The ITER Business Forum, organized by Agence ITER France in Europe since 2007 to highlight the business opportunities around ITER and bring companies together to form partnerships, travelled to its first Asian venue this year from 1 to 4 July.
IBF Korea/14 aimed to provide industries with fresh information on the status of ITER, its first industrial achievements and forthcoming calls for tenders. There was a special focus on the procurement status of the Domestic Agencies and their main suppliers (manufacturing, potential partnerships, subcontracting or local support). There were high expectations because an ITER business event of such scale and ambition had never been attempted before in Asia.
And the bet was won! Nearly 220 participants from 120 different companies attended the event—43 percent from Europe, 33 percent from Korea, but also 9 percent from China, 7 percent from Japan and 3 percent from India. Seven thematic sessions allowed Asian and European suppliers that are already on-board the ITER Project to present their experience and achievements to date. And specific attention was brought to ITER work packages that will be procured in Asia, such as ITER's power supplies.
Joel Hourtoule, head of the Electrical Power Distribution Section, gave an extensive presentation of the present status of design and manufacturing of the ITER power supply systems and cable engineering, as well as the ITER Organization strategy for on-site installation and assembly. Chinese and Korean suppliers followed with presentations of their design and manufacturing activities. Let's ask two of them, Dawonsys (Korea) and Rongxin Power Engineering (China), to give us their feedback.