A quick scan of the exhibition hall estimated about 600+ booths, mainly SMEs, with a good spotlight on start-ups, and limited presence by Publications and Consulting. Various country government Trade Enterprises were all active with their own country pavilions, to showcase a curated group of companies that were all keen to expand overseas. There were pavilions for Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the UK, Spain, US (Florida), as well as for Taiwan (two of them), China, South Korea, Singapore (several), Malaysia, and Thailand.
While it appeared to be a relatively small exhibition, there was much diversity, and more importantly, allowed participants and visitors to interact and engage.
On the first day and especially from the opening ceremony to the early afternoon, there was this buzz – a sense of euphoria perhaps stemming from not having large-scale f2f meetings for quite some time.