The Australian Pavilion was one of the many attractions at ProPak Asia, which wrapped up on the weekend.
Visitors took home fresh ideas for packaging and processing innovation in food, drink and pharmaceuticals from the four-day event, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Australian Packaging & Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) debuted the Australian Pavilion with the support of a number of key companies.
Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) education director Pierre Pienaar said the AIP made the decision to exhibit as it was already working within the region developing residential packaging training courses through the Asian, Indonesian and Vietnam Packaging Federations and the World Packaging Organisation.
“It made sense to have a presence in the Australian Pavilion and showcase our programs," he said.
Australian exhibitors included Confoil, HMPS, Rhima, AccuPak, and Adaptapack.
HMPS MD Mark Emmett said a growing middle class in the Asia Pacific has led to increasing disposable incomes, with more consumers purchasing packaged goods from modern retail locations.
“In the packaging market, the Asia Pacific region maintains a 46 per cent volume share of the total market, according to Euromonitor International, and this is estimated to be $44.5bn by 2017, growing at around 4.6 per cent per annum,” he said.
“This strong growth needs to be matched with automation technology that can provide consistent, high-speed and low-cost production and packaging."
Phillip Biggs, director of Australian company Packaging Partners, said he rated the show.
"It really is a good show, huge number of exhibitors, from large multinational companies to small Thai-based SMEs, with machinery, materials and all ancillary services on display.
"The Australian pavilion attracted a good deal of attention as well," he said.
This year, ProPak Asia featured over 1900 exhibitors from 47 countries, over 4500 machines from across the world, and over 40,000 professional visitors across the four days.
