******************************************************
World cup hero and Lotto endorser Luca Toni visited Hong Kong today (June 23) to officiate at the opening of the new Lotto football concept store in Mongkok.
Lotto Sport Italia is a leading global sports manufacturer, known for its footwear, clothing and accessories lines for both performance and leisure.
At the grand launch and signing event, the Business Unit Director Asia Pacific of Lotto Sport Italia, Luca Tomat, called Hong Kong a very important market for the company's business expansion in this region. "Lotto has formed a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong to oversee the sourcing, production, planning and R&D of our apparel and accessories collections. We appreciate Hong Kong's clear and simple regulations and a pro-business environment. And the city offers various options for financing our business, a skilled workforce with professional managerial experience and top quality professional service providers to assist on legal and financial issues."
He added that Hong Kong is a fantastic showcase for Lotto's products, significantly enhanced by the 13 million annual visitors from Mainland China.
With its growing passion for sports, especially football, Asia is a key market for Lotto, and it intends to expand its presence in the region further during the coming years. To achieve this goal, Lotto has established a joint-venture company to oversee the distribution of its products in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China through a wholly foreign-owned enterprise with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing.
The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Simon Galpin, congratulated Lotto on the opening of its new shop. He said, "We are delighted that Lotto has chosen Hong Kong for its concept store. The increasing number of concept stores here by top international brands like Lotto underlines Hong Kong's role as the retail capital of Asia. Lotto joins retailers from around the world that have found our city a natural choice for their showcases in Asia.
"We wish Lotto all the best and look forward to celebrating the opening of more Lotto shops in Hong Kong."
Established in 1973, Lotto is a leading Italian sportswear company who manufactures and distributes footwear, clothing and accessories for football, five-a-side football and tennis, as well as for leisure time.
Lotto distributes its products in 80 different countries through independent sports article stores, specialised chain stores and large department stores. The company has emphasised developing its retail business area through monobrand stores (flagship stores, street stores, factory outlets), corners and shop-in-shops -- which are now as widespread in Italy as they are abroad. The brand achieved turnover of 277 million euro in 2006, of which 15% have been achieved in the Asia-Pacific area (a 7% increase compared with 2005).
For more information, please visit Lotto's website at www.lottosport.com.
Invest Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government department charged with encouraging and facilitating foreign investment into the city by providing the support needed to establish a business presence here. For more information, please visit Invest Hong Kong's website at www.investhk.gov.hk.
Ends/Saturday, June 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:00
NNNN
