Kintex builds winning record overseas with profitable venues

Profitable operations in India, Malaysia lay groundwork for Seoul convention center opening in 2032

The Korea International Exhibition Center, known as Kintex, is proving its venue-management skills overseas, turning a profit at convention centers in India and Malaysia while earning recognition in the global meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, or MICE, industry.

Profitable from the start in India

South Korea's largest convention and exhibition center operator began its overseas push in India in 2018, when it became the first Korean company to win the right to run an exhibition center abroad.

It won the 20-year contract for Yashobhoomi, a complex in New Delhi built by the Indian government, after competing with global MICE companies from France, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong. Once fully built, the complex will offer about 300,000 square meters of exhibition space, the largest in South Asia.

Kintex's feasibility study had projected three years of losses, but Yashobhoomi has been profitable every year since its first phase opened in 2023. Running it through the local unit Kinexin, Kintex used the early months to host international meetings such as the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit and industry exhibitions, building the events base a new venue needs.

The effort also landed recurring events, including Informa Markets' SATTE travel expo and RX Global's India Warehousing Expo, along with DIDAC, an education and technology show run by a German organizer.

Kintex also brought its own content, staging the Korea Industry Expo at Yashobhoomi in 2024. The show drew about 3,600 buyers and generated $450 million in export consultations, with more than $140 million in contracts under negotiation.

Building on success in Malaysia

That record opened a second door in 2025, when Kintex won a contract of up to 10 years to run the Penang Waterfront Convention Center in Malaysia, with the operator's Indian performance cited as the deciding credential.

The location suits industrial shows, as the region has a strong base in semiconductors and electronics alongside its tourism resources. The center has about 7,300 square meters of indoor exhibition space and 19 meeting rooms, in a complex that also includes hotels and shopping.

Kintex handles nearly every part of the operation, from space rentals and event planning to catering, facility management and security. It applied lessons from its home venues and from India, adapted them to the local facility and reached profitability in the first year.

It delivered a first-year profit in Malaysia just as it did in India. The company noted that success across two markets with different venue sizes and industrial bases shows Kintex can establish a new venue and operate it profitably.

Bringing overseas expertise to Jamsil

Kintex is now carrying that expertise home to a sports and MICE complex in eastern Seoul's Jamsil, slated for completion in 2032. It will run the complex's exhibition and convention center for 40 years after it opens.

A new venue must win organizers' and exhibitors' trust early, and Kintex said its overseas networks can help, with European organizers coming through Yashobhoomi and semiconductor and electronics ties through Penang. Both can help match the Seoul center with the right organizers and companies before its first event.

"An operator's job is to understand a venue's character and the industrial base around it, then turn that into events and stable operations," Kintex CEO Lee Min-woo said. "What we learned in India and Malaysia will be a key asset in helping new venues, starting with Jamsil, settle in early."