Stationery show steps forward

Positioned as a serious sourcing event for stationery and office products, the second Hong Kong International Stationery Fair showed positive results over its debut year and added a new seminar programme to provide more value to delegates. The Stationery Fair was jointly organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and ran alongside the Hong Kong Toy & Games Fair - the third largest toy fair in the world - to take account of the considerable overlap between children's stationery and toys. Exhibitors and buyers alike praised the decision of the organisers to place the two fairs in neighbouring halls at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from January 8 to 11. In only its second edition, the Stationery Fair attracted 15,452 buyers from 104 countries, representing a 31% increase on the inaugural year. More than 40% of visitors to the show came from outside Hong Kong. The top ten visiting countries were mainland China (1,029 visitors), followed by Japan (655), the USA (614), Taiwan (511), South Korea (421), Philippines (263), Thailand (235) Australia (199), the UK (188) and Singapore (177). The majority of the 155 companies exhibiting came from Asia, but North America and Europe were also represented by companies from Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. In terms of the fair's product mix, writing instruments, particularly those targeted at children and teens, dominated the booth displays, though a number of classic pen and traditional fountain pen makers were also present. The second largest product group on display was office products, and included all types of items from laser labels to calculators and lamination machines. "We think it's a great idea to hold the stationery and toy fairs together because many buyers are looking for products for children and you simply can't separate toys and stationery," China-based Wenbo Stationery general manager Mr Woody Zhu says. "Our stationery products with cartoon characters, such as school bags and pencil cases, are always popular among the buyers. Every year, we launch more than a hundred new stationery items - this show is the best place to test buyer response and marketability." More than 3,000 of the visitors to the fair were dedicated stationery buyers, sourcing products solely from the stationery and office products halls. Mirage International expressed enthusiasm for the large number of professional stationery buyers they had seen at the show. Maxleaf Stationery & Gifts, a joint-venture between a Canadian and Chinese company, found that their new range of spiral bound notebooks with natural coloured cardboard covers found a responsive audience at the fair. "All our designs come from Canada and the manufacturing is done in China," Maxleaf marketing manager Mr Jerry Ji says. "This makes for a very unique product. We have seen our volume of business processed at the fair increase considerably this year. We have also had a chance to meet up with some of our existing clients - many of them are here at the fair." While business was being done in the exhibition halls, a number of visitors took advantage of the new addition to the fair for 2002, the Stationery Market Seminar. Focusing on two markets of critical importance to the global stationery industry - China and Japan - the three-hour session gave the 60-strong audience a broad overview of current issues in these markets. The speaker panel, consisting of All Japan Stationery Association vice-chairman Mr Yohei Ogawa, IdeaTap Consulting chief executive officer Mr Edward Sun and Shanghai World Trade Organization (WTO) Research Centre senior economist and vice-secretary-general Ms Wang Ming spoke on various issues, including Japan's writing instrument industry, the office products supply chain in China, China's accession to the WTO, plus legislation and administration reform. The next International Stationery Fair will take place between 7 and 10 January 2003.