Huge Indian participation at IFA 2007 Berlin Fair

Monte Carlo (France), May 11: Riding on the encouraging response from the last fair, major Indian consumer electronics companies are expected to participate in a big way in the Internationale Funkausstellung 2007 (IFA 2007) later this year, the world's largest consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Germany, surpassing the number in the previous fair.

These companies will showcase the best of their products using latest technologies in the weeklong IFA 2007, scheduled to be held from August 31 to September 5, in the world market.

In the IFA 2005, as many as 15 Indian companies had participated in the event in Berlin, compared to participation by only 6 companies in IFA 2001. The number has been increasing every year.

Not too long back when German Fair Authorities would come to India to solicit the participation of Indian companies in their fairs.

The scene has since been completly transformed, now Indian companies are making a bee line for taking part in German Fairs -- thanks to the process of Globalisation underway and Indian Corporates maturing and are taking the world in their stride.

The point is well established by the fact that IFA expects a much larger participation of most of the Indian major players in the field of consumer electronics in the ensuing fair.

''The figure is likely to surpass all previous records, including last years number,'' said Deepika Unni, the Indian representative of Messe Berlin for IFA fairs.

In the IFA 2001, only six Indian consumer electronics companies including BPL Limited, Calcom Vision, Elin Electronics, Mirc Electronics (Onida), Sonodyne and Videocon International had put up a good show at IFA fair.

The response to the Indian companies at IFA'2001 and to the fair overall was positive and encouraging. The companies generated confirmed orders including serious enquiries worth more than Rs 140 crore that year.

The consumer electronics industry has been witnessing tremendous growth for the last five years. Ministry of Information technology is continuously taking several steps to boost the exports of Indian consumer electronics products. The DoE would help Indian companies to get international exposure.

The IFA became an annual event in 2006, when it attracted 1,049 exhibitors from 32 countries and a total attendance in excess of 210,000.

''After IFA 2006 we have done our homework carefully and hence we are more than confident that IFA 2007 will continue its success as the leading trade show for consumer electronics on a global level,'' said Mr Hans-Joachim Kamp, Member of the Supervisory Board of the gfu (Gesellschaft fur Unterhaltungs) at the International IFA Press Conference here.

''We are certain that we can top off the volume of orders from 2006 which came upto 2.5 billion Euro,'' Mr Kamp added.

The joint organisers of the IFA, gfu and Messe Berlin, are confident that the decision to make this an annual event is the right one, given the increased pace of manufacturers' innovation cycles.

IFA will provide its trade visitors and consumers with a unique opportunity to obtain up to date information about the current highlights of the CE industry.

UNI