The Mainland Of Hongkong Jointly Develops The International Garment Market

Asia's largest fashion show "Hongkong Fashion Festival 2009 autumn winter series" closed on 15 March.

Fashion festival attracted about 1400 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions, as well as over 7000 buyers from all over the world.

The garment enterprises in Hongkong and the mainland have attracted the attention of many international buyers with high quality products, and have won a large number of procurement contracts.

Amir, purchasing manager of Turkey's Baltic clothing chain store, told Xinhua after the signing of a procurement contract with a Wenzhou enterprise. The products in Hongkong and Mainland China are of good quality and relatively inexpensive, and are very popular in Turkey.

He said that the Hongkong clothing festival provided a good platform for international buyers.

Due to the impact of the financial tsunami and the sharp contraction of the consumption market in Europe and the United States, the export orders of many garment enterprises in Hongkong and the mainland have plummeted. Many exhibitors expect this year's situation to be more severe.

Therefore, keeping the old customers and developing new markets has become a top priority for many enterprises to deal with the crisis.

In order to help SMEs overcome the difficulties, Hongkong TDC has allocated HK $120 million to help SMEs promote sales, including inviting buyers from all over the world to come to Hong Kong for procurement.

In this fashion show, TDC has funded 1000 new buyers, including 70% from emerging markets, including UAE and Russia.

At the same time, the TDC has invited many mainland garment companies to participate in the exhibition. This not only gives the international buyers greater choice, but also enables mainland enterprises to use this platform to move towards the world.

At this fashion festival, the Wenzhou Pavilion in the Chinese mainland Pavilion is the largest, with a total of 33 exhibitors participating.

Chen Hongfeng, vice mayor of Wenzhou, said that in 2008, the export growth rate of Wenzhou clothing industry was affected by the financial tsunami. In response to the unfavorable export environment, the Wenzhou municipal government adopted measures to expand the market and ensure growth, and organized enterprises to attend various fairs. This time in Hong Kong, we hope to find more trading partners and contact more overseas buyers.

The study of Hongkong's TDC pointed out that despite the confusion of export prospects and the global outlook, many emerging markets can still provide export opportunities for Hong Kong businessmen, including Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Zhong Guobin, President of the Hongkong garment industry association, said that earlier, following the TDC's expedition to the Middle East, it was found that the purchasing power of the Middle East consumers was very strong. Local department stores had collected many brands, so there were still many opportunities in the light market, and manufacturers could explore new markets, such as the Middle East and Russia.

Zhang Jing, Ningbo Ge Linglan Clothing Industrial Co., Ltd., said that many buyers in Poland met with this exhibition. This is the first time that the company met with Poland buyers at the Hongkong exhibition. From the contact, they learned the requirements of the Poland consumers on clothing design, price and so on. This is helpful for the company to open up Poland market. After the exhibition, the cooperation intentions of Poland buyers will be carefully followed.

Yang Yongyi is the design director of a fashion design company in Hongkong. The company specializes in leisure apparel accessories such as scarves and handbags.

She expressed the hope that other regions, especially Taiwan and other places, could be opened through exhibitions.

"The first day of the exhibition touches on the buyers in Iran, hoping that the brand can really go so far."

Editor in charge: Yang Jing