A vast show of optimism

History is being made today at our splendid Convention and Exhibition Centre. For the first time since the mid-harbour extension was completed in 1997 just in time to host the handover, a single event will occupy the entire building.

The 14th Hong Kong Gifts and Houseware Fair '99 is the largest gift fair in Asia and third biggest (after Frankfurt and Milan) on Earth. It has attracted 22,800 overseas buyers. Another 2,200 foreign businessmen will staff exhibition booths. The Trade Development Council (TDC) show will present a direct $500 million boost to our tourism industry, and the economic impact of the fair is reckoned to be about $2 billion.

More important than the bare figures is the psychological impact. Since the start of this year, we have hosted three other TDC niche trade fairs, dealing with fashion, toys and jewellery. In each case, attendance figures were up on 1998.

But the importance of the gift fair is that it is mainline world business; later this week when experts add up the sales and orders, it could be a welcome flashing signpost on the road to our economic recovery.

Over the past weekend, things were looking promising. Two thousand workers struggled to erect booths. The structures sprawled out into balconies and corridors, and through all seven exhibition halls, noted a weary but happy Lee Chi-sang, head of the TDC's exhibitions section.

It's almost impossible to get a hotel room on Hong Kong Island or in Kowloon. Show-goers are occupying about 73 per cent of the SAR's hotel rooms, to the delight of hoteliers. These are not budget-conscious backpackers, either, but expense-account business travellers. Money is flowing into restaurants, bars and retail outlets.