H

ong Kong will come to Jakarta in a big way in the middle of September. The city, located just off mainland China, will host a week-long promotion of its fashion, jewellery and electronic products and services and try reaffirm to Indonesians its role as the best gateway into mainland China, the world'€™s second largest economy.

Labeled '€˜In Style Hong Kong'€™, the large-scale promotion will bring to the Jakarta Convention Center and the Grand Indonesia shopping mall more than 100 Hong Kong lifestyle brands. Some of these include fashion retailers such as G2000, Giordano, Bossini, Chow Tai Fook jewelleries, watchmakers such as Edwin Cosi Moda, Memorigin and Charles Hubert and electronics companies such as Goodway and Gold Peak.

This will be the largest economic promotion campaign Hong Kong has ever undertaken in Southeast Asia, propelled by the rationale that Indonesia is the largest economy in the ASEAN region, and the country is therefore an attractive market for Hong Kong businesses. This is the rationale that Raymond Yip, Deputy Director General of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) detailed to a group of Indonesian journalists last week.

'€œWe expect some 10,000 trade buyers, importers, distributors, retailers, brand agents, franchisees and specialists to visit the exhibition, the largest ever promotion we will make in Southeast Asia,'€ added Yip.

HKTDC is organizing the whole promotional program, which will also be attended by Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung.

Yip said that the Hong Kong Design Award Display, entitled '€˜Fame In Style'€™ and located at Grand Indonesia from September 14-20, would showcase a range of award-winning products in addition to '€˜Batik crossover'€™ collections by six designers, namely Lulu Cheung, Walter Kong and Jessica Lau, Walter Ma, Aries Sin, Harrison Wong and Cecilia Yau. The purpose of '€˜Fame In Style'€™ is to highlight Hong Kong'€™s creative and design power.

Yip said that as part of the promotion, HKTDC senior officials and business leaders would also hold a full-day symposium and services consultation and business-matching event at the main lobby of the Jakarta Convention Center on September 17.

According to HKTDC, Indonesia-Hong Kong trade ties amounted to US$5.1 billion in 2014 and Hong Kong was the 9th largest foreign investor in Indonesia, with $657 million of investment in 2014.

The symposium will brief Indonesian businesspeople on why and how Hong Kong, with a per capita income of over $42,000, has become the second largest private equity center in Asia, Asia'€™s second largest stock market, its third larget foreign exchange market and the third largest source of foreign direct investment in Asia, all in addition to being the most important entrance port to mainland China.

Business visitors also will receive comprehensive briefings on how they could benefit from using Hong Kong as a platform to make investments or enter the market in mainland China, particularly as the city is a new and emerging center of fashion design and creative enterprise. (vin)