ORLANDO, Fla. – Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) hosted the first-ever Florida Pavilion at the Medical Fair Asia-Singapore tradeshow from August 31-September 2, 2016. Nine Florida small businesses attended the show and reported more than $24 million in total projected export sales.
“As we continue looking for ways to help Florida small businesses grow through export sales, we identified the Medical Fair Asia-Singapore tradeshow as a new opportunity,” said Manny Mencia, Senior Vice President of International Trade & Development for EFI. “The medical industry in Singapore is growing at a rate of 30 percent annually and companies in that region value U.S. medical products over those from other nations, so Florida companies were able to capitalize on that demand at this year’s show.”
Medical Fair Asia-Singapore drew an estimated 15,000 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors from nine nations. The show location rotates annually between Singapore and Thailand. Florida was one of two U.S. states that participated in the show and was the only state with a branded pavilion.
Enterprise Florida provided Target Sector Trade Grants to eight of the exhibiting companies. Through the tradeshow organizer, a Gold Key matchmaking meeting service was provided to all of the companies exhibiting in the show. The service scheduled pre-qualified meetings between foreign companies and the Florida companies that attended the tradeshow.
“Target Sector Trade Grants for the exhibitors and Gold Key services are indispensable to the growth of our international markets,” said Michael Richardson, Senior Vice President of Perry Baromedical in Riviera Beach. These grant funds allow us to participate and help us to grow investments and development in those markets. These trade grants have allowed us to find partners in regions where we do no business.”
“This was our first time participating at this show and we were very surprised with the amount of good contacts,” said Amanda Felix, President & CEO of US Defib Medical Technologies in Medley. “We reached 100 contacts and 90 percent of them are all new potential distributors. This event definitely helped us show our products to the Asian market, meet new distributors, and generate sales in the near future. Enterprise Florida helped us to participate in this show with a grant. If that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have been at the event.”
HNM Medical from Miami also exhibited in the Florida Pavilion. “This was an amazing experience because it gave us access to a great market,” said Noah Roitman, President of HNM. “We were able to connect with distributors from more than eight countries in Southeast Asia and this will bring new business and growth to our company. Thank you to Enterprise Florida.”
Enterprise Florida maintains an extensive schedule of overseas trade missions and exhibitions worldwide. In fiscal year 2015-16, Florida small and mid-sized businesses reported more than $911 million in total projected export sales following international missions and trade shows. Last year, EFI provided 129 Target Sector Trade Grants totaling nearly $490,000 to qualified show exhibitors. Those small businesses reported more than $426 million in total expected export sales.
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Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) is a partnership between Florida’s businesses and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for Florida. EFI facilitates job growth through recruitment and retention, international trade and exporting, promotion of sporting events, and capital funding programs to assist small and minority businesses. EFI launched “Florida – The Future is Here” to promote the state as the nation’s premier business destination.