Three HKTDC April Fairs Attract More Than 110,000 Buyers

		The Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition), the International ICT Expo and the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition) organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council came to a successful close on 16 April. The four-day events drew more than 110,000 buyers, a new record
		Dr Samson Tam, of the Hong Kong Legislative Councillor (Information Technology) and chairman of the HKTDC ICT Services Advisory Committee (second from right) visits the ICT Expo with Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director and Prof K B Chan, Chairman of the HKTDC Electronics/Electrical Appliances Industry Advisory Committee. They viewed 3D projector effects at an exhibit by the Hong Kong Applied Science & Technology Research Institute

18 April 2011 – Three trade fairs organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) last week attracted a total of 113,488 buyers, 6.4 per cent more than the previous year’s events. The turnout included 68,899 visitors from overseas or the Chinese mainland.

More than 3,670 exhibitors were on hand for the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition), International ITC Expo and Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition) held 13- 16 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Procurement Platform
Emerging markets effectively used Hong Kong as procurement platform, according to Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC, who said a larger number of buyers from emerging markets were invited to help Hong Kong companies reach such markets.

"With buyers coming from 153 countries and regions around the globe, these fairs are highly internationalised," said Mr Chau. "Numbers for American and European buyers are up steadily, but there are also significant increases in buyers coming from Russia, Indonesia and Turkey." He said other than Hong Kong, buyers were primarily from the mainland, Taiwan, the United States, South Korea, Japan, India, Russia, Brazil, Turkey and Australia.

Final buyer attendance figures for the events showed the electronics fair turnout at 58,224, up 5 per cent, while for ICT Expo it was 29,826, up 6 per cent and for the lighting fair the number was 25,438, up 12 per cent. Mr. Chau said buyers from emerging markets are increasingly active and increasing their procurement activities in the region.

"As the middle class in the emerging markets see their spending power increase, they need more products with sleek designs, outstanding functions and reasonable price tags. The convergence of global prime suppliers at HKTDC fairs means that buyers can find the latest products and seek new partners," he said.

Positive Feedback
That success was reflected by remarks from buyers at the fairs. Sergey Chernobrovkin, Deputy Director of Russian retailer I-On Digital Centre which has electronics products in 95 chain stores, said, "In these fairs I’ve identified many interesting new products including GPS locators for cars. The quality of products here is simply excellent."

Sunil Vasandani, director of Boschmann Electronics from the United Arab Emirates said the fairs gave him the chance to look at the latest products and technologies as well as to expand his business network. "With the Middle East market growing continuously, we need the latest and the best electronic and ICT products to meet the needs of our customers," he said.

Jaroslaw Cieslinski, product manager of Polish company Platinet, bought consumer electronic products including accessories for iPods, iPads and iPhones as well as memory cards and mobile hard discs. "Since European trade fairs are on the decline, we hope we can identify new suppliers and products from the Hong Kong fairs and introduce them to Poland or other European countries."

Japan Keeps Heading to Hong Kong
The number of Japanese buyers at the three fairs was up 6 per cent to 2,317 from last year, according to Mr. Chau. "In the wake of the earthquake in Japan last month, some factories have stopped production due to direct impact from the disaster or related power cuts," he said. "This has led to a tightening in the supply of electronic parts and components and forced some companies to resort to using parts and components from other countries to meet their urgent needs. Moreover, there are companies which chose to buy manufactured products from other suppliers, so the fairs were helpful to them in locating new suppliers and stand-in products."

The HKTDC is organising a total of seven trade fairs in April. In addition to the three fairs mentioned above, the Hong Kong Houseware Fair and the Hong Kong International Home Textile Fair are to be held from 20-23 April at the HKCEC. Following them are the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair and the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair which take place at HKCEC and AsiaWorld Expo, respectively, from 27-30 April.

Fair Websites
HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition): http://www.hktdc.com/hkelectronicsfairse
HKTDC International ICT Expo: http://www.hktdc.com/ictexpo
HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition): http://www.hktdc.com/hklightingfairse

Related HKTDC Webcast
HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKV8xzPc9cw
HKTDC International ICT Expo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP-r55LMCxU
HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRQZBnH08os

Media Enquiries
Please contact the HKTDC's Corporate Communication Department:

Joe Kainz
Tel: (852) 2584 4216
Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org

About the HKTDC
A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and service providers. With more than 40 global offices, including 11 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in Hong Kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com

 Follow us on Twitter @HKTDC