On the coast of Croatia, in the town of Rovinj, a new show for the licensing and merchandising industry in Central and Eastern Europe opened its doors on September 22: Licensing Factory New Europe - a four-day fair aiming to become a regular must-attend event for the licensing business from Zagreb to Vladivostok, from Vienna to Tel Aviv.

With its offices in Budapest, Bucharest, Kiev, Moscow, Warsaw and Prague, Plus Licens was a natural participant at Licensing Factory New Europe, with staff from Plus Licens offices studying the new trade fair and its exhibitors and taking part of the round-table conferences and other discussions on licensing and merchandising in the markets of the "new Europe". Other participants included the BBC, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Disney Institute and One2Play.

One of the key speakers at the event was Maria Ornryd, Brand Manager at Plus Licens HQ, whose Wednesday session focused on the licensing agent role in new Europe: "Picture of the Market - with Connected Thinking". Current and upcoming trends in media and entertainment, the effect of the economic recession and the development towards multi-franchises were some of the themes in her speech. "Licensing Factory is an interesting enterprise in a European territory with great potential", says Maria Ornryd. "We are happy to note that the event has drawn lots of local media coverage also outside the trade press."

Adds Judit Pomahazy, General Manager of Plus Licens Budapest and another of Plus Licens' representatives at the show: "We have been working for several years with Balkan partners and have realized there is still significant growth potential in these markets. We believe that LFNE will contribute to open up the exciting world of licensing to many potential new partners from the region in the coming years."

Visit the official Licensing Factory web site