part of Kompas Gramedia Group that also owns and operates three other venues in Indonesia including Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre.
Speaking at the contract-signing ceremony in Jakarta on July 8, Danny Budiharto, president director of IIE, said that the growth of MICE and economic stability in Indonesia is drawing a lot of convention and exhibition operators to the country, who will in turn bring international shows to the country, in addition to local exhibitions and conventions.
“Jakarta needs more convention and exhibition space to cater for these shows as the existing Jakarta Convention Centre and Jakarta International Expo are already very packed with events.”
On the choice of operator, Danny said Deutsche Messe was one of the 10 biggest convention centre operators in the world and had successfully managed the Shanghai International Exposition Centre.
Andreas Gruchow, member of the managing board of Deutsche Messe, said: “A key objective of our foreign strategy is to grow our expertise as an operator of exhibition facilities abroad and Indonesia offers the ideal prerequisites for expanding our tradeshow business. The economy continues to grow, international industry is actively involved and the investment climate remains stable.”
The partners are also establishing a joint venture company called Deutsche Messe Venue Operations Indonesia, with Hannover Fairs International holding a 51 per cent stake.
Speaking at the event, Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, welcomed the 25 per cent increase in exhibitions space for Indonesia and noted the correlation between exhibition area and GDP size.
She said Indonesia aims to “triple the amount of exhibition area in Indonesia by 2019”.
