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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Ting-kwong and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today (December 13):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it monitors the operation and quality (such as the criteria for selecting exhibitors) of international exhibitions held by the private sector in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) of the assistance, provided by the relevant authorities, to local exhibitors to help them compete with their overseas counterparts for opportunities to participate in international exhibitions held in Hong Kong to promote their products and services?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government is committed to develop Hong Kong as the trade fair capital and international trading centre for the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the convention and exhibition industry is also important for maintaining Hong Kong's position as a business hub. In this connection, the Government has invested strategically in the industry's infrastructures to provide convention and exhibition facilities of a high quality. In addition, Hong Kong's free and convenient business environment provides excellent conditions for large scale international exhibitions, and their exhibitors and buyers. Reply to the two parts of the question is set out below:
(a) The two major exhibition venues in Hong Kong, namely the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the AsiaWorld-Expo, are run respectively by independent management companies. The two management companies operate the venues and formulate their booking and licensing procedures following prudent commercial principles and market practices. As regards the exhibition organisers, they generally select exhibitors on a commercial and competitive basis taking into account their business consideration as well as market demand and supply. We believe that this should bring the most benefits in terms of increasing the flexibility and economic efficiency in the use of Hong Kong's convention and exhibition facilities. It is not appropriate for the Government nor the venue operators to intervene with individual exhibition organisers' business decisions on the types of exhibitions to be hosted and the selection of exhibitors as long as they comply with the applicable laws of Hong Kong and the relevant rules on the safe and proper use of the venues set by the venue operators, and do not engage in any anti-competitive behaviour.
(b) The Government has been providing support to local exhibitors through the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) and the Trade and Industry Department (TID). For example, TDC, as one of the major exhibition organisers in Hong Kong, organises trade fairs for a wide range of Hong Kong industries on a regular basis and encourages local enterprises to participate. In addition, TDC's general practice is to provide local enterprises participating in its international trade fairs with prominent positions as far as possible. The majority of exhibitors participating in TDC's international trade fairs are local enterprises, and many of them are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who lack the resources to participate at overseas trade exhibitions to promote their products and services to overseas buyers.
TID operates the SME Export Marketing Fund, which provides funding support to SMEs for their participation in local trade fairs and exhibitions which are export-oriented, overseas trade fairs and exhibitions and study missions. As at November 30, 2006, the cumulative amount of the SME Export Marketing Fund approved is about $680 million, benefiting up to 17,000 local SMEs.
Ends/Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:34
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