APLF could double up, with separate Hong Kong and Dubai shows
The APLF exhibition opened in Dubai on March 30, the first time in three years that the organisers have been able to stage the event.
Hong Kong has always been the venue for the exhibition, but ongoing strict controls on travel there, owing to the covid-19 pandemic, mean Dubai was “the best venue for the restart of APLF” after such a long absence, said David Bondi, senior vice-president for event organiser Informa Markets Asia.
Speaking at a press conference on the opening day, Mr Bondi said: “As an international trade hub, strategically located between Europe and Asia, Dubai is the best venue.”
He explained that, with travel still “almost impossible” for leather buyers based in China, APLF aimed to attract buyers from “other regions in closer proximity” to Dubai.
He then said: “When APLF returns to Hong Kong cannot be determined until there is a clear change in the zero-covid policies of the governments in Beijing and Hong Kong. But, one day, APLF will return to Hong Kong. We would be in Hong Kong now if times were normal, but they are not normal; we cannot trade in Hong Kong at the moment.”
He made it clear that after the event in Dubai, the organisers would “listen to the industry”.
If the industry is happy with the event in Dubai and the visitors it attracts, more than half of whom have come from important markets such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Mr Bondi said there was a possibility of offering “a second APLF event in Dubai” in addition to the show in Hong Kong. “If the industry wants it, we will do it,” he insisted.
Image shows David Bondi (centre) with APLF event director Grace Lee and director of joint venture partner SIC, Frank Boehly.
