Striding into its 7th year, Asia Expo – London has again outdone its record this spring. Held on 30 January – 2 February 2007 at the Grand Hall of Olympia Exhibition Centre in London, the exclusive Asian trade event registered a record attendance of 10,161 visitors – a whopping of 18% compared to the figure in 2006. The organiser was up-spirited with the robust result and concluded this year's fair as "a big success".

The great success stemmed from the show's unique theme. As introduced by Mr. Duncan Cheung, the managing director of the organiser, "The exhibition does not only provide international buyers a direct sourcing platform for Asian-made products in Europe, it also gives Asian suppliers an instant access to the huge Western European market."

Mr. Herbert Ip, the chairman of Kenfair International, added that the purposeful timing has been another winning factor. "February has long been a premier sourcing season for European buyers. There are a number of major trade exhibitions held across a number of European countries like the U.K., Germany, Italy and France. Thus the 'Asia Expo – London', which runs in early February each year, fits in perfectly with the marketing and sourcing schedules of manufacturers and buyers."

Asia Expo – London was swift to gain recognition in the exhibition industry. Since 2003, the fair has been honoured as one of the "UFI-Approved" events by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Over the years, the highly acclaimed trade fair has kept growing from strength to strength in terms of its scale and scope of exhibiting categories.

This year's Asia Expo - London was extended to a longer span of four days to cater for the great demand of European buyers. As seen at the fairground, the 631 exhibiting stands were filled with great supplies of new and innovative toys, gifts, premium, fashion jewellery and houseware products. The dazzling range of exhibits included advertising and promotional premium, arts and crafts, bags, bathroom and bedroom accessories, beauty and healthcare products, ceramics and porcelain, consumer electronics, festival and party accessories, gifts, houseware, kitchenware, packaging and paper products, photo and picture games, stationery, timepieces, fashion jewellery, toys and games, umbrellas and wickerwork, etc.

The mega choices of exhibits had been the drawing card of many regular visitors. Marcello Monge from an importing company in Italy, Gruppo Team Service, remarked, "My company imports gifts & premium, houseware, toys and watches & clocks from China, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan. This Asia Expo-London is exactly what I want, with all of those latest offers put under one roof. I'm happy with the great services provided by the organiser and even more impressed with the huge variety of exhibits! My target sourcing is all done here!"

The 7-year-old show has been enjoying a great popularity among the trade, indicated by the comment of Ari Kahn, the managing director of Elkay International in Israel: "A friend of mine recommended me about this show. He said I could source all the Asian gifts, houseware and watches & clocks under one roof here. Now seeing the wide array of quality Asian supplies, I'm convinced. I also appreciate the nice environment and atmosphere for business trading here."

Aside from repeat visitors, many new comers were lured to make their first time visit, like Rochelle Roman, the director of Livity Marketing & Promotions in the U.K. "We are the specialist for marketing and promotions in the UK. The advertisement on the metro newspaper drew our attention and we decided to take a look here. The exhibits here are very good indeed. We've found quality gifts, premium and watches & clocks. What's more, they are all at reasonable prices which fit our budget. We'll be back!"

Welcoming these enthusiastic international buyers were exhibitors from 13 Asian countries and regions. Hong Kong exhibitors took up the largest contingent in 246 booths. China came second with 159 exhibitors in 180 booths. Taiwan followed with 162 booths. The show also had exhibitors coming from many other Southeast Asian countries, such as India, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Exhibitors were pleased with the show results. Buyer traffic was satisfactory to most exhibitors and many of them were able to generate rewarding business negotiations during the show period. Nancy Chung of Inspire Jewellery Company Limited was excited to report her good business at the show. "We've been very busy these two days! This is our second time participation in this London fair. Our wide range of fashion jewellery, including necklaces, earrings, pendants, brooches, bracelets, rings, etc. continued to make a great appeal at the show. I think we will wrap up with even much more business orders this year. For sure, we will come back next year."

First-time exhibitor, S.K. Li of Para Printing (H.K.) Ltd. from Hong Kong also echoed highly positive comment, "This is our first time presence in this London show. We want to recruit more European buyers. The venue is very nice and special. So far, the show has exceeded our expectation. We find the buyers here are of good quality. I'm also happy with the management and various services provided by the organiser. All help facilitate a good business environment for us. We will be back next year."

The next edition of Asia Expo – London is scheduled on 29 January – 1 February 2008 at the Grand Hall, Olympia Exhibition Centre in London with more top-notch Asian supplies. Keep an eye on Kenfair's official website www.kenfair.com to stay updated with the 8th Asia Expo - London.