World's largest Gifts & Premium Fair opens today

The 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, opens today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The fair runs from 27 to 30 April and features a record 4,380 exhibitors from 31 countries and regions.

The World of Beauty, Fitness and Well-being zone debuts at the Gifts & Premium Fair, bringing together nearly 50 exhibitors to showcase beauty and well-being products from around the world.

The winning entries from the Hong Kong Smart Design Awards 2019 are on display at the Gifts & Premium Fair to highlight quality Hong Kong brands and designs.

Together with Printing & Packaging Fair, features nearly 4,900 exhibitors

HONG KONG, Apr 27, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair opens today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and runs until Tuesday (30 April). This year's fair continues to be the world's largest event of its kind, expanding in scale in 2019 to feature a record 4,380 exhibitors from 31 countries and regions. Running concurrently with the Gifts & Premium Fair is the 14th Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, jointly organised by the HKTDC and CIEC Exhibition Co (HK) Ltd, which gathers more than 500 exhibitors at AsiaWorld-Expo to showcase an assortment of printing and packaging products and services.

World of Beauty, Fitness and Well-being zone debuts; start-ups in focus

Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director said: "The HKTDC has always strived to assist our industries in opening up new markets. With beauty and well-being products becoming increasingly popular and more diversified in recent years, we are now seeing more companies choosing such products as corporate gifts. The Gifts & Premium Fair is debuting the World of Beauty, Fitness and Well-being zone in response to this growing trend, gathering nearly 50 exhibitors from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, India and New Zealand to showcase some of the best beauty and well-being products."

A key focus at the Gifts & Premium Fair is the Startup zone, featuring 35 start-ups from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Netherlands. Among the products on display is the Cubiio Portable Laser Engraver, the world's most compact engraver, developed by Taiwanese start-up Muherz and the winner of a coveted Red Dot Design Award in 2018. To further foster the development of local start-ups, the HKTDC is organising several Startup, Smart Launch sessions during the fair to help start-ups expand their networks and generate more business opportunities.

Branded gifts and networking events at Gifts & Premium Fair

Demand for branded products among global buyers has always been keen. This year's Hall of Fine Designs showcases exquisite designs from more than 140 global brands. Century-old Japanese stationery brand Kokuyo, which won a Stationery of the Year Award 2019 in Japan with its square glue stick, features an array of notebooks and other new stationery products, while another Japanese brand, MARNA, brings the compact Shupatto bag that can be opened or folded up in just a second. This compact bag was the winner of the Red Dot Design Award in 2016 and iF Design Award in 2017. To meet the growing market demand for eco-friendly products, Italian brand Master Italia brings a series of eco-hats made from recycled plastic bottles to the fair. Near-field communication technology is incorporated into the eco-hats that allows the wearer to trace the origins of each product's materials using a mobile app.

Hong Kong creativity is also highlighted at the Hall of Fine Designs, with several local brands showcasing their outstanding products. They include B.Duck and its iconic yellow plastic duck, Team Green and its 3D eco-puzzles, and the innovative Scratch Light presented by OMG-Innovatives.

The Hong Kong Exporters' Association has assembled about 170 local companies to form three zones - Isle of Originality, Brand Oasis and Smart Design HK - at the fair, helping to demonstrate the design skills and branding excellence of Hong Kong's product designers. The winning works from the latest Hong Kong Smart Design Awards are also on display to highlight the creativity and flair of Hong Kong brands to global industry players.

This year's Gifts & Premium Fair features a total of 19 product zones. Other highlighted zones include the World of Camping & Outdoor Goods, which was introduced at the fair last year, World of Gift Ideas, Advertising Gifts & Premium, Fashion Accessories, Green Gifts, Party & Festive Items, Tech Gifts and Toys & Baby Products.

Various forums and seminars will be held during the fair to address some of the industry's hottest topics. Xiao Tonghao, Business Development Director of Suning, a renowned e-tailer in Mainland China, will host a buyer forum tomorrow (28 April) to discuss how to use e-commerce channels to unlock the cross-border business potential of the Greater Bay Area markets. Dr Royce Yuen, co-founder of Hong Kong marketing technology (martech) company MaLogic, will host a session on 29 April to examine big data and brand-building strategies.

Printing Fair presents emerging eco-friendly products and solutions

The 14th Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, featuring over 500 exhibitors from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and India, is held in parallel with the Gifts & Premium Fair. Exhibitors at the fair showcase an array of professional book printing and digital printing solutions along with a wide range of packaging designs and services. To cater to the industry's growing demand for biodegradable and recyclable packaging materials, the Green Printing & Packaging Solutions zone has once again been set up at the fair, gathering nearly 30 companies from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to display a range of new and eco-friendly materials and solutions. They include the Stone Paper Bag from a Taiwanese exhibitor and a Jiangsu exhibitor's pulp and plastic film products made from non-wood plant fibres.

New at this year's Printing Fair is the World of Advertising and Signs zone that features different signs, advertising lightboxes, LED products and point-of-purchase displays that can help enterprises enhance their brand image through creative visual communication and promotional approaches. Other highlighted zones include the De Luxe zone, Innovative Retail Display Solutions, and Printing and Packaging Solutions for Fashion & Accessories.

Meanwhile, the winning entries from the Hong Kong Print Awards, organised by the Graphic Arts Association of Hong Kong and other organisations, and the Hong Kong Digital Printing Award, organised by the Hong Kong Digital Printing Association, are on display at the fair. These awards aim to foster a closer integration between the art of visual communication, publishing concepts and the use of technology to promote the strengths of Hong Kong's printing industry to the world.

Value-adding thematic seminars

To help industry professionals get a better understanding of the latest opportunities, a series of thematic seminars and forums are held as part of the Printing Fair, with leading experts invited to examine the industry's hottest trends and technologies. Seminars this year include "Embrace Opportunities in Greater Bay Area; Certification and Training Services in Hong Kong's Graphic Arts Industries"; "Superfine Pixel Image Capture and Application for Digital Printing"; and "New Development and Application of Wide Gamut Colour Printing".

HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair
27-30 April 2019 (Sat-Tue)
Place: HKCEC
Time: 27-29 April 9:30am-6:30pm; 30 April 9:30am-5pm
Website: http://bit.ly/2XV5AWZ
Media Registration: Hall 1E Concourse, Harbour Road Entrance, HKCEC
HKTDC Media Centre, Expo Drive Entrance, HKCEC
A free shuttle bus service links the two fair venues. For details, please visit https://bit.ly/2U3UyfE

Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair
27-30 April 2019 (Sat-Tue)
Place: Halls 3, 6, 8, AsiaWorld-Expo
Time: 27 April 10:30am-5:30pm; 28-29 April 9:30am-5:30pm; 30 April 9:30am-3:30pm
Website: http://bit.ly/2GOfOTh
Media Registration: Room 105, AsiaWorld-Expo

Photo Download: https://bit.ly/2DAkuKh

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.

Contact:
Clayton Lauw, Tel: +852 2584 4525, Email: clayton.y.lauw@hktdc.org
Angel Leong, Tel: +852 2584 4298, Email: angel.lw.leong@hktdc.org