The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is hosting seven concurrent lifestyle products and licensing trade fairs in the course of April 2023. After a period of political turbulence compounded by the pandemic and the global disruptions due to Ukraine war, Hong Kong is ready to bounce back and reclaim its glory as a regional hub of trade, commerce and creativity. These seven fairs will be held between April 19 and 22, 2023 at the picturesque Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre at Wan Chai North, along Victoria Harbour. As Sophia Chong, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director explains, “Hong Kong is a unique creative and cultural hub where East meets West and the city always excels in creativity. The HKTDC has been committed to promoting creative and design industries, help develop Hong Kong as Asia’s city of culture and creativity. This year, the HKTDC gathers a number of large-scale exhibitions in April, covering lifestyle products and licensing to strengthen cross-industry and cross-field cooperation, creating even greater synergy to the industries.”
Trade fairs to highlight innovation and technology The events include the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair; Home InStyle (formerly the Hong Kong Houseware Fair); Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair; Fashion InStyle (formerly Hong Kong Fashion Week); Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair as well as the Hong Kong International Licensing Show and Asian Licensing Conference, which will end on April 21.
Under the exhibition + hybrid model, exhibitors and buyers have the opportunity to participate beyond physical shows, through the intelligent Click2Match platform which will run until April 29. Chong adds, “Since Hong Kong returned to normality, the HKTDC has organised several large-scale trade fairs and forums. Both domestic and international exhibitors and buyers showed support by attending the events physically, which is very encouraging. This time, the six major exhibitions attract over 3,800 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions, with 70 per cent being non-local exhibitors who will participate in person. More than 20 international licensing leaders will also join the Asian Licensing Conference.”
Royalty-free environment to benefit all A key component in this gathering is the Asian Licensing Conference, apt as intellectual property rights continue to be a bone of contention, particularly with many Western economies alleging violations occurring in Asia. The conference will host over 20 experts from the global licensing field to discuss latest developments in global licensing, location-based marketing (LBM) and sport licensing, keeping participants up-to-date on market trends.
Overseas speakers will include Ben Peace, Vice President for the Asia Pacific at WildBrain CPLG (the agency for PEANUTS, Sonic Prime, and the Teletubbies); Maura Regan, President of Licensing International; and Yvonne Chou, Head of Global Marketing at VICTOR Rackets Industrial Corp, (the badminton brand in cooperation with various IPs such as Peanuts, Hello Kitty, One Piece). The Licensing Academy, organised by Licensing International and supported by the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, will host a Japanese expert as a speaker to educate attendees on the role of being royalty-free marketing creating is a win-win situation for all. This conference will also host another topical event, ‘Powering change: Women in innovation and Creativity’.
AI technology to drive fashion
Fashion InStyle will host 430 exhibitors representing the entire industry chain, upstream and downstream. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the UK’s Royal College of Art will conduct live demonstrations of AI technology application to fashion design, merchandising and retailing. Israeli innovation company Stratasys, manufacturer of 3D printers, software, and materials for polymer additive manufacturing as well as 3D-printed parts on-demand will show the sector on how to maximize on operational resources through 3D printed outfits, accessories and parts of outfits quickly and efficiently.
