59,000+ buyers visit twin lighting fairs and Eco Expo Asia Survey: lighting market steady; potential seen in smart products

Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 21st Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), the fourth Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo and the 14th Eco Expo Asia concluded with more than 59,000 buyers from 135 countries and regions visiting the three fairs.

HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said: “Despite the recent public incidents in Hong Kong and the current external economic uncertainties, all three fairs and their events were staged successfully. The HKTDC will continue to provide additional supporting services at upcoming events, including strengthening business matching to foster connections between exhibitors and buyers; organising buying missions to encourage buyers from mature and emerging markets to source in Hong Kong; and providing more special offers to lower the travel costs for buyers and raise their interest in travelling to Hong Kong to do business.

Mr Chau noted that the three fairs saw a growth in buyer attendance from various countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, Belgium, Brazil and Colombia. Many international renowned brands, retailers, distributors and government departments sourced at the fairs, including India's Adani M2K Projects, Indonesia's Klaasen Lighting Design, Poland's Wojnarowscy Sp. z o.o. and Saudi Arabia's Rexel Arabia which visited the Lighting Fairs; and Czech Republic's Ministry of the Environment and Kuwait's United Waste Management which visited Eco Expo Asia. These companies were all looking to explore new business opportunities through the Hong Kong platform, showing that global buyers continue to see the city as an important marketplace.

Survey: respondents optimistic about overall sales next year
The HKTDC commissioned an independent on-site survey during the Autumn Lighting Fair and Outdoor and Tech Light Expo. Among nearly 670 exhibitors and buyers interviewed, more than half (53%) said they expected overall sales to remain steady next year, while 23% expected growth and 24% anticipated a decrease. In terms of specific markets, respondents were most optimistic about South Korea (64%) and Japan (58%) among traditional markets, and ASEAN countries (62%) and the Middle East (61%) among emerging markets.

As for product trends, over one-third (35%) of the respondents considered LED and green lighting to have the greatest growth potential, followed by household lighting (19%), commercial lighting (13%) and smart lighting and solutions (13%). In terms of smart products, 63% believed smart lighting products would become more ubiquitous. Home automation and smart lighting control systems (32%), outdoor smart security lighting systems (19%) and energy-efficient lighting control solutions (14%) were considered the most likely to succeed.

Revolutionary lighting technologies align with smart lifestyles
The Connected Living • Smart Home zone at the Autumn Lighting Fair featured renowned brands such as OSRAM, Prosperity Group, Opple and Tuya, to showcase a broad range of smart lifestyle ideas, technologies and products. The Hall of Aurora featured more than 650 renowned brands displaying the latest lighting trends and solutions.

Aligning with the smart city trend, the Outdoor & Public Lighting zone at the Hong Kong Outdoor and Tech Light Expo showcased the latest solutions and lighting systems to underpin smart city development. Forums and seminars were organised during the fair period to examine the ecosystem of the smart city supply chain industry.

Bright opportunities at world's largest lighting marketplace
Buyer Rafal Gawrylak from Poland said it was his company's second visit to the Autumn Lighting Fair and explained that they had bought lighting products worth a total of US$1 million from a Hong Kong supplier they connected with at last year's fair. In 2019 they pinpointed three potential Hong Kong suppliers and planned to purchase at least US$250,000 worth of products from each of them during the first year of cooperation.

Lawrence Chan, Head of Communications & Brand Strategy, APAC at OSRAM Asia Pacific, said it was the first time his company had joined hands with its strategic partner in Hong Kong, the Prosperity Group, to set up a booth at the Autumn Lighting Fair. They found new buyers from Hong Kong, France, Germany, India and Mainland China at the event and the result is fruitful.

Eco Expo Asia: green transportation in the spotlight
The recent policy address by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Chief Executive highlighted new initiatives aiming at enhancing green transportation in the city. Mr Chau said that to align with market demand, this year's Eco Expo Asia featured 10 thematic zones, including the highlight Green Transportation zone that showcased a variety of environmental transportation products and solutions including electric vehicles and charging devices.

One of the exhibitors in the Green Transportation zone, Lawson Lau, Founder and Executive Director, Cornerstone EV Charging Service Limited, said the company joined Eco Expo Asia for the first time four years ago as a start-up. “We started out showcasing EV chargers, and our business has been expanding over the years. Thanks to the expo, we can now provide a full line of EV charging solutions the market. The organiser also provides us with the opportunity to introduce our vision and solutions at the Eco Asia Conference this year, and the connections we make may translate into more business.”

A Russian buyer at the expo, Yulia Bereznikova, Project Manager at Ecobureau Greens, said she enjoyed a fruitful experience at this year's event. She said that following the introduction of a new regulation by the Russian government last year, it became a must for all local companies to transform their business environment into green spaces, fuelling a huge demand for green applications. “Through the HKTDC-arranged business-matching meetings, I found the puzzle-like cardboard displays for interior decors and exhibitions . It is now on our buying list. The expo is a truly international event where I met with exhibitors from Austria, Canada and other western countries and learned about the latest green products and trends.”

Concurrent fairs create business synergies
Bringing together more than 3,100 exhibitors, the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition) and Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo attracted some 37,700 visitors and close to 11,000 buyers respectively, forming the world's largest lighting marketplace. Eco Expo Asia, jointly organised by the HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, featured over 300 exhibitors and attracted some 10,600 buyers.