On June 28th and 29th, 2023, a workshop for the “BESETO Alliance” (consisting of member companies: Congrès Inc. based in Tokyo, represented by President and CEO TAKEUCHI Noriko, Ez pmp based in Korea, represented by President and CEO Kwangman HWANG, and Bravolinks Integrated Marketing CO., Ltd based in China, represented by President Junhua Guo) was held in Tokyo.

Established in 2012, the BESETO Alliance is a collaboration between the aforementioned 3 companies specializing in MICE (Meetings, Incentive travels, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events) businesses in Japan, China, and Korea. They regularly hold workshops to facilitate collaboration. This workshop marked the first in-person meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, after a four-year hiatus. Two representatives from EZ pmp in Korea attended in person, while Bravolinks Integrated Marketing in China participated online. The face-to-face interaction enabled more dynamic discussions and exchanges.

The name “BESETO Alliance” is derived from the initials of Beijing (“BE”), Seoul (“SE”), and Tokyo (“TO”). It offers various MICE services to its clients, including exhibition management, expo operation, incentive travel, conference organization, and facility management.

Previous workshops have facilitated discussions, training sessions, on-site training, facility visits, and business partner introductions for exhibitors, covering a wide range of topics related to the MICE industry. This time, in addition to these activities, we incorporated exhibition site visits to exchange information about our respective operations, work methodologies, and career insights.

On the first day of the workshop, we visited the international exhibition and conference for the consumer and commercial drone (unmanned aerial systems) industry, “Japan Drone 2023|8th Edition – Expo for Commercial UAS market -,” jointly organized by Congrès Inc. and Japan UAS Industrial Development Association (JUIDA). Concurrently, we also toured the “2nd International Advanced Air Mobility Expo 2023.”

Since its inaugural edition in 2016, this exhibition has significantly expanded in scale along with the development of the industry. The 8th edition held in June this year welcomed the largest number of exhibitors and visitors in its history, with 239 companies/organizations exhibiting and 19,008 attendees over three days, indicating continued growth.

On the 29th, at Congrès Tokyo headquarters in Nihonbashi, each company presented highlights of their recent business activities.

Congrès elaborated on our involvement in venue setup and conference management for the G7 Hiroshima Summit held in May last year, along with other related meetings. Additionally, we introduced new facilities, including “IMAGINUS,” our company-owned establishment opening in October, 2023 on the former site of Suginami Fourth Elementary School in Suginami-ku, Tokyo, as a new facility for next-generation science education.

EZ pmp from Korea showcased their expertise in international conference and exhibition management, as well as innovations in facilities focused on children’s education. They also presented products aligned with their goal of “Sustainable MICE,” such as a tourism app and an online MICE platform developed in-house.

Furthermore, Bravolinks Integrated Marketing from China, specializing in incentive travel services, primarily reported on their management of a diverse range of conferences and exhibitions spanning various fields including culture, consumption, technology, economy, agriculture, and resource development.

We were impressed by both companies’ extensive operations utilizing their unique technologies and expertise across various fields.

One of Congrès’ employees who participated in this workshop expressed, “It was a valuable experience to have intimate discussions with counterparts from other countries in our industry, with whom we rarely have the opportunity to meet face-to-face.” Given that we share the same Asian cultural sphere, there are extensive opportunities and possibilities for collaboration in business. We will continue to earnestly engage as partners and strive to yield significant results in the future.