Singapore— Despite recent regional economic downturns, about 100 exhibitors from 15 nations and 2,282 visitors from 28 countries gathered Sept. 17-19, 1998, for ICAM Asia '98—the international trade fair for industrial control, automation, and measurement. Featuring process control and automation, it also concentrated on bus technologies. More than half the exhibitors (51%) were non-Asian, including 23 German companies and 16 U.S. firms. APFICS, an ICAM Asia co-organizer, held its second annual general meeting during the event and welcomed new members Japan and the U.S., which was represented by ISA, the international society for measurement and control. During opening ceremonies, Karlheinz Wismer, managing director of Messe Düsseldorf (show organizer's parent company), called bus networks "the hottest topic in the field of instrumentation and control."