Visitors from around the globe attended the 41st Asian Federation of Glass Manufacturers (AFGM) conference.
The annual event, this year held in Danang, Vietnam, had the theme of Glass in the Digital Era. The technical conference featured nine papers from suppliers who discussed topics related to digital glassmaking.
Papers were given from Tiama, AGC Ceramics, Xpar Vision, Horn Glass, Bottero, Nihon Yamamura, Fives Stein, Heye International and Vertech.
Opening the event, AFGM Chairman Viwat Supatham (pictured) extended a warm welcome to all the delegates.
He had visited the five member countries in the ASEAN region to discover more about each country’s glass industry.
The five member countries of the federation are Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The glass sectors represented include container, flat, tableware and speciality glass
Mr Viwat the 72 glass plants in the member countries had a production capacity of 10 million tonnes a year. The plants had a combined revenue of US$3 billion and exported about 18%. The furnaces consumed about 3.5 million tonnes of silica sand.
“I’m proud to say that this is one of the most growing glass industries in the world and it will continue to see solid growth in the coming years,” he said.
“This conference continues our friendship among glass people from all over the world. It makes me proud to have this strong relationship which each year gets older and stronger.”
Mr Ho Quynh Hung, of the host Vietnam Glass Association, said: “Today the digital era, interconnectivity and the industrial revolution 4.0 has a profound impact on our industry.
"The 41st ASEAN glass conference aims to provide a platform for all those involved in the glassmaking process about the new technological solutions that this new era will provide.”
A total of 224 people from 20 countries attended and included representatives form South East Asian glassmakers such as O-I BJC Vietnam, San Miguel Yamamura Hai Phong Glass of Vietnam, Asia Brewery of the Philippines, PT Muliaglass of Indonesia and Siam Glass and Thai Glass Industries of Thailand.
