HKTDC Building & Hardware Fair 2014 Review

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A Recognised Business Platform for Building and Hardware Industry

The Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair, organized by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), culminated successfully on 1 November 2014 at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. Running from 29 October-1 November, the 9th edition of the fair presented a good mix of quality exhibitors and buyers from around the world. The fair extended to cover four days this year and was open to public for the first time on the last fair day, giving visitors a chance to learn more about new building initiatives.

The building and construction industry in Hong Kong has been growing solidly in recent years. Hong Kong’s export of building materials, including hardware, increased nearly 3 per cent to US$12 billion in the first eight months of 2014 over the same period in 2013. The top five export markets were the Chinese mainland, the United States, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The event once again rode on the city’s competitive edge of being China’s gateway to the world and offered countless opportunities for international buyers to source from quality suppliers in the Chinese mainland.

 

An Ideal Platform for sourcing and networking

The fair was held concurrently with Eco Expo Asia in AsiaWorld-Expo, as well as HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Free shuttle buses travelled between the two venues, facilitating buyers to do multiple sourcing.

The 2014 Building and Hardware Fair alone attracted 181 exhibitors, showcasing a broad array of building and hardware products. Visitors could find products and services from different parts of the world, including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.S.A., among which Portugal and Turkey were new exhibitors. Participating exhibitors included renowned companies in the region, such as Leonardo Marble, Synnex Technology International (HK) Limited, J Pro Makreting Services Ltd, J.AM. International Ltd and Wurth Hong Kong Co Ltd.

The event continued to record positive comments across new and returning exhibitors.

Mr. Zaimah Osman, Trader Commissioner of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation said:  “This is the first time that we’ve brought together companies from Malaysia to participate in the Hong Kong fair. Seven companies are exhibiting here to promote a variety of products including panels, hardwood flooring, garden decking, LED lighting and prefabricated building solutions. They are particularly eager to expand presence in the markets of Hong Kong and Chinese mainland. As the Hong Kong fair is an international trade event, we have also met many international buyers such as customers from UAE, Ukraine, Poland and Russia. Everybody is busy here at our booths with pre-arranged business meetings with buyers. The fair has attracted a large number of visitors from different countries. We are positive about the exhibition and will examine the results after the fair to prepare our next year’s participation.”

Sharing similar sentiments was Mr. Simon Pang, Sales and Marketing Executive of J.A.M. International Ltd., Hong Kong. “This is our second-year participation in Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair to promote our products. We achieved encouraging results last year and that’s why we are back here. The feedback from buyers has been very positive. We’ve received many enquiries from different visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, the Chinese mainland and Brazil. This fair is conveniently located at AsiaWorld Expo and many visitors are our target customers. We are making it an annual event for our business development,” he said.

 

On-site Events

Apart from being a sourcing platform, the fair also served as an information hub to provide the latest trends, industry knowledge and market intelligence to both exhibitors and buyers.

To address the global trend of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the building and construction industry, BIM Day was co-organised with Construction Industry Council on the first day of the Fair with a full-day programme comprising an Exhibitors’ Forum for BIM-related exhibitors and the high-profile HKIBIM-CIC Conference 2014 organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Building Information Modelling.

Two symposiums, two seminars and one conference were organized during the fair targeting regional engineers, architects and other building practitioners.  Topics discussed included “Green Building Innovations and Intelligence”, “Green Building Certification in Hong Kong”, “Strategies for Building a Green Tech Hub”, as well as “New Trends in Developing Green Lighting”. In particular, the four seminars and symposiums were recognised by Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and The Hong Kong Institute of Architects which offered credits to its members attending the seminars and symposiums under the Continuous Development Programme.

Besides, four exhibitor forums and a networking reception were arranged to facilitate participants in exchanging ideas and views of the industry.

 

Open to Eco-Enthusiasts

The Fair opened its doors to the general public on the last day of the event. During the Public Day on 1 November, visitors were able to shop at the “Ideal Home Mart”, which was dedicated to home improvement and renovation products. One Career Forum on the topic of “Architecture, Surveying & Planning Industry” and two interior design forums on the topics of “Green-Living – Modern Home” and “Micro-Living: Small Space, Big Idea” were also organised.

 

Statistics reveals high attendance by visitors across the globe

The event attracted altogether 9,311 trade buyers from 89 countries and regions. Amongst them, 6,028 were from Hong Kong and 3,283 were from overseas. Top three visiting countries and regions were the Chinese mainland, Macau and Taiwan, followed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Iran, Japan, Australia, India and the U.S.A.

 

A total of 56 buying missions were organised, bringing in over 2,550 corporate buyers from key players in the industry from 46 countries and regions. They include Trio Group from Australia, SIX Participações e Incorporações from Brazil, Comercial Bustos y Perez Ltda. from Chile, Chongqing Zeheng (EverUp) Building Material Co., Ltd. & Guang Hui Real Estate from the Chinese mainland, Citihardware Inc. from the Philippines, 3W Dystrybucja S.A. from Poland, JSC Start Management Company from Russia, Horme Hardware from Singapore and Al Rahmani General Trd Co LLC from the UAE.

 

Looking forward

Following this year’s success, next year’s Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair will return in October 2015 at AsiaWorld-Expo. Be sure to visit the show for more market trends and sourcing opportunities!

 

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For further information, please visit the official website of HKTDC Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair at http://www.hktdc.com/hkbdh/