Category: Trade Show

HKTDC Summer Virtual Expo goes live on Monday

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is organising Summer Virtual Expo from 29 June to 24 July 2020, helping Hong Kong businesses to tap new opportunities with leading buyers from around the world. See https://info.hktdc.com/sourcing/virtualexpo.
Hong Kong company Matrix Promotion Ltd launched anti-pandemic corporate gift sets during the COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 2.7 million hand sanitisers sold. Using business matching services offered during Spring Virtual Expo, Matrix received orders from a buyer in the United States for a total of 120,000 surgical masks and 1,000 thermometers.
Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go Online will feature a wide range of products including lighting, electronics, ICT, medical and healthcare items, houseware, home textiles and furnishings, fashion, gifts and premiums, printing and packaging and more, enabling companies to continue to explore cross-industry business opportunities. See https://ssw.hktdc.com.

Although there are signs that the COVID-19 outbreak is stabilising in some parts of the world, the demand for online sourcing continues to grow as physical trade fairs are still unable to be staged. To help companies rise to the challenge, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is organising hktdc.com Sourcing Summer Virtual Expo from 29 June to 24 July, providing an effective way for more than 22,000 suppliers to connect with some 500,000 global buyers.

HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said: “Our Spring Virtual Expo in April was successful in helping local businesses win new orders in the face of significant challenges. We hope the Summer Virtual Expo can maintain the momentum and help our suppliers connect with 500,000 buyers from around the world, while buyers will get the opportunity to replenish stocks to meet expected consumer demand in the second half of the year.”

Mobilising HKTDC’s global network

The HKTDC’s 50 offices around the world are helping to promote the Summer Virtual Expo by encouraging participation from influential global buyers, particularly those that work with mega chain stores and e-tailers and have previously sourced at trade fairs in Hong Kong. During the fair period, these offices will offer professional support such as handling in-depth business matching requests and arranging virtual meetings.

Mr Chau added that the hktdc.com Sourcing platform has won multiple international awards for its effectiveness in bringing suppliers and buyers together. The site currently features around 130,000 quality suppliers and two million international buyers, with over 24 million business connections made every year. “Buyers are more confident to source products from suppliers when the relevant information can be verified by third-party organisations,” he said.

Addressing buyers’ sourcing needs

Key products to be featured in the Summer Virtual Expo include consumer electronics, gifts, kitchenware, medical supplies, outdoor activity equipment, garments and clothing accessories, and much more. To further enhance the effectiveness of the business matching process and meet different sourcing needs, the HKTDC will send personalised product recommendations to global buyers through different channels such as social media, online advertising and email, encouraging them to view more products and make enquiries.

Weekly product themes include Tech & Innovations, Home Sweet Home, Lifestyle, and Smart Health. “Buyers can make enquiries and connect with suppliers in just one click, helping them to seal deals more quickly,” Mr Chau said.

Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE

As part of its anti-pandemic measures, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced on 2 June that the compulsory 14-day quarantine for persons arriving in Hong Kong from overseas will be extended until 18 September. This development means that overseas exhibitors and buyers would have great difficulty joining Summer Sourcing Week in July. Following discussions with industry representatives, the HKTDC has decided to migrate the physical exhibition to a virtual platform, Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE, to enable companies to continue exploring business opportunities. Summer Sourcing | Weeks GO ONLINE features a wide range of products including lighting, electronics, information and communications technology (ICT), medical and healthcare items, houseware, home textiles and furnishings, fashion, gifts and premiums, as well as printing and packaging.

Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE is supported by a brand-new artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled business matching platform, Click2Match. Allowing tailor-made virtual meetings, meeting planners, live chats, instant video conferencing and online expert talks, this self-service platform offers buyers and suppliers a hustle-free online sourcing, marketing and networking experience.

Please download more photos from here. https://bit.ly/2NO58Xz

# Note to editors: given the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the HKTDC has adjusted its schedule of exhibitions and conferences as part of a continued effort to create business opportunities for various sectors through multiple channels. For details, please visit: https://bit.ly/31jgyu0

About HKTDC

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade publications, research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn.

Contact:

Beatrice Lam, Tel: +852 2584 4049, Email: beatrice.hy.lam@hktdc.org

Join the 3rd Annual POWER WEEK AFRICA in Johannesburg, South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – (ACN Newswire) – Are you ready for the new challenges & opportunities as power markets around the world evolve?

Specially designed for the African electric power & energy industry, POWER WEEK AFRICA (14-18 September 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is the 3rd annual international conference & summit delivering a unique experience for each day of the event. You are guaranteed 5 days of premium networking opportunities that are inclusive of a 2-day main conference, 5 supplementary workshops, multiple case studies from a wide array of perspectives, expert opinions, and unrivaled insights into the African electric power & energy market prospects.

The conference promises valuable insights on a diverse range of topics that are critical to the African electric power & energy industry today – renewable energy, climate change & environment, energy transition, energy efficiency, funding, investment facilitation, energy access, policies & regulations, tariffs, capacity development, technology, solar, off-grid, public-private partnerships, energy storage, digitalization, affordability, energy mix, private sector participation and so much more.

Global energy leaders who have confirmed to speak:

– Abubakar Sani Sambo, Chairman, Ministerial Task Force on Power, Nigeria

– Haliru Dikko, Commissioner, ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority

– Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary, Energy Commission, Ghana

– Abubakar Malah Umar, Director, Energy Commission, Nigeria

– Cyprian Nyakundi, Director, Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Kenya

– Ibilola Amao, Governing Council Member, Energy Institute, United Kingdom

– Greg Austin, Managing Director, Juwi Renewable Energies, South Africa

– Geoffrey Mabea, Executive Secretary, Energy Regulators Association of East Africa

– Ademola Adesina, CEO, Rensource Energy, Nigeria

– William Price, CEO, Enel Green Power, South Africa

– Ato Gyasi, Senior Director, Africa Finance Corporation, Nigeria

– Wido Schnabel, Director, Canadian Solar

– Chris Chijiutomi, Director, CDC Group, United Kingdom

– Brian Dames, CEO, African Rainbow Energy & Power, South Africa

– Simon Hodson, CEO, Gridworks, United Kingdom

– Chris Flavin, Director, Gridworks, United Kingdom

– Mikhail Nikomarov, CEO, Bushveld Energy, South Africa

– Peter Pechtl, Managing Director, ENEXSA, Austria

– Alexander Schonfeldt, Managing Director & COO, Enerox, Austria

– Jose Maria Lopez, Director, MRC Consultants & Transaction Advisers, Spain

– Aleem Tharani, Partner, Bowmans, Kenya

– Dumisani Tembo, Partner, AB & David, Zambia

– Kieran Whyte, Partner, Baker McKenzie, South Africa

– Gabriel Kroes, Senior Energy Specialist, DNV GL, South Africa

– James Sherwood, Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute, United States of America

…and many more

The POWER WEEK ASIA will feature 5 supplementary workshops and masterclasses addressing cutting edge topics with Real Examples and Case Studies, including Renewable Energy, Energy Regulation & Policies, Energy Storage, Power Project Finance and Power Contracts & Negotiation.

Seize this opportunity to stay ahead of your competitors in an industry that is ever-changing — POWER WEEK AFRICA is definitely for you!

Email Weslyn Lee to register your attendance now. For more information, please log onto:

www.power-week.com/africa.

About Infocus International Group

The organiser of POWER WEEK Conferences. Infocus International is a global business intelligence provider of strategic information and professional services for diverse business communities, designed to provide insights and to assist our clients on the global stage. The major knowledge-management companies strategically based in Singapore, independently researching and producing market-driven programmes across the region mainly in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Infocus International recognises clients’ needs and responds with innovative and result oriented programmes. All products are founded on high value content in diverse subject areas, and the highest level of quality is ensured trough intensive and in-depth market research from local and international insight

Any queries, please contact:

Weslyn Lee

Tel: +65 6325 0351 | Email: weslyn@power-week.com

To join the discussion:

LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/6985809

Twitter: @powerweeksummit

Official Website: www.power-week.com/africa

Singapore Vet 2020 to be Postponed

SINGAPORE, May 21, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – To ensure a safe and smooth exhibition experience amid the latest developments of the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, the organiser of Singapore Vet – Closerstill Media has postponed the event, originally scheduled on 23-24 October to next year, 2021.

“While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our sponsors, partners, staff and community very seriously. We believe by rescheduling the event will enable us to provide a better exhibition / conference experience that our attendees expect and deserve in a safe environment,” said Andy Kiwanuka, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, CloserStill Media.

He added, “We would like to take this chance to thank our sponsors and partners for their continuous support, open discussions and encouragement thus far. We remain excited to host the event in 2021 and will share more information about our plans in the coming weeks.”

Singapore Vet will closely monitor the coronavirus situation in collaboration with the government, health authorities and Suntec Singapore, to ensure a high level of hygiene and safety at the world-class fair ground in October 2021. The team will be in touch with all confirmed exhibitors, speakers and partners to discuss their participation at the postponed events.

For urgent assistance, please email singaporevet@closerstillmedia.com

About Singapore Vet

After successful shows in Europe and the US, CloserStill Media has expanded into Singapore – one of the fastest growing animal health markets in the world. Singapore Vet is a two-day conference-led exhibition with a comprehensive high-quality CPE programme presented by world-class veterinary leaders, giving you the chance to connect with 1,500 vets from across Southeast Asia – including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and many more – as well as international attendees.

Learn more at https://singapore.vetshow.com/

About Closerstill Media

CloserStill Media specialises in international professional events chiefly in the technology markets, across five global territories. Its portfolio includes some of the UK’s fastest-growing and award-winning events including Cloud Expo Europe and Data Centre World. Having delivered unparalleled quality and relevant audiences for all its exhibitions, CloserStill has been repeatedly recognised as a leading innovator with its teams and international events winning multiple awards in Europe and Asia including Best Marketing Manager – four times in succession – Best Trade Exhibition, Best Launch Exhibition, and Rising Star – two years in succession – among others.

For more information, visit www.closerstillmedia.com

Media Contact:

Winnie Ho

Marketing Manager

+852-2972 0628

Winnie.ho@closerstillmedia.com

HKTDC to host Summer Virtual Expo

Spring version draws 1.4m online buyers, generating orders for SMEs

The pilot month-long Spring Virtual Expo, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) on its online marketplace hktdc.com Sourcing, concluded successfully on 30 April. It drew 1.4 million online buyers from around the world to visit and source, helping suppliers secure new contacts and orders. To meet buyer demand and mine the new sourcing trend, the HKTDC is launching a “Wellness from Within” promotion this month, featuring a wide range of wellbeing products on hktdc.com Sourcing. The HKTDC will also organise a Summer Virtual Expo next month to complement its physical fairs, doubling support for Hong Kong businesses.

The Spring Virtual Expo, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), concluded successfully with 1.4 million buyers visiting the online marketplace, hktdc.com Sourcing. The HKTDC will organise a Summer Virtual Expo next month and send out weekly personalised email newsletters to buyers, helping them seal deals with suppliers more quickly.
To address buyers’ demand, the HKTDC will launch a “Wellness from Within” promotion this month on hktdc.com Sourcing, featuring a wealth of home fitness, tech gadgets, cookware and beauty products.

HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said more than 22,000 suppliers used the hktdc.com Sourcing platform to reach global buyers effectively last month, despite a suspension in physical business activities and other restrictions brought by the COVID-19 outbreak. “As more than 2,500 fairs around the world were postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic, there is a growing demand for online sourcing. In view of this, the HKTDC will organise the digital show every quarter this year. We believe that the online and physical fairs can complement with each other and create synergy to help SMEs promote their products during these challenging times.”

Meanwhile, as the outbreak stabilises, the HKTDC Summer Sourcing Week will be held from 25-28 July at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to help international buyers replenish their stocks. It comprises nine concurrent fairs, creating a one-stop sourcing platform for lighting, electronics products, information and communication technology (ICT), medical and healthcare products, houseware, fashion, home textiles, gifts, printing and packaging products and more. The HKTDC offers a variety of online-to-offline (O2O) packages, helping suppliers reach global buyers through the Summer Virtual Expo coupled with physical showcase displays at these fairs.

Subsidies from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government allow local suppliers to enjoy these O2O packages at half price. In addition, they can apply for subsidies under the enhanced Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) and SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) for other fair-related expenses.

More suppliers promote online

The HKTDC is organising a series of webinars from March to August, inviting industry experts and representatives from tech companies such as Google and PHD Media to share practical tips for online promotion, such as search engine optimisation (SEO), omni-channel marketing, website design and best practices in taking online orders. Each webinar held to date attracted more than 300 SMEs, a two-to-three fold increase compared with similar physical seminars in the past.

An online survey conducted by the HKTDC showed that more Hong Kong companies plan to enhance promotion through online channels and consider increasing their digital advertising budgets. Survey respondents would also like to understand more about the hktdc.com Sourcing platform and relevant government subsidies. The common problems SMEs faced were how to plan and kick-start an online promotion, how to manage resources and keep track of effectiveness, as well as strategies for expanding into overseas markets and reaching target buyers, and techniques in content creation such as product photography. The HKTDC’s digital platform can address these “pain points”.

More buyers source online

The Spring Virtual Expo boosted traffic to hktdc.com Sourcing, with the number of buyer visits jumping 64% from March to close to 1.4 million in April; and brought double-digit growth in the number of enquiries received. The top five origins of enquiries were the United States, Hong Kong, India, the United Kingdom and Canada, while consumer electronics, toys and games, gifts and premiums, medical supplies and houseware were the most-enquired product categories. Top enquired products include body thermometers, pedometers, medical/oxygen masks, USB flash drives and mobile phones.

The HKTDC’s 50 global offices helped reach out to international buyers and offered professional support by handling about 700 in-depth business matching requests, creating 1,500 business connections. These offices also arranged virtual business matching meetings for the first time, with some 60 sessions enabling suppliers to showcase their latest collections to potential quality buyers.

Business matching helps

Mr Chau said more than 56% of the in-depth business matching enquiries were from Asia, 22% from Europe and 15% from the Americas. “We help global buyers to find suppliers. These include e-tailers Amazon, Shopee (Singapore), Snapdeal (India), HKTV Mall (Hong Kong), as well as traditional chain stores such as United Arab of Emirates’ AI Jaber Gallery (gifts) and Indonesia’s ACE Hardware.”

The business matching service received positive feedback from buyers such as Thai company Phrion Intertrade Co. Its Business Development Manager Phong Jitpatanarat used to visit the HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair each April, sourcing corporate gifts for clients. “With the COVID-19 and lockdown, we cannot look for new vendors physically. Thanks to the HKTDC Business Matching team helping me to arrange virtual meetings, I can see suppliers’ samples and showrooms to pick items deemed fit. It’s very useful. I’ve spotted three potential suppliers and look forward to receiving their quotes for further discussion,” said Mr Phong.

Mr Chau said the business matching service the HKTDC offers had played a role in combatting the outbreak. “For example, Canada’s C4P company, who uses the service, was assisting the Ontario government to source personal protective equipment (PPE) and set up a surgical mask production line in Canada. We have arranged six online business matching meetings, and the company is considering cooperating with four suppliers to source masks, face shields, gloves, isolation gowns and more. In addition, we have helped local new face-mask manufacturers identify 30 overseas suppliers of melt-blown non-woven fabrics which are essential for mask production.”

Reliability is key

Mr Chau attributed the Spring Virtual Expo’s success largely to the trustworthiness of the platform. “The HKTDC’s online marketplace, hktdc.com Sourcing, has won multiple international awards. The site features around 130,000 quality suppliers and two million international buyers, with over 24 million business connections made each year. Suppliers’ information is verified by third-party organisations to enhance buyers’ sourcing confidence. Apart from English, Chinese, the digital platform’s navigation interface is also available in six European language namely Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, allowing buyers to source with their preferred language.”

Home Fitness, Tech Gadget, Cookware and Beauty are the weekly themes of the “Wellness from Within” promotion on hktdc.com Sourcing this month, covering a series of quality products for fitness and leisure. The HKTDC will send out two or three personalised email newsletters to VIP buyers each week. Products such as weight training equipment, fitness balls and yoga mats will be featured in the first week; computer, audio & visual and smart-home tech products in the second week; bread machines, blenders, baking utensils and dish washers in the third week; and beauty machines, hair treatment, tooth beauty and cosmetics in the final week.

Photo Download: https://bit.ly/3b94KM9

About HKTDC

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade publications, research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn.

Contact:

Beatrice Lam
Tel: +852 2584 4049
Email: beatrice.hy.lam@hktdc.org