The Mira Hong Kong hosts iftar together with Miramar Travel and the Turkiye Consulate

The Mira Hong Kong has hosted its 2nd-ever annual Ramadan Iftar Dinner on 26 February, reinforcing the city's efforts to position itself as a Muslim‑friendly destination and a regional hub for culturally inclusive hospitality. Building on the inaugural iftar hosted last year — the first of its kind staged by a luxury hotel in Asia's World City - the event was jointly organised with the Consulate General of Türkiye in Hong Kong and Miramar Travel.

Source: The Mira Hong Kong. VIPs gathered on stage at the 2026 Ramadan Iftar Dinner at The Mira including 12 Consuls General plus event co-hosts: Consul General of Türkiye in Hong Kong Kerim Sercan Evcin (front middle), GM of Miramar Travel Alex Lee (middle left), and Head of Hotels & Serviced Apartments of the Miramar Group, Alexander Wassermann (middle right). Consuls General in attendance are from Muslim‑majority nations across the Middle East and Asia, representing Egypt, Kuwait, KSA, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Romania and Poland.

Hong Kong's Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Cheuk Wing Hing said: "We are committed to further promoting Muslim tourism and facilitating halal certification, as outlined in the Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address. Our goal is clear: to enhance Muslim-friendly services for our residents, and to position Hong Kong as a welcoming destination for Muslim visitors from around the world. Through sustained collaboration, we can strengthen Hong Kong's reputation as a vibrant, inclusive city and enrich its cultural tapestry with diversity." 

Alexander Wassermann, Head of Hotels & Serviced Apartments, Miramar Group, said: "It is a meaningful honour for The Mira Hong Kong to host a Ramadan Iftar Dinner once again as a continued commitment to providing a unique platform where cultures connect through hospitality, respect and shared experiences. This annual celebration not only honours the spirit of Ramadhan but also underscores The Mira's leadership in forging Muslim-friendly hospitality. 

"Leveraging on the prime location neighbouring with the Kowloon Mosque, and offering broad range of services ranging from halal Cantonese fine dining, halal wedding banquets to halal coffee breaks for meetings and events, our design-led, tech-forward property named Muslim Friendly Hotel of the Year by CrescentRating, continues to align our guest experience in newly-refurbished guest rooms with Global Muslim Travel Index identified trends so that The Mira Hong Kong remains a destination hotel of choice for Muslim leisure and corporate travellers, and a benchmark for inclusive hospitality in our city."

Influential Asian seafood event returns to Hong Kong for 8th time

This year's Seafood Expo Asia will feature new country pavilions and a redesigned product showcase to show off the best of seafood products, services and equipment from around the world.

The trade event, produced by Diversified Communications, builds on last year's success. In 2016, Seafood Expo Asia attracted more than 8,800 seafood professionals from 69 countries. Newcomers for 2017 include international pavilions from South Korea and China joining new exhibiting countries like the Maldives.

Seafood Expo Asia attendees will have the opportunity to participate in the new and enhanced conference programme covering topics such as Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the seafood industry, traceability and authentication, consumer trends, aquaculture, and a workshop on sustainability and certification. 

The Seafood Expo Asia Product Showcase will be presented in a new market-style setting this year to provide exhibitors from around the world with an effective way to introduce their brands to the market and buyers to new purchasing ideas.

According to the World Bank, the Asia Pacific region will account for 70% of global fish consumption by 2030. "With consumer demand for seafood at a record high, international buyers and decision makers representing retailers, supermarkets, importers, hotels, restaurants, chefs, catering services, wholesalers and distributors will gain valuable insight into new product innovations, best practices and emerging trends affecting the industry in the Asian market," says Event Director Iris Kwan.

"Forming relationships with customers in this part of the world is vital for global seafood producers and suppliers when one considers that seafood consumption is projected for considerable growth across the entire region."

Registered buyers attending the event include Aeon Big (Malaysia), Aeon Stores (Hong Kong), City Super (Hong Kong), Colruyt Group (Hong Kong), ITM Alimentaires International (Thailand), Metro Food Sourcing APAC (Hong Kong), MGM Macau, ParknShop (Hong Kong), Sodexo Service Asia (Singapore), Tesco Stores (Malaysia), and Walmart China.

Interested?

Seafood Expo Asia returns to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from September 5-7, 2017.

Watch the video about the benefits of exhibiting at Seafood Expo Asia

posted from Bloggeroid

Hong Kong government lists US$1 billion sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

Nasdaq Dubai has welcomed the listing of a US$1 billion sukuk issued by the government of Hong Kong on March 1, 2017.

It brings the total value of Hong Kong government-issued sukuk listed on the Middle East’s international financial exchange to US$3 billion following two listings of US$1 billion each in 2014 and 2015.

The new listing strengthens Dubai’s position as the world’s largest venue for sukuk listings by value, raising the total listed in the Emirate to US$48.81 billion. The listings are from a wide range of government, multilateral and corporate issuers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and East Asia.

Hong Kong International Tea Fair to return in August 2017

Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the Hong Kong International Tea Fair takes place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 17 to 19 August 2017, offering a wide range of tea leaves, processed tea and tea products, tea packaging, teaware, tea technology and other tea-related products to buyers from all over the world.

Interested?

Preregister for the 2017 event. Overseas trade visitors may visit free if they preregister by July, while domestic trade visitors can enjoy free access if they pregister by 3 August 2017.

View the results for the 2016 tea competition

HK expects to issue third sukuk to finance AA projects

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, John C Tsang, unveiled the 2016-17 Budget on February 24, saying that the city should act swiftly to identify new development opportunities as a result of a new economic order .

The government will strengthen Hong Kong's commercial connectivity to maintain the city's position as an aviation and maritime centre and support the development of high value-added logistics services. The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) is pressing ahead with the implementation of the three-runway system.

The government will strengthen efforts to highlight Hong Kong's edge in developing green financial products and the AA will explore the feasibility of financing through green bonds. Following the success of the two sukuk issuances over the past two years, the government plans to issue a third sukuk in a timely manner, Tsang said.

Randstad Technologies' Maggie Li, Associate Director for Banking & Financial Services, said: “Ranging from the push for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market, profits tax exemption initiatives, further plans to issue sukuk, to the new Hong Kong Monetary Authority office to finance projects on the back of the One Belt One Road strategy, the financial services sector is set to benefit from the Government’s initiatives and see growth in various areas such as corporate treasury.”

Event organiser of Seafood Expo Asia warns of scammers pretending to be associated with its shows

Source: Seafood Expo Asia website.

Organisers of Seafood Expo Asia are warning potential exhibitors of scammers approaching them for various exhibition-related projects such as paid directory listings. Victims may be locked into an automatically-renewed three-year contract for US$1,700 or more annually, they said.

Diversified Business Communications said that companies may claim to be associated with its events, which include Seafood Expo Asia and SPAR Japan, and offer to list an exhibitor in an exhibitor directory or a business guide, for example FAIRGuide, Expo-Guide, Construct Data Verlag, World Business Directory or World Business Guide. Other services may include travel arrangements and hotel rooms. 

The companies behind such projects are not associated in any fashion with Diversified Business Communications or any of our trade show events, the event organiser said online, providing an example of what the fraudulent solicitation can look like. "If you have participated in any of our exhibitions in previous years, or are due to participate in any of our events this year you are likely to be targeted," Diversified Business Communications stated on a web page warning of the scams. "Most of these companies are not official vendors for the expo and some are from non-existent companies."

The company went on to recommend contacts for unsolicited communications from possible scammers for US and EU businesses, but did not list any organisations for the Asia Pacific region. In cases such as these making a police report or going to a cyber security government agency within the country would be likely avenues to pursue.

Seafood Expo Asia, formerly the Asian Seafood Exposition, will return to Hong Kong from 6 to 8 September 2016. Over three days, seafood buyers can connect with exhibitors offering a variety of live, fresh, frozen and value-added seafood products and seafood-related services and equipment.

Interested?

Register

Refer to the official list of vendors for Seafood Expo Asia 

Check with Diversified Business Communications' customer service department about unofficial vendors at: +1 207 842 5504 or email customerservice at divcom.com.

Read the Suroor Asia blog post about a possible scam event site

Natural & Organic Products Asia returns to Hong Kong for second year

Source: NOPA website.

After a successful 2014 launch, Natural & Organic Products Asia (NOPA) will again offer visitors an exhibition floor dedicated to the contemporary healthy lifestyle. NOPA2015 is the place to source quality natural and organic foods in Asia, say organisers Diversified Communications Hong Kong. 

This year's NOPA is expected to host over 8,000 visitors at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is expected to feature natural and organic food, cosmetics products and other related services from around 200 exhibitors. More than 1,000 brands from over 50 countries will be present at the three-day exhibition. A number of new products are will be launched during the event, which runs from August 26 to 28:

SuperGreen pH Superfood 

A concentrated alkalising powder that provides naturally occurring green pigments from 24 sources of greens, flaxseed meal and alkalising ingredients to regulate the internal pH. 

Organic bean pasta 

An organic and gluten-free bean pasta made of soybean, black bean, adzuki and mung bean, the pasta is high-protein and low-fat.

Coconut mayonnaise 

HealthSource International's NUCO Coconut Mayonnaise contains 100% pure coconut oil with organic cage-free eggs and organic vinegar. 

Nesugar syrup 

A light syrup composed of equal parts of glucose and fructose, Nesugar produced from all-natural cane sugar through a proprietary enzymatic process. Health Factor Foods will display the Organic Lil Shuga, Hey Shuga and Pancake Shuga varieties of Nesugar, which is sweeter, moister and less prone to crystallisation than traditional sugar. 

Organic Shangrila white tea 

This tea is honey sweet and has a strong floral aroma, followed by a grassy finish. Research indicates white tea may have power against some cancers. 

 
Biotta Breuss juice 

This beverage is German, and consists of a blend of organic vegetables.

Stevianna health drinks 

Naturally-sweetened drinks using organic Rebaudioside-A 98% stevia extracts.

Buckwheat organic snack 

These snacks are gluten free, raw, vegan and are made with prebiotics and probiotics. Naturally low in sugar and fat, they are also excellent sources of fibre and magnesium.

Interested?

Register for a free trade only pass

Seafood Expo Asia to be held in September 2015

Source: Seafood Expo Asia website.

Seafood Expo Asia returns to Hong Kong next year from 8 to 10 September 2015. The trade event brings buyers and suppliers of seafood from around the world together at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wanchai, Hong Kong. 

The exposition is produced by Diversified Communications and is co-located with Restaurant & Bar Hong Kong.The 2014 event saw 10.4% growth in exhibit space from 2013, with over 8,600 seafood professionals visiting the 200-plus exhibiting companies.

Registration is not yet open, but those interested can leave their contact details to receive an email when registration begins here.

Hong Kong reports a successful first sukuk offering

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China have announced a successful sukuk offering under the Government Bond Programme. The news came from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which acts as the HKSAR Government’s representative in the sukuk offering under the Government Bond Programme. The primary objective of the Government Bond Programme is to promote the further and sustainable development of the local bond market. 

The sukuk was priced on 10 September 2014 at 2.005% (23 basis points over five-year US Treasuries, and saw strong demand from global investors, attracting orders exceeding US$4.7 billion and recording oversubscription of 4.7 times, allowing final pricing to tighten by 7 basis points from its initial price guidance. 

Pricing at a spread of 23 basis points over the corresponding yield of US Treasuries represents the tightest spread ever achieved on a benchmark US-dollar issuance from an Asian (ex-Japan) government, setting an important new benchmark for Hong Kong and the rest of Asia.

The deal attracted interest from a diverse group of conventional and Islamic investors. The sukuk was allocated to over 120 global institutional investors, with 36% of the sukuk distributed to the Middle East, 47% to Asia, 6% to Europe and 11% to the US. By investor type, 11% was distributed to fund managers, 56% to banks and private banks, 30% to sovereign wealth funds, central banks and supranationals, and 3% to insurance companies.

“We are pleased to see such strong demand for the HKSAR government’s inaugural sukuk, as evidenced by the significant orderbook size and tight pricing. The Sukuk marks the first US-dollar sukuk originated by an AAA-rated government in the global Islamic financial market and signifies an important milestone in the development of the Islamic capital market in Hong Kong,” said John Tsang, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong.

Tsang added, “The success of this transaction demonstrates that issuance of sukuk using Hong Kong’s platform is a viable fund-raising option and widely accepted by investors around the world. I hope that the Sukuk issuance will catalyse the further growth of the sukuk market in Hong Kong by encouraging more issuers and investors to participate in our market.”

The Sukuk issuance comes after the legislative changes made in Hong Kong in July 2013, which provide a taxation framework for sukuk issuances comparable to that for issuances of conventional bonds.

The strong investor demand for the sukuk is a testament of investor confidence in Hong Kong’s credit strengths and strong economic fundamentals. The sukuk was assigned credit ratings of AAA by Standard and Poor’s and Aa1 by Moody’s.

The sukuk uses an ijarah structure, underpinned by selected units in two commercial properties in Hong Kong. The sukuk is issued by a special purpose vehicle, Hong Kong Sukuk 2014, established and wholly owned by the HKSAR Government. The sukuk is expected to be settled on 18 September 2014 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Bursa Malaysia (Exempt Regime) and NASDAQ Dubai.