Huge event marks new era for Hong Kong
Organiser teams up with German giant Koelnmesse to put the biggest group of mainland suppliers to exhibit in Hong Kong under one roof
THE LARGEST GIFTS and home products fair in Hong Kong opens today. China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products, with more than 3,600 booths, occupies all of the 70,000 square metres of the AsiaWorld-Expo. Organiser Global Sources held a similar event in Shanghai last October, but the company's first fair in Hong Kong is four times larger than the Shanghai show.
Running alongside this fair will be the International Hardware Fair/Practical World Hong Kong, co-organised by Global Sources and Koelnmesse.
Global Sources chairman and chief executive Merle Hinrichs said: 'With more than 3,600 booths we believe our first gifts and home show in Hong Kong will be a huge success for us and for Hong Kong. To our knowledge, this is the biggest first-time export trade show to be held in the SAR.
'This is a historic day for Hong Kong and Global Sources. Through the China Sourcing Fairs at AsiaWorld-Expo, we are bringing tens of thousands of international buyers to meet the largest group of mainland suppliers to exhibit in Hong Kong.'
Many exhibitors from mainland provinces including Shaanxi, Henan, Guangxi, Hubei, Liaoning and Shandong are exhibiting in Hong Kong for the first time.
'The China Sourcing Fair will give international buyers a much greater reason to come to Hong Kong and will firmly establish Hong Kong as the global sourcing centre for gifts and home products,' Mr Hinrichs said.
The China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products has been timed to coincide with other similar shows in the Greater China region, including the Hong Kong Houseware Fair (which began yesterday and ends on Monday), the Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair (which starts next Friday and ends on May 1) and phase two of the Canton Fair (which starts next Tuesday and ends on April 30).
The exhibition halls of AsiaWorld-Expo are designed to make it more convenient for buyers to source products. The Expo Concierge will provide services such as free luggage transfer, luggage storage, foreign exchange and couriers.
Global Sources will host Buyers' Lounges, where visitors can check e-mail, meet with suppliers and enjoy free drinks.
'The fairs also mark a new era for Hong Kong's exhibition industry and represent a new benchmark for buyer and supplier convenience and opportunity,' Mr Hinrichs said.
