Boosting diverse economic development and reinforcing the city’s role as a global business and C&E hub

 HONG KONG, Feb 22, 2024 – The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) today announced its major focus areas for 2024-2025, which strengthen Hong Kong’s status as a leading global business and investment hub and convention and exhibition (C&E) centre. The HKTDC is committed to promoting Hong Kong’s advantages internationally and creating opportunities for Hong Kong businesses.

HKTDC Chairman Dr Peter K N Lam said: “With the record-breaking attendance at our Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in January, it is clear that international business leaders and investors have returned to Hong Kong. Looking ahead, we will further consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, trade and international C&E centre and promote Hong Kong’s strengths internationally. We will redouble our efforts to highlight Hong Kong’s unique role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and further integrate into the overall development of Mainland China, while actively exploring other rapidly growing markets, such as ASEAN and the Middle East. We will also continue to focus on the key growth drivers of innovation, sustainability and wellness.”

Since full reopening in March 2023, the HKTDC has stepped up efforts to attract business people across the globe to return to Hong Kong, and the Council’s trade events have welcomed visitors from Asia, the Middle East to Africa and Europe to the Americas, reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a business and investment hub.

Last year, we staged some 40 major events, attracting over 22,000 exhibitors and over 430,000 physical buyers and participants from Hong Kong, the mainland and around the world, with particularly notable growth in visitors from Mainland China, ASEAN and the Middle East. Indeed, exhibitor and buyer participation at last year’s HKTDC trade fairs has returned to 70-80% of pre-pandemic levels, with some even reaching 90%. Our anchor conferences, such as the AFF and the Belt and Road Summit, also attracted record-breaking attendance and strong international participation.

HKTDC’s 2024-2025 major work focus is:

1. Strengthen Hong Kong’s position within the GBA and its integration into national development

The HKTDC will open two new GBA business support centres in Huizhou and Zhaoqing in March. With these additional centres, we will have a physical presence in all mainland GBA cities to provide stronger on-the-ground support to businesses that are interested in tapping GBA opportunities.
Version 2.0 of the HKTDC’s offline and online business support programme GoGBA will be launched to provide more comprehensive support for businesses keen to access the GBA. It will include a five-in-one support plan for different industries, comprising seminars, group and one-on-one consultations, GBA business visits and industry information kits.
We will enhance the promotion of infrastructure and real estate services (IRES), legal and other professional services and arrange trade delegations to mainland GBA cities to facilitate collaboration.
We will stage SmartHK in Nanjing to boost collaboration between Hong Kong and Yangtze River Delta in trade, innovation and green finance.
The HKTDC will launch a new innovation and technology (I&T) zone at the Hong Kong Services Pavilion at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai to promote Hong Kong’s I&T strengths.
We will expand product offerings at the Hong Kong Pavilion at the China International Consumer Goods Expo in Hainan to cover niche sectors in high demand.

 2. Connect Hong Kong with opportunities in RCEP and beyond to reinforce Hong Kong’s status as a resilient and connected business hub

HKTDC’s mega promotion Think Business, Think Hong Kong will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia to showcase Hong Kong’s world-class services.
We will launch a Hong Kong Professional Plus campaign to help local service providers understand the ASEAN market and seize opportunities.
A fundraising roadshow to ASEAN or the Middle East will be organised to connect corporates with imminent fundraising needs and reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a fundraising hub.
We will also lead a delegation to the Middle East to help Hong Kong IRES providers strengthen ties with their Middle Eastern counterparts.
The HKTDC will launch the New Market Navigator Series, which consists of exploratory study missions and participation in trade fairs in targeted regions to highlight Hong Kong’s competitive edge across industries.
In terms of the ASEAN market, we will stage a Hong Kong product showcase at the FHA-HoReCa in Singapore, one of the largest events in Asia in the sector. For the Middle East market, we will participate in regional trade fairs, such as Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East. Partnerships with relevant industry associations will be explored to arrange missions consisting of company visits, business matching meetings and networking.

 3. Accelerate the development of Hong Kong’s pillar and new sectors with a focus on I&T, sustainability and wellness

The HKTDC will continue to facilitate international cooperation through signature events, such as Think Business, Think Hong Kong in overseas markets and AFF, Belt and Road Summit and Eco Expo Asia, to highlight Hong Kong’s role as an international centre for green finance and greentech.
An ESG seminar series will be launched at our anchor fairs to address the needs of different industries transitioning towards a more sustainable, low-carbon future.
The HKTDC will strengthen deal-making at AFF and target projects related to agritech, food tech, greentech, renewable energy and climate change mitigation, working closely with the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.
We will deepen collaboration with R&D and innovation centres of Hong Kong-based universities to promote technology commercialisation with a focus on healthtech.
The HKTDC will collaborate with start-up communities across Asia to position the Start-up Zone at HKTDC’s exhibitions as the ideal launchpad for start-ups to showcase their products and solutions.
Following last year’s introduction of a new ESG stream within the HKTDC’s Transformation Sandbox (T-box) business support programme, we will continue to expand T-box’s partnerships with global technology companies to support SMEs’ digital transformation.

 4. Reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a global business hub and a C&E centre

The HKTDC will stage some 40 large-scale international exhibitions and conferences, ranging from Eco Expo Asia and InnoEx to AFF and Asia Summit on Global Health.
We will enrich the experience of business visitors by working with partner organisations to organise mega events around our anchor trade exhibitions and conferences. The linking of the Asian Financial Forum and the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in January this year was a good example.
We will debut two new trade fairs, DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong and Smart Lighting Expo, in April to meet market demand and facilitate opportunities in these industries.
We will continue to enhance the digital offerings of our exhibitions and conferences to provide a seamless online-to-offline experience for our participants and champion Hong Kong as a leader in innovation and digital transformation in the C&E industry.