HONG KONG : The COVID-19 pandemic has led to physical exhibitions around the world being cancelled or postponed. However, despite this impediment to economic activity, sourcing demand has continued to grow. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) acted swiftly to change its strategy at the onset of the pandemic, actively developing new business channels and services. The HKTDC’s most recent online exhibition has concluded successfully, laying the foundation for a future hybrid model that combines physical and online trade fairs.
In view of the pandemic, nine of the HKTDC’s planned physical exhibitions (see below) were migrated to an online exhibition, Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE. The exhibition employed innovative online solutions which combined key elements of business matching from physical fairs to facilitate business discussions between buyers and exhibitors.
Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, said: “The uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic have led more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to focus on online promotions and operations, which has quickly become the ‘new normal’ for conducting business. Given that the pandemic has prevented buyers and exhibitors from meeting in person, the HKTDC has introduced online business matching to enable networking and deal-making.”
Click2Match, the business matching platform employed at Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE, used big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically match exhibitors with prospective buyers, enabling both parties to forge closer business connections. The HKTDC also leveraged the strong business networks of its 50 global offices and the support of its Hong Kong team to offer real-time assistance to buyers and exhibitors, enhancing their confidence and readiness to discuss business online. The expertise of HKTDC colleagues combined with sophisticated technologies led to a successful outcome, with more than 4,500 video meetings arranged. (ACN Newswire)
