4 HK trade fairs attract 126K buyers, up 6% on-yr
FEATURING more than 2,940 exhibitors from around the world, the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and Hong Kong International Stationery Fair concluded successfully on January 10.
Together with the Hong Kong International Licensing Show, which closed on January 11, the first four fairs organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) this year attracted about 126,000 buyers, up about 6 percent over the previous year.
More than 49,000 buyers came to the Toys & Games Fair, while close to 33,000 and around 21,000 buyers visited the Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair, respectively. In addition, more than 22,000 visitors attended the Licensing Show.
Benjamin Chau, deputy executive director of the HKTDC, said the four fairs successfully attracted buyers and suppliers from around the world and further bolstered Hong Kong’s role as an international exhibition and sourcing hub.
“As the global economy stabilizes, the four fairs have achieved satisfactory results. Buyers from such emerging markets as India, Malaysia, Russia, Poland and Turkey, and those from developed markets including the US, Canada, Netherlands and Sweden recorded satisfactory growth,” he said.
“Besides, there was a double- digit percentage increase in the number of buyers from the Chinese mainland. The HKTDC will continue to provide an international trade and exchange platform for industry professionals to generate more business opportunities for all,” Chau added.
This year’s Toys & Games Fair, Baby Products Fair and Stationery Fair featured an assortment of new products, designs and educational toys, as well as smart baby products and creative and ecofriendly stationery to cater to the buyers’ different needs.
Johnny Sze, director and vice general manager, Eastcolight (Hong Kong) Limited, a Toys & Games Fair exhibitor from Hong Kong, said his company started producing STEAM toys, which strengthened the learning of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) four years ago. The toys are designed to improve children’s logical thinking, observation and concentration skills and nurture their creativity.
Sze said the Fair is an important platform for the company, which had generated 70 percent of the annual sales turnover. The company is keen to develop emerging markets.
On the first day of the fair, he met with several buyers from India with strong purchasing power. One of the buyers, representing an amusement park in India, was interested in setting up shop there to sell Eastcolight’s products.
A Thai buyer also expressed interest in bringing the brand’s products to his market.
Italian exhibitor Pali S. p. A. joined the Baby Products Fair for the second consecutive year. Claudio Biferali, the company’s Research & Development Manager, said Pali is a leading baby products brand in Italy that provides a wide range of quality wooden cots, strollers and highchairs.
Biferali said the company doubled its booth size this year with more products on offer, and the response was better than last year. It attracted strong interest from existing customers and new buyers from different markets, like Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Ukraine. He was expecting to conclude more business deals this year.
At the Hong Kong International Stationery Fair, a buyer from a Thai book store, Asia Books, found three new vendors that included a Japanese stationery brand Kokuyo and sourced some licensed stationery items by famous brands.
Trade Fair C7