An artist's perspective of CP Land's 1.8-billion-baht Khon Kaen International Convention & Exposition centre due to open by the end of this year.

CP Land Plc, the property arm of Charoen Pokphand Group, will open a convention centre in Khon Kaen by the end of this year to tap strong demand in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) sector in the Northeast and neighbouring countries.

CP Land managing director Naravadee Waravanitcha said Khon Kaen is a centre of education, investment, trade, economy, industry and transportation in the Northeast, with the highest income per person in the region.

"There should be a convention centre there to support strong demand from exhibitors," she said.

There have been many successful convention centres built overseas, said Ms Naravadee. The Canton Fair, an import and export fair that has run for more than two decades, generates 180 billion baht for China a year.

With a total investment of 1.8 billion baht, CP started construction of the Khon Kaen International Convention & Exposition (Kice) centre early last year. It is located on a 26-rai site on Mittraphap Road in the Muang district of Khon Kaen.

The project will have a lettable area of around 14,000 square metres, of which 7,500 sq m is for exhibition halls. The rent will be around 120 baht per sq m per day.

Major exhibitions in Khon Kaen are held at Khon Kaen University's Golden Jubilee Convention Hall, which has space of only 3,500 sq m and was built for graduation ceremonies.

"We will focus on food-related events to support the country's position as one of the world's food hubs and our parent firm's main business," she said. Some 70-80% of visitors are projected to be locals in Khon Kaen, with the rest from nearby provinces.

The company expects to have at least 24 events organised at Kice next year with an occupancy of 40% in the first year of operation. It aims for a maximum of 65% occupancy in the fifth year.

Revenue from the fourth year onwards is targeted at 180-200 million baht a year. The goal is to reach the break-even point within eight years.

Khon Kaen is CP's second destination after Bangkok for property investment. Its real estate investment in the province is around 3 billion baht, including three office towers with total lettable area of 15,000 sq m, now 80% occupied.

If Kice is successful, the company will invest in a new convention centre in the South, possibly in Nakhon Si Thammarat where it has a land bank covering 70 rai.