HKTDC : First ‘online-to-offline’ fair helps SMEs adjust to new normal

Following the success of its Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE and Autumn Sourcing Week | ONLINE virtual fairs in 2020, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is launching a new sourcing event, the HKTDC International Sourcing Show, that will employ both online and physical formats. The fair runs from March to July 2021, integrating seven HKTDC trade fairs that were originally scheduled to take place in spring 2021*. The show will help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) explore business opportunities across a range of industries amid the pandemic and capture digital opportunities that have arisen under the new normal.

The International Sourcing Show | ONLINE runs from 17 March (next Wednesday) to 29 July under the central theme of “Your Source of Inspiration”. The online fair offers business matching and video meetings that will bring buyers and exhibitors together through the online exhibition platform as the pandemic continues. The plan is to present companies with face-to-face business opportunities at a physical fair in July once the pandemic has abated.

The online fair features a broad range of high-quality lifestyle products and solutions in four themed categories: Smart Home (home textiles and furnishing, houseware), Smart Play (baby products, toys and games), Smart Style (fashion, gifts and premium items, printing and packaging solutions) and Smart Tech (electronic goods, lighting products, medical and healthcare products).

The online fair features the AI-powered Click2Match business-matching tool that supports meeting scheduling, video meetings, live-chat sessions, contact exchange and other functions to provide a richer online sourcing and networking experience for buyers and exhibitors.

At the same time, 17 webinars with over 40 leading industry figures will be held during the online fair to share upcoming market trends and insights into various industries.

* The seven exhibitions include the HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products Fair, HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair, HKTDC Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair, HKTDC Hong Kong Fashion Week, HKTDC Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, and the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair. The latter is co-organised with CIEC Exhibition Company (HK) Limited.