Christian suppliers, distributors and booksellers traveled to Singapore and Seoul, South
Korea to take part in Christian Trade Association International's (CTAI) fifth annual Marketsquare Asia, held Sept. 6-9.

Held Sept. 6-7, the 2010 Korea Christian Rights Fair featured Kyung-Chul Park, president of the Korea Christian Publishers Association, urging publishers from the United States and other countries to seek a greater understanding of the Korean Christian market.

Park recommended that foreign publishers consider reductions in royalty advances, extensions of the translation and publishing periods, and add more variations in licensing methods to help Korean publishers to introduce more translated Christian titles into the market.

Chen Hui Lin, of Campus Crusade Mass Media in Singapore, said Marketsquare Asia "was an excellent meeting point for encountering new contacts, encouraging existing ones and expanding each others' networks."

Held Sept. 9, the Singapore portion of Marketsquare Asia featured 13 suppliers from China, Denmark, the United States and Singapore--who conducted business with 50 Christian distributors and booksellers from the region, CTAI officials said.

Jack Scott, CTAI's director of training and member development, led several workshops for retailers, while publisher sessions were taught by Ellen Hsu of InterVarsity Press and Jim and Ellen Elwell of Tyndale House Publishers.

"Marketsquare Asia brought together many buyers and sellers for the first time, and set the stage to build upon for future events," said Leslie Lim, of Pansing-a leading secular distributor of books and magazines in the South Pacific.

CTAI President Jim Powell added: "Though the market in Singapore is very competitive, we anticipate that with strategic partnerships next year we will see a higher number of buyers and provide opportunities for exhibitor suppliers to offer product presentations."

The Beijing, China portion of Marketsquare Asia--scheduled for Sept. 2-3--had to be cancelled because some CTAI officials were unable to secure a travel visa, said Kim Pettit, CTAI's chief operating officer.

“It was an exploratory trip for us, and we had simply planned to work with U.S. publishers already planning to be in Beijing at the time,” she said. “Those publishers were already coordinating their own meetings with Chinese publishers.”

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