The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), which represents the global hologram industry, has appointed Manoj Kochar as its first chairman from Asia.
The appointment of Kochar, founder and director of India-based Holoflex, comes in the face of continuing demand for authentication and brand protection holograms, which provide effective security devices to counter global threats.
The Asia region is seeing a signifi – cant amount of hologram industry activity and growth, with China still the major source of counterfeit and pirated consumer goods. The IHMA, a not-for-profit organization that promotes authentication and security holograms worldwide, has also confirmed its Board for 2017.
Kochar will join current Board members XiaoDong Liu, founder and chief executive offi cer of Henan Province Wellking Technologies, in China; and Nuray Yilmaz of Turkey’s MTM Bilisim Arge Yazilim ve Guvenlik Teknolojileri San Ticaret. Rohit Mistry of Holographic Security Marking Systems will remain IHMA’s Asia regional representative while Diana Newcombe of Pacifi c Holographics and Umendra Gupta of Holostik will cover the North America and the ASPA regions, respectively.
The EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be represented by OpSec Security Group’s Paul Dunn and Corinne Murcia Giudcelli from SURYS. System Intelligence Products’
Goran Milinovic will continue to serve as the Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union and CIS representative.
The new Board will underpin the IHMA’s work to advance the understanding and development of holograms and holographic technology, particularly in the authentication of products and documents, decoration and illustration, displays and display systems, energy and environmental improvements.
Kochar said, “The IHMA is committed more than ever to promote the interests of the hologram industry and to provide valuable support and guidance to its members. We see continuing growth this year for the technology, particularly in the China and East European markets, so having strong representation in those areas will secure new members and commercial opportunities. Elsewhere, hologram innovation continues to fl ourish, and it
is encouraging to see new ideas being generated by both established players and companies new to the arena.”
As the industry voice, Kochar will continue to encourage members to secure ISO14298 compliance—the standard requiring security holograms to be registered.
The IHMA is made up of 100 of the world’s leading hologram companies and includes producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications around the world. Members of IHMA actively cooperate to maintain the highest professional, security and quality standards.
