LED Expo 2006 exhibitors increased 22 percent from last year, and international exhibitors were up 26 percent, said Ok-Kyun Moon, director of the show, held in May at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KIMTEX), in Gyeonggi, Korea. Moon said the growth of LED Expo is partly the result of a joint promotion it undertook with the Korea Trade Promotion Corp. to attract more international buyers to the show in 2006. An additional 150 buyers from 25 countries attended, he said. LED Expo 2006 was held concurrently with the International Flat Panel Display (FPD) Expo, which Moon said also increased participation. This year, the International FPD Expo launched its a full-day conference program, which focused on manufacturing solutions that are driving the phenomenal growth in the FPD industry. The LED Expo Seminar this year featured topics including LED standardization, packaging and power systems, and speakers included industry and academic representatives from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and the US. More than 330 attended the two-day conference -- up 27 percent from 2005. Speaker Michael Lebby, president of the US-based Optoelectronics Industry Association, projected a positive future for the LED industry. "The emergence of white LEDs is beginning to open up huge new opportunities in LED based technologies," he said. "The industry has grown quickly over the past 10 years, to a total of nearly $4 billion in 2005, and is expected to grow to over $8 billion by 2010." "LED Expo is a wonderland of new and exciting LED applications," Moon said. LG Innotek, one of the exhibitors at LED EXPO 2006, displayed its new patented process for vertical and high-power LEDs along with products products for applications including general illumination, automotive and mobile devices. Dennis Kornegay, chief technology officer of i24P, said he came to the show looking for "something flashy" for a new hotel display for the Las Vegas strip. For more information, visit: www.ledexpo.com