By Aditya Wardhana | Jakarta | August 3, 2023

Opening Scene

I stepped into the Jakarta International Expo with a mix of curiosity and anticipation—the kind you feel when an industry finally gets its long-awaited full-stage comeback. After a cautious 2022 return, the IECIE Vape Show Jakarta 2023 opened its doors today for a three-day run, unspooling a high-energy showcase of devices, e-liquids, and technology for a regional audience hungry for innovation. Co-organized by Informa Markets Creativity Exhibition and Pamerindo Indonesia, the show aims to be both marketplace and meeting ground: a place where brand ambition collides with consumer appetite.

Why Jakarta, Why Now

For the second consecutive year, Jakarta sits squarely on the IECIE global tour map—a signal that the Indonesian capital is more than a convenient stopover; it’s a bellwether. IECIE’s senior marketing manager, Jill Guo, frames this year’s edition as a full-throttle return: more exhibitors, more international brands, and a definitive celebration of the sector’s inventive streak. The setting—8,000 square meters of floor space at JIExpo—feels like a statement in itself, structured for scale and serendipity.

Byline

From Shenzhen to the Archipelago

IECIE’s DNA is unmistakably global. Born in Shenzhen in 2015, the series expanded to Shanghai and, by 2022, reached Jakarta for the first time. That debut gathered 100-plus Chinese and international brands eager to tap Southeast Asia’s dynamic consumer base. This year reprises the same footprint and raises the stakes: deeper networking among key players, faster product launches, and an audience primed for discovery.

A Market with Momentum

Indonesia’s vaping community is nothing if not energetic—active online, dynamic offline, and increasingly organized through industry associations. Market data has repeatedly flagged the country’s potential, with consumer surveys in early 2023 indicating high levels of occasional and regular vape use among adults. For brands plotting expansion, Jakarta offers both the scale of a megacity and the diversity of a test bed.

What’s on the Floor

Across the aisles, the mix is eclectic: disposables, pod systems, mods, nic salt formulations, and flavor innovations that stretch from culinary nostalgia to clean minimalism. Names like HQD, RELX, ELUX, Kardinal, and LANA anchor the exhibitor list, punctuated by newer entrants with niche propositions. In between booth demos and sampling bars, the agenda layers industry talks and workshops covering trends, regulation outlooks, supply-chain resilience, and design.

Launches, Competitions, and Community

Product reveals are choreographed to pull a crowd, but it’s the culture-building moments that give the show its pulse: preliminary rounds of the World V Champ Competition, creator meetups, and a slate of activations—the Ultimate Vape Party with 50+ vape personalities, live lucky draws, and social-media challenges that push visitors to tag @iecie.official. There’s a certain maker energy here—equal parts engineering and lifestyle—that turns spectators into participants.

Ambition, Measured in Footfall

IECIE positions Jakarta as a flagship for its global tour, with the organizers projecting participation from 200-plus local and international brands and a visitor count north of 10,000 over three days. It’s a bold target, but the momentum is tangible: a trade show that doubles as a barometer for Southeast Asia’s evolving preferences and a laboratory for cross-border collaboration.

The Bigger Picture

As a B2B-B2C hybrid platform under the Informa umbrella, IECIE has grown into a bridge between R&D, manufacturing, and retail communities. Its proposition is straightforward: convene the ecosystem, accelerate product cycles, and open regional lanes for commerce. With Pamerindo’s longstanding footprint in Indonesia’s trade-show circuit, the partnership here reads as both strategic and pragmatic—build a stage, then fill it with possibility.

Closing Reflection

Walking out of JIExpo at dusk, I felt that familiar post-show buzz. Jakarta doesn’t just host IECIE; it refracts it—through its scale, its youth demographics, and its appetite for what’s next. If the past few years taught this industry resilience, 2023 in Jakarta is where it puts that lesson to work, publicly and at full volume.

About the Organizers

• IECIE (International Electronic Cigarette Industry Expo): A leading global B2B and B2C platform focused on the vape industry since 2015, backed by Informa. It integrates talent, technology, equipment, and resources to drive product updates, technical innovation, market expansion, and cross-border trade.
• Pamerindo Indonesia (part of Informa Markets): Indonesia’s leading trade show organizer, with more than 20 recurring events across sectors including beauty, construction, energy, hospitality, labs, manufacturing, mining, plastics, and oil & gas, and over 200 international exhibitions held in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali.
• Informa Markets: Operates 450+ international B2B brands, delivering in-person and virtual marketplaces, specialist digital content, and actionable data solutions across major regions with strong presence in Asia, North America, and the Middle East.