The Japan International Welding Show 2012 (organized by the Japan Welding Engineering Society and Sanpo Publications Inc.) will take place at Intex Osaka, in Suminoe-ku, Osaka, for four days from April 11 to 14, 2012.

Extending the theme of the previous year’s Tokyo event, the show will also feature a “Welding Promenade” to foster exchanges between the Asian countries, as well as to facilitate the exchange of information. The principal objectives of the Welding Promenade are to help establish a single, common welding market in Asia, and to create business networks between Japan and other Asian countries. This will be accomplished by providing Asian visitors opportunities to learn about Japanese technology, promoting the exchange of information between visitors from various countries, and fostering closer relationships with International Welding Show exhibitors.

This year’s show is expected to have a particularly strong international flavor because it will be held concurrently with both the Asian Welding Federation (AWF) general and task force meetings, and also due to the large number of exhibiting companies from all over Asia. These factors are expected to play major roles in the creation of a large, common welding market in Asia, which is what Welding Promenade is all about.

This first Welding Promenade was held during the Japan International Welding Show 2010, in Tokyo. In that event, Sanpo Publications brought together a large number of Asian nation dealers and users to help them develop networks among each other while concurrently forming relationship with Japanese manufacturers. This event allowed all parties to get to know each other better, explore needs and offerings, exchange information, and provide products that are appropriate to the particular needs of their respective countries. In addition, to help in establishing technical information service networks, the Welding Promenade also provided a forum for the creation of partnership between Asian countries through its various exhibitions, seminars, and the business matching facility.

Internationally, the welding industry of today is experiencing lively technological development in response to vigorous investment in plants and equipment. In Asian countries, in particular, there is rapid and ongoing progress towards the formation of regional welding markets. To continue enlivening Asian welding industries, it is important to promote greater exchanges of welding technologies, strengthen interpersonal exchanges between persons from various countries, and facilitate exchanges between the relevant industrial bodies of each country. This will allow us to unlock new potentials and explore new ways of addressing the needs of welding-related products and services in Asia.

Looking to the future, if the welding market in Asia becomes more solid and stable, we can expect to see the institution of various cooperation scheme at national levels aimed at nurturing welding industries. These could include the conclusion of cooperation agreements between countries that focus on business matters, as well as research and development.

The AWF was formally established in 2004 when industry representative bodies from various Asian countries met in Philippines. The aim og the federation is the development of Asia’s welding industry. The primary goals of the AWD, as they were stated at the time, were to establish and disseminate a unified personnel certification scheme across Asia for welders, welding engineers, and welding inspectors, as well as to establish a personnel utilization system.

In addition, there were calls for Japan to share technical information, technology, skills, and education and training systems more widely with other countries in Asia, and to provide welding-related companies in the region with assistance, solidarity, and cooperation.

Linking the countries of Asia through welding technology requires the construction of networks that enable countries to exchange information that helps them understand each other’s welding-related needs, as well as the state and conditions of welding industries in their countries. This was the concept behind the launching of Welding Promenade.

As a first step forward linking Japan and other Asia countries through welding technology, it is essential to exchange information, and thus develop business networks, that enable each country to understand each other country’s needs. And this, precisely, is the role of the Welding Promenade at the Japan International Welding Show.

The show is expected to attract dealers and users from around Asia, who view the Welding Promenade as a tool for building their business networks. By utilizing the opportunity to exchange information with manufactures at the show, welding and cutting industry-related users and dealers from all over Asia can be expected to gain improved mutual understandings of each others “seeds and needs”, exchange and offer products and technical information appropriate to the particular needs of their countries, and to build enhanced service networks.

As describe above, Sanpo Publications has commenced registration for exhibitors and those who wish to participate in its “business matching (Visit Scheduler)” service, which is a key feature of the Welding Promenade concept. All exhibiting companies and show visitors are invited to register for the service. As Welding Promenade participants, all those who register will be invited to the welcome reception on the evening of the first day of the event. Based on our focus of creating a single, common market from the Asian welding industry, we look forward to your participation.