Promoting Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries and development of IP trade, HKTDC’s creative and licensing trade fairs in April collectively attracted over 60,000 buyers from 127 countries and regions.
The fairs include the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, inaugural DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Licensing Show (HKILS).
Buyers from outside Hong Kong were mainly from Mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, Japan and Korea, underscoring broad participation in the April trade events.
Under China’s 14th Five Year Plan, Hong Kong will develop into a leading centre for cultural promotion and exchange, with the goal of promoting Chinese culture overseas. This year’s Gifts & Premium Fair and HKILS featured rich cultural and creative content, with the participation of numerous cultural and creative communities from Mainland China.
Additionally, with the recent implementation of the plastic free policy in Hong Kong, the Printing & Packaging Fair and DeLuxe PrintPack attracted a range of buyers seeking eco-friendly packaging, creating more business opportunities for the printing and packaging industry.
During the Gifts & Premium Fair, the HKTDC commissioned an independent research agency to gauge views on business and the economy of some 870 exhibitors and buyers. Of the respondents, 60% believed their overall sales figures would rise in the next 12 to 24 months, while 38% consider rising demand from emerging markets as the biggest business opportunity this year. The greatest challenges identified were fluctuations of the global economy (49%), impact of inflation (34%) and exchange rate volatility (33%).
In terms of market expansion, the popular choices among respondents included Northern and Western Europe (27%), North America (27%), ASEAN (22%) and Japan (14%).
Hong Kong is a leading sourcing hub for gifts, and exhibitors at the Gifts & Premium Fair are closely attuned to trends, incorporating cultural and creative designs. Marushin Sun Heart (HK) Limited introduced uniquely designed small bags and pouches in the shape of food items, which are popular in Europe and the United States. The exhibitor joined the Gifts & Premium Fair to bring these popular bags into Asian markets.
Shoko Kodama, Board Director of Marushin Co., Ltd., said: “At the fair, we transformed our booth into a supermarket and attracted a lot of new buyers, 70% of whom come from Europe and the United States and the remainder from Southeast Asia. Their responses are very positive. So far, we have found 20 to 30 potential distributors. Some of our existing distributors have already placed on-the-spot orders worth a total of US$50,000 on the first day. We expect our on-site orders will amount to US$200,000.”
Hong Kong-based Printing and Packaging Fair exhibitor Zune Asia Ltd has operated in Hong Kong for over 20 years and now focuses on developing markets in Mainland China and Hong Kong.
Area Manager Alex Cheung said: “On the fair’s second day, we already met close to 30 buyers from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and India. We estimate to generate sales revenue of HK$5 million (US$640,000) to $6 million during the fair. We also reconnected with two past customers at the fair.”
The inaugural DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong brought together a wide range of luxury packaging options for buyers. Curtis Chan, Founder of Hong Kong-based Merit Ideas International Limited, said: “We were very pleased that we made contact with 20 to 30 new buyers on the first day. We have also connected with five different buyers from packaging companies in Mexico, Lotte Group in Korea, Isabelle Food Company in Taiwan and a jewellery company in Mainland China through the [HKTDC] Click2Match platform. We expect to secure orders worth HK$200,000 (US$26,000) to $300,000 during the fair.”