Hong Kong International Furniture Fair

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8 November 2007

8 November 2007

Hong Kong's trade fairs remain strong despite competition

November 8, 2007 - Buyers from around the world visited Hong Kong's trade fairs in October and November, which are peak seasons of Hong Kong's trade fair season. Despite the perception that Hong Kong's trade fairs is threatened by competing events in neighbouring cities, attendance at the nine trade fairs organised in the recent two months by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) rose by an average of 10 per cent among overseas buyers.

The Hong Kong International Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition), electronicAsia, Hong Kong International Lighting Fair and Hong Kong International Hardware and Home Improvement Fair, and Hong Kong Optical Fair were held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). AsiaWorld-Expo was the venue for the TDC's other four fairs: the Hong Kong International Furniture Fair, Hong Kong International Building Materials and Construction Equipment Fair, Eco Expo Asia and the inaugural Sports Source Asia.

According to TDC, exhibitors and buyers from outside Hong Kong attending the nine fairs brings a total of two billion (HKD) of business travel receipt to the city's economy. Further details of exhibitors' and buyers' spending pattern is appended.

The increased interest among overseas buyers was attributed to several factors:

Optimism in the European Union, Asian and emerging markets: The strong Euro helped boost the economy of EU countries, despite the gloomy economic situation in the US caused by the prime mortgage rate problem. Asian and other emerging markets are performing well. These and other factors triggered strong demand for such household goods as furniture, lighting and hardware products.

While Hong Kong's exports to the US recorded minimal growth in the first nine months of 2007, its exports to other markets rose across the board: Euro zone, up 6.4 per cent; ASEAN, up 13.7 per cent; the Chinese mainland, up 14 per cent; Russia and Central and Eastern European countries, up 29 per cent; the Middle East, up 19.7 per cent.

New Sourcing Opportunities: TDC Assistant Executive Director Raymond Yip pointed out that four of the eight fairs held in October were new. The Furniture Fair, Building Materials Fair and Eco-Expo Asia made their debut only last year, while Sports Source Asia was launched this year. The enthusiastic response from international buyers at these fairs underlines Hong Kong's role as an international trade fair and sourcing hub.

The TDC organises most of these new fairs with local and international groups to further support Hong Kong's exhibition sector. "Hong Kong's industry and trade sectors are diversifying their products and markets, and trade fairs are helping to speed up this process," said Mr Yip.

Seven of TDC's mega trade shows at the HKCEC have the potential of growing much larger, occupying more than 100,000 square metres of floor space, if such space becomes available in the future, Mr Yip added. According to a TDC study, overseas buyers visit trade fairs in Hong Kong for a number of reasons:

1.	Hong Kong fairs provide a wider choice of goods and exhibitors, especially where products of quality design and brand names are concerned. TDC's trade fairs in October therefore attracted mega buyers including B&Q, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, IKEA, Ace Hardware, Circuit City, Cantire, Tesco, Carrefour, MGB Metro, Karstadt Quelle and Don Quijote
2.	Hong Kong fairs offer a wider choice of specialty products than their regional counterparts, even though some of the regional fairs may be larger. Hong Kong's electronics, gift, lighting and garment fairs are still the biggest in Asia.
3.	Hong Kong fairs provide dependable intellectual property rights protection.
4.	Hong Kong has reasonably good hotel accommodation. While room shortage is a concern, the situation continues to improve: 18 new hotels were built in the past two years, and an additional 15,000 rooms will come on stream over the next four years, bringing the room total to 59,000.
5.	Hong Kong is a convenient and accessible business centre, with excellent air transport connectivity, security, English language fluency and an attractive, tariff-free system.

The TDC, said Mr Yip, will continue to expand its trade fair portfolio, enlisting the support of the community to enlarge Hong Kong's downtown exhibition facilities.

Exhibitors' and buyers' spending pattern

	Exhibitors from outside HK	Buyers from outside HK
Accommodation	$ 7,350	$ 5,690
Local transportation	$ 1,800	$ 930
Catering	$ 3,420	$ 2,600
Leisure and shopping	$ 4,690	$ 4,250
Miscellaneous	$ 2,780	$ 2,400
Total	$ 20,040	$ 15,870

(Source: TDC survey)

Media Enquiries
TDC's Media and Public Affairs Department

Beatrice Lam
Tel: 25844049/90360212
Email: beatrice.hy.lam@tdc.org.hk

Lawrence Yau
Tel: 25844510/96526318
Email: lawrence.yau@tdc.org.hk

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