Hong Kong — Nearly 2,800 visitors attended last week’s CARTES in Asia to see 115 exhibitors and 72 speakers on NFC & Contactless applications, E-transactions & E-banking, Mobile payments, ID and Government Security, RFID and the Internet of Things. CARTES in Asia smart technology exhibition and conference was held on 28 and 29 March 2012 at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong.

 

Exhibitors from 23 countries descended on Hong Kong to showcase their applications and solutions to decision makers across Asia Pacific at the third edition of CARTES in Asia. They had the opportunity to meet 2,720 visitors from 55 countries especially Mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan from the banking & payment, security and smart cards industries. While a delegation from mainland China led by the Qingdao Economic and Information Technology Committee attended CARTES in Asia to look for solutions to implement a Smart City project in Qingdao.

 

Exhibitor Christof Stutz, Deputy Head of Business Unit Public Sector, Trüb AG, Switzerland said: ""We have exhibited at every CARTES in Asia since it was launched in 2010. We manufacture and supply polycarbonate based data pages for the Hong Kong and Macau electronic passport and since 2003 the electronic ID card for Hong Kong. Besides our government products we also showcased our EMV certified payment chip products for banking. CARTES in Asia is the perfect platform for us to grow our customer base in Asia as we can meet our existing customers and also showcase our products to potential new customers. We plan to exhibit next year as well."

 

The Asian Card Summit opened the co-located two day conference with an informative discussion around the Customer Centric Retail Payment Value Chain by six top-executives from Gemalto, Oberthur Technologies, China Union Pay, Ingenico and Watchdata

 

Directly after the Summit the winner of the Asian SESAMES Award was announced. The Asian SESAMES Awards rewards the most innovative smart technology product or application developed for the Asian Pacific market. Watchdata from mainland China won the prestigious Award this year with their breakthrough NFC solution, SIMpass-SC. A spokesperson for Watchdata said: “We’re very happy to be part of an industry that provides secure, trustworthy and cost-effective solutions for our business partners and their customers. For the past five years Watchdata has been conducting research into upgrading mobile payment products and we';re very happy that this new multiple application solution invention won the award. The SIMpass-SC solution is a significant improvement in mobile payment technology, and we feel privileged to help advance the frontiers of knowledge in this market.

 

"CARTES in Asia gives us the chance to meet many of our existing customers in Hong Kong and Asia. We were satisfied with the potential customers’ inquiries and we will attend again if we have new products to promote" added Watchdata.  

 

Isabelle Alfano, Director of CARTES events, Comexposium, said: “Last week’s CARTES in Asia saw many new companies including China UnionPay, Ingenico and Oberthur exhibiting alongside returning exhibitors including HID Global, Trub, Watchdata and Zebra Technologies. We also welcomed pavilions from mainland China and France presenting small and medium companies willing to develop their business in the APAC region. “The networking cocktail, sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, offered another occasion to all participants to network in a friendly atmosphere,” added Alfano.

 

About next year’s CARTES in Asia 

Date: 27-28 March 2013

Opening times:  9.30am to 5.30pm 

Place: Hong Kong – AsiaWorld-Expo 

Organiser: Comexposium