Rajesh K.Vyas, senior general manager (exports) for Indian tyre maker BKT said his stand was ‘very busy’. “We attended to build our brand and expand our customer base, particularly in Asia and Australasia. The show has been very busy,” he said. Neil Ganz, executive vice president of US tyre maker GPX International combined a presence at the show with a dealer conference for more than 30 of the company’s distributors drawn from 15 Asian countries. “Combining the two events made good sense. We met new customers as well as bringing our existing network together. Asia is a fast growing market for us, with sales up 40% in the region so far in 2009.” Paul Hsu of first-time exhibitor Nankang is another happy customer. “It is a very professional show for serious buyers. We have met contacts from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Dubai, Iran, Australia and many others. We hope to get several new agents from these people.” One company riding out the recession in positive fashion is UK-based Monarch Vulcanising Systems. “Our core business is supplying tyre repair equipment so these services are very much in demand as users choose to repair damaged tyres, rather than simply replace them with new products,” says company president Toni Elderfield. “We’re really pleased; we’ve had plenty of good leads from the show.” Maksim Syslov, director with Belshina Asia, which recently established a base in Singapore, has already confirmed his company’s intention to exhibit at the next TyrexpoAsia. “We like this show, it is well run and well organised, we’ll be back again in 2011,” he confirmed. T K Rao of Singapore’s Mindtrac said he was pleasantly surprised at the reaction: "I am more optimistic now than before the show. I thought it might be a real struggle but I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it didn’t turn out that way."