ATF Opens with Attendance Up 8 Percent

SINGAPORE: The Asia TV Forum opened at Suntec Singapore this morning with organizers Reed Exhibitions touting an 8-percent increase in overall participation, including an 11-percent increase in distributors and a 5-percent rise in the number of buyers.

There are more than 740 companies on site from 53 countries, Michelle Lim, the general manager of Reed Exhibitions, announced this morning. "Despite the current economic climate, I would say the market is holding out well."

Attending outfits include 358 selling companies from 35 countries. There are nine country pavilions on site: France, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, two from South Korea, Taiwan, and new attendees Canada and Italy. Out of the 358 sellers, 139 are new to ATF. Also attending are representatives from 312 buying companies from 41 countries, of which 62 are new to the convention.

"2009 marks a milestone for ATF," Lim said in her opening remarks, noting the event’s 10th anniversary. "It is especially meaningful against an auspicious setting of a recovering economy. 2009 has been a dramatic year. The world started the year on a tough note. We are glad that 2009 is concluding with renewed optimism."

Lim noted the rash of developments in the region this year, from new channel launches to an increase in international co-productions, as well as "liberalization of societies and the emergence of new platforms." She continued, "Although the recent economic crisis has affected Asia somewhat, its lag is behind more mature markets like the U.S. and Europe. This makes Asia one of the world’s fastest growth regions for entertainment content."

Lim said that the "Rise with Asia" theme for ATF this year was chosen "to convey the growing importance of Asia as a market for media financing, producing, using of computer graphics, buying and selling of content. It also brings forth the ambition of ATF to morph into a world-class event in Asia in time to come, just like our sister events MIPTV and MIPCOM and Cannes."

Also present at the opening ceremony this morning was Lui Tuck Yew, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts. Noting the increase in attendance, with more than 4,000 executives said to be participating at ATF, Lui said: "These positive indicators reflect Asia’s resilience in the face of the global downturn and ATF’s growing influence in the broadcast market. Despite the global economic slowdown, Asia’s media industry is in for an exciting phase. We have witnessed continuous growth in media consumption with the region…. Given the relatively stronger economies in Asia, Western producers know they have to pay even more attention to Asia in search of opportunities, fresh ideas, capital and markets. With a noticeable increase in collaborations in the areas of film and television co-productions, the importance of Asia as a market and its influence on global media productions is stronger than ever before."

Lui pointed to the increase in Singaporean co-pros with international outfits. "What paved the way for these international co-productions are the government-to-government relations that Singapore has forged with our international counterparts. To date, Singapore has signed 20 media cooperation MOUs with key media government agencies and entered into bilateral co-production treaties with Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Canada. More than ten official co-production projects have resulted from these bilateral co-production treaties."