Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) Monday announced a fresh proposal to expand the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center within the existing foot print and without sea reclamation.

TDC Executive Director Fred Lam said that the proposal, which TDC submitted last week to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, would enable Hong Kong's mega fairs to grow to the biggest in the world.

The council plans to rebuild the Atrum link connecting Phase I and Phase II of the exhibition center, creating an additional 19,400 square meters of the dedicated exhibition center.

The rebuilding project is expected to start in 2006 and complete in 2009 with an investment of 1.2 billion HK dollars (153 million US dollars).

The additional space, equivalent to 1,000 more standard exhibitor booths, is an essential medium-term solution to the growing space demands of Hong Kong's largest fairs, said Lam.

He said, for Hong Kong's most popular fairs, lack of space keeps thousands of exhibitors on waiting lists.

Lam pledged "no sea reclamation, no burden on taxpayers, no adverse impact on traffic in the area and minimal architectural impact on the landmark exhibition center.

To alleviate waiting lists in the interim, TDC has applied to the government to rent the Tamar site for the busy April and October months from 2005 until the completion of the exhibition center expansion.

Source: Xinhua