Mrs. Carrie Lam, Secretary for Development, Officiated Opening of MIPIM Asia 2011

HONG KONG, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MIPIM Asia 2011 was officially opened for all registered participants and media today by Mrs. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Secretary for Development of the HKSAR Government at the Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition Centre. Mrs. Lam has presented her major development plan for Hong Kong as her officiating speech. She said, "I am delighted to be at MIPIM Asia again, where you will see signs of business potential everywhere. This year the Development Bureau has built an impressive Hong Kong Pavilion with green building as its design theme, which represents our objective to develop for a better future. We have been talking about developing Kowloon East into our next Central Business District. Roughly speaking, the district will offer a total of 54,000 sq.ft. of commercial space for Grade A office buildings and we will be shopping for opportunities at MIPIM Asia 2011 as well for co-development projects."

The opening was followed by a VIP tour inside the exhibition hall with the Hong Kong Pavilion as the major highlight of the tour. Showcasing Hong Kong as a green city, the Pavilion drew the attention of many participants and fully demonstrated Hong Kong's development potential for the future.

Mr. Paul Zilk, Chief Executive Officer of Reed MIDEM, organizer of MIPIM Asia, said, "MIPIM Asia 2011 features over 1,800 delegates from 40 countries. We are proud to see the reach of MIPIM Asia extending to major retailers in the market with them showcasing their brands in Asia and actively looking for expansion opportunities."

Beside the Opening Ceremony today also featured numerous conferences. Highlights included:

Conference on "Unlock the Orient: Investing in China" - Mr. Xu Ruqing, Vice President Shanghai, Huangpu River Banks Development Construction: China policies currently focus mainly on macro-control measures to regulate economic growth among different tiers of cities. The Chinese Government is exercising more stringent control over residential than commercial markets. In the long run, the market expects the government to lessen its control over the property market to facilitate the business environment for industry players.

Conference on "East to West Investments: risks, opportunities & returns" - Minister Dr. Christina Y. Liu, Council for Economic Planning and Development, Executive Yuan, Republic of China: There are over 500 flights every week between Taipei and Shanghai and this demonstrates the booming tourism need between these two cities. Last year, over 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Taiwan. Minister Liu encouraged investors looking for opportunities in Taiwan to focus on tourism-related industries to benefit from high growth.

Conference on "South East Asia: Opportunities in developing versus matured REIT markets" - Dr. Peter Hobbs, Senior Director, IPD: Currently the asset value of the global REIT market totalled to approximately USD170,000,000,000, with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong respectively representing 43.6%, 23.8%, 17% and 10%. The market has slowed down since 2008 but is slightly recovering. Among all the major markets, Hong Kong is the fastest growing city.

Conference on "Asia's World City: Hong Kong" - Mr Jimmy Leung, Director of Planning of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: The HKSAR Government will focus on development of a second Central Business District at the West Kowloon area to develop it into a major commercial and also recreational hub. Mr Lo King Wai, General manager, office leasing, Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency: West Kowloon is already a very good showcase that offers enough confidence for developers to carry on with their future development projects. But crucial factors that control the success of a new Central Business District will be sufficient transport network, Food & Beverage services, and shopping mall facilities.

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Notes for editors

Founded in 1963, Reed MIDEM is a leading organiser of professional, international tradeshows. Reed MIDEM events have established themselves as key dates in professional diaries.

The company hosts MIPTV, MIPDOC, MIPCOM, and MIPJUNIOR for the television and digital content industries, MIDEM for music professionals, MIPIM, MIPIM Asia and MAPIC for the property and retail real estate sectors.

Reed MIDEM belongs to Reed Exhibitions, which is the world's leading event organiser, with over 460 events held in 36 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 34 fully staffed offices. MIPIM Asia® is a registered trademark, all rights reserved.

SOURCE Reed MIDEM