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With the operators of nearly a million square metres of exhibition space in the
Pearl River Delta increasingly desperate to find takers, Shenzhen is eager to
join Hong Kong in an effort to grab a bigger share of an overcrowded market.
Hong Kong's current exhibition space of 64,000 square metres is dwarfed by the
110,000 sq m coming on line in the new Shenzhen facility. And both look tiny
compared with a 300,000 sq m behemoth being built in three phases in Guangdong.
With the third big exhibition centre in the Pearl River Delta now nearing
completion in the Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are in talks on
jointly holding exhibitions under the concept of "one exhibition in two
places'', with such co-operative exhibitions hopefully taking shape later next
year, according to Shenzhen vice-mayor Liu Yingli.
The relevant exhibition authorities have been negotiating about the feasibility
of Shenzhen becoming a branch exhibition hall of Hong Kong or vice versa, to
make full use of Hong Kong's advantage in international resources and
Shenzhen's domestic resources, Liu said at a press conference in the SAR
yesterday.
"We have touched on the concept [of one exhibition in two places] with Shenzhen
relevant authorities but it is in a preliminary stage for the time being,'' an
official Hong Kong Trade Development Council said on Tuesday.
The officials said Shenzhen expects that this kind of co-operation, regulated by
market forces, could take shape after June 2005, when the newly built 110,000
sq m Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre (SCEC) goes into full operation.
By then, Shenzhen's exhibition area will total 158,000 sq m, taking into
account the existing China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Centre.
Early this month, Hong Kong's Tourism Development Council proposed extending the
rentable area of the 64,000 sq m convention and exhibition centre in Wan Chai
by 19,400 sq m.
The new International Exhibition Centre (IEC) at Hong Kong International
Airport, with a first phase of 66,000 sq m of exhibition space on one level,
will have the SAR's largest column-free exhibition hall. The IEC's soft opening
is scheduled before the end of 2005 with completion for full operations in the
first quarter of 2006. The IEC could expand further to 100,000 sqm in response
to market demand.
No doubt, Shenzhen's launch of the three billion yuan (HK$2.82 billion) SECE,
covering 220,000 sq m in Futian district, will further intensify the already
fierce competition.
Existing exhibition areas in the delta already total more than 800,000 sqm. The
new venue in Shenzhen will increase that to about one million sqm.
A new convention and exhibition centre in Dongguan, between Shenzhen and
Guangzhou, adds 50,000 sq m more.
Phase one of the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre,
completed in December 2002, has 160,000 sq m of rentable space.
Liu gave an example. Two days after the five-day Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch
Fair ends on Thursday, Shenzhen will hold a jewellery and watch fair.
More than 1,000 exhibitors are showing at the Hong Kong trade fair, while the
show in Shenzhen, starting on Sunday, will host 600.
"Co-operation from these kind of fairs could be initiated,'' Liu suggested.
On the sideline of the press conference, Grant Johnson, vice-president of
marketing and business development Asia Pacific of EJ Krause & Associates
(HK), said he was very interested in talking to the relevant authorities on
business opportunities based on the "one exhibition, two places'' concept.
The Shenzhen municipal government plans to merge the China Hi-Tech Transfer
Centre, the current operator of CHIF, and several relevant departments into a
firm to run the SCEC, whose minimum operating cost is 20-30 million yuan.
SCEC's 97,500 sq m Phase One is the main hall of the sixth China Hi-Tech Fair
(CHTF) held in Shenzhen From 12 to 17 October.
The exhibition area of the CHTF totals 135,500 sq m, including SCEC and CHTF
Exhibition Centre. Visitors to the annual event are estimated to be more than
450,000.
Last year, 240,000 people visited the fifth CHTF.
For the first time, the upcoming CHTF will hold a talent exchange conference, to
offer more than 10,000 jobs especially in high technology industries.
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