Hospitality trade fair opens to foster global trade with Thailand

Thaifex-Horec Asia – a significant hospitality, restaurant, and café trade fair for Southeast Asia – has officially launched, with 460 companies exhibitions innovations, products and tech from across 25 countries.

Now in its second year, the fair expects to welcome over 20,000 visitors from around the world to its home in Bangkok.

While presiding over the opening ceremony, Thailand Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan noted the significance of the trade event in fostering and facilitating global trade and investment with Thailand. “The Thai Government is committed to expanding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to open new potential markets. Recently, we have signed the THAI-EFTA FTA, our first FTA with the European Union,” says Naripthaphan.

“These FTAs will attract foreign investment and create valuable opportunitieis, especially for businesses in the HoReCa sector,” he said.

Naripthaphan also noted that this edition of Thaifex-Horec Asia will serve as a crucial platform to bring together key players across the HoReCa supply chain following the recovery of the hospitality and tourism industry in the wake of the global pandemic.

Thaifex-Horec Asia focuses on nine segments – kitchen, café and bar, HoReCa food, bakery and ice cream, cleaning, furnishing, dining, wellness, tech, and services.

“We’re so proud of our tourism sector, and we see that this sector relates to a lot of business. By attending the Taifex-Horec, visitors can see things that will help in the hospitality sector,” Department of International Trade Promotion Director-General Sunanta Kangvalkulkij told Hospitality.

Kangvalkulkij encouraged Australian hospitality professionals to visit the fair, noting the importance of international views on changing, updating and improving perspectives in the sector.

“This year, I understand that we have an increase of around 28 per cent of foreign visitors, which is a very good number. If we have more foreign visitors, it means we will have more cooperation, more business, and it will help update the business sector of hospitality,” she added.

The trade fair is running March 5 – 7 2025.