Taiwan Pavilion making a blast at the 2018 Hong Kong Licensing Show
Source：Service Industry Promotion Section 2
From：Service Industry Promotion Section 2
Update Time：2018/01/10
Stunden’s IP “Sugar” was very popular among buyers.
To assist Taiwan's original IP characters explore international business opportunities, for the third straight year TAITRA, supported by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, organized a trade delegation to attend the Hong Kong International Licensing Show. The Trade show closed on January 10, 2018. A total of 60 exhibitors from Taiwan participated at this year’s event, marking Taiwan the second largest country, surpassing South Korea. All the participating Taiwanese exhibitors were satisfied with the outcome and said business results surpassed expectations.
TAITRA organized a Pavilion with 40 Taiwanese exhibitors exhibiting various character IP contents. During the 3 days exhibit, many professional buyers came to meet with Taiwanese exhibitors to seek cooperation. Such as Taiwan’s well-known watercolor pencil illustrator "Chrystal’s Illustration", a Hong Kong well-known drug store chain came to discuss possible cooperation of licensed products. Also, Chin Ho Li, who specializes in developing authorized gold painting of famous art works was also approached by many financial companies in making gold painting related gift products. Wind Designs’ WinBrothers was approached by China’s clothing companies seeking possibilities to develop a series of children’s clothing products. Inception’s "DINOLAB" and "Qianlong Chao" aroused the interest of many PR companies in Hong Kong in hope of introducing the IP to shopping malls for small exhibits.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture also gathered 10 startup companies to exhibit at this year’s licensing show. Taiwan Animation Industry Association and a few other Taiwanese companies also attended the event individually. A total of 60 exhibitors from Taiwan participated at this year’s event. TAITRA’s Taiwan Pavilion of 40 companies was the most impressive. During the exhibition, organizers of similar events from Japan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other places took the initiative to visit and invite TAITRA to organize similar trade delegations to participate at their exhibition. During the exhibition, TAITRA also planned two product presentations, inviting important media and related industry buyers to attend. The presentations give exhibitors a chance to exchange information with international buyers and the media and enhance international exposure.
According to the International Licensing Industry Association (LIMA), sales of licensed products remained stable in 2016, up 4.4% from 2015 and reached US $ 262.9 billion. Entertainment/cartoon category remains the largest in the industry, the retail sales amounted to 118.3 billion USD, accounting for 45% of the global licensing market. North America remains the world's largest market in the licensing industry, accounting for 57.9% of the global market. However, the Asia-Pacific licensing market is the fastest growing region in the world. The growth rate of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong combined is as high as 25%. Making it an important market for the licensing industry. TAITRA, supported by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, will continue to assist Taiwan's original IP companies to seek international opportunities in international licensing exhibitions such as Licensing Japan and the Shanghai International Licensing Show.
The 16th Hong Kong International Licensing Show is Asia’s largest event of its kind. The Show features over 860 brands and licensed items covering cartoon characters, animation, education, art, lifestyle, fashion, restaurant licensing. Together with the concurrent Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and Hong Kong International Stationery Fair, the four fairs bring more industry players and buyers. Top international licensors and licensing agents such as Capcom, Bandai Namco, Warner Bros, Sanrio, MTV, Dora, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Sponge Bob, Sesame Street, CAA-GBG Global Brands, IMG, LMCA, Global Icons are all here to look for more business opportunities. In recent years, the awareness of Character licensing in Taiwan has risen. Taiwanese creators are becoming more sophisticated in developing characters and stories. Through exhibiting at this Hong Kong licensing show, more potential opportunities for international cooperation can surly be achieved in the future.