All praise for BRIDEX organisers

MOST exhibitors at BRIDEX 2009 lauded organisers for the well co-ordinated event and the accommodation and hospitality rendered to them.

Speaking to The Brunei Times yesterday, on the first day the exhibition was opened to the public, Ceyhun Suer, Project Sales Manager the of Savunna Sistemleri A S, said it was really good and the organisers were well prepared for this year's exhibit.

"Everything was alright and I am happy with what the they did for us this time," he said, adding that he hopes to see bigger exhibition and more delegates participating in the future.

Director of Marketing of Piper, Jacqueine Carlon said: "RBTS (Royal Brunei Technical Services) did a fantastic job of accommodating us."

She said her company only decided to participate at last minute, and the organisers were able to assist them every step of the way to ensure their participation went smoothly.

Piper, who is under the Imprimis Strategic Investment Corporation (ISIC), is funded through a capital commitment from Brunei's Ministry of Finance.

Carlon added that they expected to participate again in the 2011 exhibition.

"We do a lot of trade shows all the time and throughout our experiences all over the world, the co-ordinators for this one was one of the best," said the Piper representative whose company was participating for the first time.

Korean company, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering's Senior Manager, Deog-Soo Kim said it has been a nice visit and the organisers have been helpful and co-operative. "They really take care of the VIPs from all over the globe and we are happy that our potential clients got the best treatment" he said.

Kim added that he has participated in many exhibitions and his time in Brunei has been better than the rest.

"I hope that they will invite us again next time as it has been a pleasure," Kim said.

Trade Commissioner of the High Commission of Canada, Peter Chen said overall it was a job well done. "This exhibition is only held for the second time and they have managed a great feat," Chen said, adding that the Singapore Air Show needed eight or nine times to be perfected.

"For future exhibitions, I think the only thing to improve on is business networking. There are a lot of people coming from the region and bringing them from all over the world to Brunei is a whole new level," said Chen, who was in charge of bringing the exhibitors to Brunei.

Asem Daboobi, promotions specialist of King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau agreed that the organisers have done a good job but mentioned that more security measurements were needed.

"The monitor and check points have been removed today while the show is still going on. Security should be on 24/7," he said.

Daboobi added that he would like to see more Arabic companies participate in the next exhibition. "There are no other Arabic companies but us here," he said, adding that they hope to participate in the next BRIDEX to give their political support.

An exhibitor who wished to remain anonymous said the event was well organised but there were still room for improvement.

"We have spent so much to be part of this exhibition but we were given very limited car passes," a local man said.

Our guests were required to use the rear exit as we could not properly access the parking area and the same goes for the other events organised, he added. "I hope they will take into consideration the effort we put in to be here and provide us more convenience," he said.

The BRIDEX 2009 exhibition ends today.

The Brunei Times