KITEC redevelopment to provide 11,000 sq m exhibition venues: Bernadette Linn

The owner has committed to reserving approximately 11,300 square meters of floor area for exhibition venues as part of the Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (KITEC) redevelopment project, the development chief said Wednesday.

The comment of Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho came after lawmakers raised concerns about the impact on performance and exhibition facilities in the Kowloon East region over the redevelopment plan.

KITEC hosts office space and event venues for business, concerts, exhibitions, conferences, banqueting, and entertainment functions. It also includes E-Max, a 900,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment mall. 

The developers recently applied to the Town Planning Board to redevelop KITEC into six residential buildings - providing 1,881 residential units, one commercial building, and one mixed-use building with retail and social welfare facilities and is awaiting approval.

The Centre will cease operations at the end of June.

Lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu raised concerns about the redevelopment's impact on the region's cultural, sports, tourism, conferences, exhibitions, and banquet activities, as there are insufficient indoor venues to host the events.

Linn responded that the government is committed to ensuring that adequate indoor facilities will be available in the Kowloon East area to support the activities despite the redevelopment of KITEC.

She noted that the AsiaWorld-Expo and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) currently provide over 150,000 square meters of exhibition space, while the government is mulling expanding the floor space for the facilities by around 40 percent to approximately 220,000 square meters, complemented by hotels and other facilities.

Legislator Ma Fung-kwok pointed out that KITEC initially hosted four performance venues, and the North Point landmark Sunbeam Theatre has had a change of ownership, meaning the city is losing five private performance venues. 

He said that would pose a significant impact on the industry and called for the government to outline a plan for performance venue development.

Linn said the current trend is to avoid overly restrictive planning, and the commercial zones could also accommodate entertainment usage.

Linn mentioned that the government tended to implement flexible planning, allowing commercial zones to accommodate entertainment usage.

Regarding the current 3,600-seat performance venue at KITEC, Linn indicated that it would be the landowner's decision whether to provide a similar facility in the redevelopment.

Tourism industry representative Perry Yiu Pak-leung expressed concerns that the lack of exhibition space affects Hong Kong's competitiveness. 

He noted that the government often refers to the expansion of HKCEC and AsiaWorld-Expo, but the HKCEC expansion may not be completed until 2034. 

In response, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bernard Chan Pak-li said the government is reviewing the future use of the North Lantau makeshift hospital, and the expansion timetable for AsiaWorld-Expo will not be as lengthy as the HKCEC project, with details to be announced in due course.