bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Richard Warren

HONG KONG'S biggest property exhibition so far comes to town this week.

  More than 100 development projects from around the world will be on display from Friday to Sunday at the first Asia International Property Market Exhibition (AIPM) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

  British exhibition organiser Brintex expects 5,000 people to visit the stands, where more than 50 firms from across the international property industry will be offering properties and services, ranging from legal advice to mortgage finance.

  Developers, mortgage lenders, estate agents and public authorities from Asia, Australasia, North America and Europe will be taking part in the exhibition and in a series of Property Post seminars, which will run simultaneously in the convention centre.

   Housing Secretary Dominic Wong, Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors chairman Michael Mann and Vietnamese Consul-General Le Yuan Lieu will help open the exhibition as honorary guests.

 Developments in locations as far flung as the London Docklands, the Australian Gold Coast and China will be on show. Sixty per cent of these will be residential.

  A number of banks, including the National Bank of Australia, will be offering mortgage services to visitors, while lawyers will be available to answer questions about buying property in Australia.

 Resort homes in exotic locations such as Fiji, Malaysia and the Philippines will be on offer, alongside desirable residences in upmarket central London districts such as St John's Wood and Regent's Park.

 Gamblers may be tempted to investigate a number of homes offered at combined casino/residential developments in Australia, while corporations looking for permanent luxury accommodation may decide to take up the innovative option of buying serviced apartments in Manila or Bangkok.

  One in 10 of the exhibitors are infrastructural development agencies promoting the advantages of investing in fast-changing places like Wales, London and Malaysia.

  Architects, electrical engineers and tax advisers will be among the varied participants at the exhibition.

  Event organiser Scott Wilson, regional manager of Brintex, said: 'The AIPM is the largest international property event Hong Kong has seen.

  'We wanted to make the AIPM an event for the [property] industry by the industry.'   The organisers are also encouraging the Hong Kong public to visit the exhibition because of its strong interest in property investment.

 Brintex decided to hold the exhibition and seminar in the territory following six months of intensive market research of the property industry.

  This showed property professionals wanted an event of this sort because it offered an opportunity for networking and for promoting their projects and services to members of the public and to each other.

 Mr Scott said he found it inexplicable why an event of this kind had not been held before, considering the territory's pivotal role in the Asian property industry.

  He said it was particularly surprising when it was considered similar shows were regularly held in other countries such as Australia, France and Thailand.

   There were three or four exhibitions a year in Thailand, although they were primarily for the local property industry.

  Mr Scott said a similar event 'World Property Market', held in Hong Kong in 1993 was a flop.

  The event's failure had 'left a bad taste in the mouth' for the industry and Brintex had to overcome the negative sentiment.

   Unlike this weekend's exhibition, 'World Property Market' was a trade-only event and it attracted too few visitors, he said.

  Meanwhile, the AIPM's success seemed assured judging by the number of exhibitors who had signed up for next year.

  Brintex believed Hong Kong was the ideal location for a large property trade exhibition.

   'Asia is active in the property market and Hong Kong is one of the leaders in the region as far as developers are concerned,' Mr Scott said.



Residential ventures top industry list