The Gifts & Home Products Fair organized by the Hong Kong's second largest tradeshow organizer, Global Sources, opens today and runs through Oct. 23 at Asia-World Expo. Over 30,000 buyers from more than 100 countries have pre-registered. The fair will showcase over 3,700 booths, filling 70,000 square meters of AsiaWorld-Expo's 10 halls. Global Sources revealed that inadequate space hinders the expansion of tradeshow industry.

Exhibitors from Mainland China Grow by 15%

The response of mainland China exhibitors was excellent with over 2,600 booths from mainland China, up 15% up from last year. Hong Kong exhibitors occupied over 600 booths, over 300 booths were from Taiwan and others from India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea and other countries. Global Sources also welcomed a pavilion from Bangladesh for the first time.

In Hong Kong, it is difficult to find a good exhibition venue, Global Sources' General Manager, Tommy Wong, said during a media luncheon yesterday. They have booked AsiaWorld-Expo until 2012. President of the Trade Development Council, Jack So revealed earlier that half of the exhibitors were being rejected due to a lack of space. Wong pointed out that the Electronics & Components Fair and other Fairs held earlier were in the same situation of refusing exhibitors due to insufficient space.

Hong Kong Exhibition Industry Has Advantages over Macau

As large exhibition center opens one after another in Macau, the local exhibition industry is worried that it will seriously affect Hong Kong's exhibition industry. Global Sources made a trip to Macau and the conclusion is that Hong Kong's exhibition industry is still at an advantage. Wong pointed out that Hong Kong is Asia's exhibition Center, sourcing Center, economic and finance Center, transport Center, with over 20 years of experience in organizing exhibitions and holds dozens of large-scale trade shows each year. Macau has no experience in organizing large-scale trade shows and they do not have a complete transportation system to support it.

Global Sources Won't Shift to Macau

Wong said that Hong Kong has an average of 800 flights flying to and from 150 countries and regions around the world, whereas Macau mainly has flights going to nearby Southeast Asia and lacks international flights. "It is unreasonable to ask exhibitors or buyers to fly to Hong Kong and then carry their luggage to the bus then the ferry to Macau. It is extremely inconvenient," said Wong. He pointed out that Macau lacks talented large-scale trade show organizers and believe they are more suited to organizing small-scale conferences, but not large-scale trade shows. Wong said that although the Hong Kong exhibition center is not as spacious as Macau's, they still have no intention to shift to Macau for the time being. "Being capacious is useless, low rent is not the key factor, infrastructure is more important."

Calls for Construction of AWE Phase Two

Statistics from Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association revealed that there are a total of 62,000 companies exhibiting in Hong Kong, up 50% from year 2005 and last year alone the local exhibition industry has generated 26.4 billion revenue. Wong indicated that Hong Kong's exhibition industry has a 15% year-on-year growth however inadequate space hinders the growth of the industry. He hopes that the government can implement the construction of AWE Phase Two as soon as possible to meet the demand of the industry.

Wong also pointed out that, the company is seeking for new overseas exhibition venues these years in the order to expand their business, such as India and Dubai. They have organized an exhibition in Dubai earlier which had about 500 booths, and it is expected that the number of booths will increase by 80 percent reaching 900 this year.

Mainland China Suppliers Set to Raise Price

Global Sources conducted survey in September 2007 which generated 364 valid responses from mainland China suppliers. All respondents indicated that export prices are increasing due to the rising manufacturing costs Among respondents, 65 percent said that they will increase prices by 10 percent, 21 percent expect to increase prices by 19 percent and the remaining 14 percent are set to raise prices by 20 percent. Reasons leading to hikes include RMB appreciation, shortage of skilled labor and rising raw material costs. The survey also shows that in response to these challenges, 87 percent of suppliers are looking to work with quality buyers and explore new markets.