'It is focused on technology and different from any other trade show because of the amount of pre-expo work we do in order to meet the needs of those involved,' said James Liu, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre (Tech Centre), which organises TechWorld '99.

TechWorld is open to the public but its target audience is 'serious business people who want to cut a deal and we expect somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 visitors', Dr Liu said.

'The exhibition section features about 150 booths. Another 50 booths are set aside for matchmaking meetings.' Tech Centre's role can be likened to a networking service. It arranges an expected 2,000 face-to-face meetings involving about 500 hi-tech companies and prospective financial backers, distributors and international partners.

'Basically, we are attempting to match-make in two areas. Firstly, companies looking for capital investment, or individual investors looking for prospective ventures in which to invest. We try to bring the two parties together.

'The second area is marketing matchmaking, where we seek to introduce companies looking to expand into the Asia- Pacific region, and also companies from here looking to move into the United States and Europe.' Tech Centre uses a specialised com puter program to match prospective partners before the event opens. Participating companies are required to complete detailed questionnaires when registering for TechWorld.

'Investors will be asked whether they are small, medium or large-sized investors, what areas they are interested in - telecommunications, software, Internet, electronic commerce, transmission equipment and the like,' Dr Liu said.

Development companies are re quired to give details on products offered, target markets, com pany size and devel opment projects.

Dr Liu said each participating com pany could expect to be set up with four to five meetings with computer-generated prospective partners.

Deals are not nec essarily struck during the three-day gather ing, but the Tech Cen tre offers ongoing as sistance for both sides through its TechLink service.

Dr Liu said the matchmaking service was vital to small and medium start-up companies which usually lacked the resources to search for international partners on their own.

'They just don't have that capability,' he said. 'But, through TechWorld, and by linking up with Tech Centre for a nominal fee, we will use our resources to help them.' Dr Liu said planning for TechWorld began nine months ago, with delegations visiting the mainland, California's Silicon Valley, Australia, Europe and Israel to sell its message.