Trading-Post for Textiles

Hong Kong is one of the world's major traders of textile products, acting as a key bridge between east and west. And Interstoff Asia Autumn, organised by Messe Frankfurt and boasting a solid 17-year history, is seen by textiles professionals as the most important event of its kind in Asia, a place where buyers from major apparel brands come to source the latest fabrics and accessories. Interstoff Asia Autumn returned to the HKCEC from 6 to 8 October 2004 with nearly 11,000 fabric and accessories buyers. Stretching across some 9,000 square metres of exhibition space, and collecting together 300 exhibitors from around the world, the fair featured every kind of fabric, embroidery, lace, and lining imaginable, and much more besides. Special features included the 'Feature Pavilion for Functional Fabrics', with live demonstrations that put exhibitors' fabrics to the test by checking for water resistance, sun protection and fire resistance. The popular Fabric-to-Fashion event again demonstrated the process of making a fashion garment, from raw fabric to finished creation, while the Directions Trend Forum gave industry professionals the chance to interact and assess the latest trends in colours and styles. This year, participants noted a new development in the fair with the focus of many exhibitors and buyers increasingly moving away from mass-market textiles and towards niche markets and opportunities for sourcing innovative value-added products.

Big, Bright and Beautiful

It's Asia's biggest -- and this year it was bigger than ever, with record-breaking numbers of exhibitors and visitors flooding into more than 60,000 square metres of exhibition space at the HKCEC between 19 and 23 September. It was the September Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch Fair, organised by CMP Asia and now in its 22nd year. Over 1,900 companies from 47 countries and regions came together at this, Asia's most important forum for jewellery and watches, while lining up to inspect their products were over 38,000 visitors from around the world. As usual, many exhibitors came to display the fine finished jewellery, diamonds, gemstones, pearls, and jewelled timepieces for which the Fair is renowned, along with packaging and jewellery-making tools and equipment. In addition, the event featured a number of national pavilions as well as specialised pavilions for gemstones, antique and estate jewellery. This year, the organiser also introduced a new themed area called the Jadeite Gallery, featuring an exceptional range of jadeite samples from around the world. Two of the world's most important pearl auctions were also held at the HKCEC to coincide with the Fair dates. Once again the September Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch Fair proved to be a must-visit destination for industry professionals everywhere.

A triple header exhibition combining shows for electrical engineering, building automation and security systems. That was the Asian Elenex / Asian Building Technologies / Asian Securitex exhibition, held at the HKCEC from 15 to 18 June. Why hold three exhibitions in one place and at one time? Organiser Hong Kong Exhibition Services says that there is a series of important synergies between the three, with each show showcasing important related products and services for architects, surveyors, building and facility management companies and land developers, besides those core customers directly involved in each industry. Asian Building Technologies in particular acts as a link between the electrical installation and lighting focus of Asian Elenex and the security and fire systems showcased by Asian Securitex. All in all some 658 companies exhibited at the 3-in-1 fair, attracting a combined visitor total of around 12,500. Running in parallel to the exhibitions was the 2-day Asian Securitex Conference, which attracted a number of major figures from the government and security sectors. The Organiser agrees that the three-fair format was a winning formula, and the success of this year's events a good reflection of resurgent property markets and buoyant economies across the region.

Set up in response to the increasingly rapid pace of electronics innovation and development, the new Spring Edition of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair was launched from 14 to 17 April at the HKCEC to supplement the traditional Autumn Fair. Distinguishing it from its Autumn cousin was the Spring Edition's special focus on high-technology products, and alongside this it also introduced three new product categories that look extremely promising for future development: Digital Imaging, Healthcare Electronics, and Electronics Manufacturing Services. Reflecting the global nature of the industry, buyers and visitors (all 38,000 of them) made their way to Hong Kong from 143 countries and regions, to sample the wares of around 1,500 exhibitors. The Fair, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, included a number of special supplementary attractions, such as the International ICT Expo where the latest in information and communications technology products and solutions were on show, the popular Hong Kong Electronics Parts Procurement Square, and several conferences and seminars that ran concurrently. The large numbers of exhibitors clearly indicated that this new edition of the Electronics Fair was in demand, and the organiser is already preparing for the 'second edition' at the same time in 2005.