By IANS
New Delhi : India sure is in a joyful mood with a steady increase in participation every year at the International Toy Fair, the biggest of its kind on earth, in Germany. From 21 Indian companies in 2005, the participation increased to 32 this year and 24 have already registered for next year.
Ernst Kick, CEO of Spielwarenmesse eG, which has been organising the fair since 1950, was in the capital Tuesday to promote the 2008 edition of the fair and said that he was happy with the positive response from Indian companies.
“There has been a steady increase in the Indian participation. In 2005, 21 companies participated, which increased to 26 in 2006 and to 32 in 2007. For 2008, 24 Indian companies have already confirmed their presence,” said Kick told IANS.
“Similarly, 79 Indian trade visitors in 2005 increased to 92 in 2006 and 102 in 2007. Although I am happy with the response, I want more participation. That’s why I am here,” he added.
With 2,750 exhibitors participating from 60 countries and 80,000 trade visitors from 120 countries, the toy fair is the centre of attraction in the toy world.
India has been participating in the fair since 1980.
Besides classic toys, the fair has a reputation of exhibiting a phenomenal number of new products every year.
“This year there were 70,000 new products being exhibited. There are so many toys to choose from that by calculation you get just 0.8 seconds for each toy!” Kick pointed out.
The highlights for the 2008 International Toy Fair are those toys that help a child to learn while playing. For instance, the classic building blocks or scrabble help children learn while having fun.
“In 2007, our highlight was toys for the 40 plus. It generated a lot of interest and we hope that this year we can attract as much interest,” said Christian Ulrich, director, marketing, Spielwarenmesse eG.
S.K. Kinra of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) said that Indian participation, in comparison to the rest of the nations, is negligible.
“Indian participation is negligible in comparison to, say China, but nevertheless, it is increasing over the years and that is a good sign,” said Kinra.
The International Toy Fair will be held Feb 7-12, 2008 in Nurnberg, Germany.