Organisers of the upcoming APLF Hong Kong fair held a press conference in Milan on September 20, highlighting their confidence ahead of the event, reports ILM.

APLF Ltd focused on several factors that they believe will ensure success at the event, which will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from March 19-21, 2024.

Firstly, a strong performance at the returning ACLE show in Shanghai this year, where visitors numbers were up by 20% over the previous show in 2019 to more than 28,000, is a strong indicator. It will be a notable five-year absence for the Hong Kong show in 2024.

Meanwhile, the strong reputation of APLF Hong Kong as a key industry destination brings the organisers confidence, alongside the benefit of Hong Kong as a destination.

APLF noted that the following national pavilions are confirmed: Australia, Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.S. Spain, Germany, Mexico, Portugal and Thailand will have exhibitors join individually.

The 2024 fair will also feature a larger leather exhibition hall, now occupying the entirety of Level 3 of the HKCEC (previously in level 1).

APLF Director, Grace Lee also told ILM that since the last edition in 2019 a new metro station had been built next to the exhibition centre with the line linking directly to Kowloon and into mainland China. “This should make it even easier for visitors to attend the fair”, she said.