"Hong Kong Licensing Awards 2020 cum Asian Licensing Awards 2020 Online Awards Presentation Ceremony" Successfully Held

HONG KONG,March 4,2021 -- The Asian Licensing Association (ALA)was delighted to host the joint online Presentation Ceremony on 26th February2021 for its Hong Kong Licensing Awards (HKLA 2020) and Asian Licensing Awards (ALA 2020).ALAwas honoured to welcome Dr. Bernard Chan,JP,Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development,the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as our Guest of Honour. (Please check the full version of the online Award Presentation Ceremony here：https://fb.watch/3UjOMuSUSd/)

Dr. Toby Chan (right) The Chairman,and Mr. Tim Kondo (left),Director of Asia Licensing Association,and Mika of Cataholic Wonderland,Gold Award winner of 2020 Hong Kong Licensing Award Best New Character Design

As a grand annual event since 2015,the joint Award Presentation Ceremony recognises the outstanding achievements of practitioners in the licensing and creative industries over the past year,encouraging and nurturing further development in both Hong Kong and Asia as a whole. Dr. Bernard Chan will congratulate 20 winners of both HKLA 2020 and ALA 2020.

This was the sixth occasion of the Asia Licensing Association,the one and only award scheme dedicated to the creative licensing industry,and was sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the HKSAR Government.

The Association provides a unique platform for international licensors,licensees,agents and manufacturers to get together and share industry insights,further facilitating the growth of local creative sectors. It enables the expansion of business networks and enhances market exposure. As a result the local market has witnessed strong growth in both licensing and creative industries,ever broadening in scale and scope of operation.

The global licensing industry has been booming in recent years,with the markets for licensed merchandise in Hong Kong,the Mainland and across Asia seeing especially strong growth. Through the robust collaboration between the trade and local government,the Hong Kong creative industry in particular,is blossoming internationally. It benefits from a number of competitive advantages including a comprehensive legal system on the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights,a solid reputation for respecting contracts,advanced distribution networks,etc. Such advantages have acted as a magnet,attracting increasing numbers of quality licensing professionals and famous properties to develop their business in our city.

Despite,or perhaps due to,the measures taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic,the E-commerce market has grown rapidly amid today's general global economic downturn,resulting in tremendous business opportunities in the licensing and creative industries.

In spite of the pandemic,the HKLA 2020 was encouraged to have received more than 100 applications for the awards in the five award categories,namely the Best Hong Kong Property Award,the Best Licensee Award,the Best Promotion Campaign Award,the Best Hong Kong Young Property Award and the Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award. The Gold Award winners are listed below (please refer to Annex 1 for the full list):

Award

Gold Award Winner

Licensing Property

Best Licensee Award

Daniel & Co. (Gifts) Limited

Sanrio Characters

Best Promotion Campaign Award

Tuen Mun Town Plaza

tmtplaza - Hello Kitty x Müllerchen Christmas Encounter in Apple Forest

Best Hong Kong Property Award

Kennyswork Co. Ltd.

Molly

Best Hong Kong Young Property Award

Masterbot Group Ltd

Nick The Robot

Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award

Kiki Cheng

Cataholic Wonderland

The Association was delighted by the overwhelming response,and the high quality of the awardees. It was also pleased with the result of the training programs offered under the project,nurturing the talent of local designers,new IP holders and other stakeholders in the licensing industry. On the occasion,the two training programs — design of a style guide and sales pitching techniques for licensing— were commenced online on 1sh August and 10th October 2020 respectively. Happily,due to the excellent results of previous programs,even more experienced practitioners were invited as instructors this year. And the record number of trainees was also encouraged and showed the significance and value of these training programs.

The online Presentation Ceremony of the ALA 2020,recognising the exceptional achievements of licensing practitioners throughout Asia,also comprised five award categories,namely the Best Promotion Campaign,the Best Property in Asia,the Best Licensee,the Best Young Property and the Best Asian Property (please refer to Annex 2 for the full list of awardees).

Except for the Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award,the winners of the Gold Award were nominated to compete for the Asian Licensing Awards 2020.

For further information on the Hong Kong Licensing Awards 2020 and the Asian Licensing Awards 2020,please visit: www.hklicensingawards.hk

About Hong Kong Licensing Awards

The annual Hong Kong Licensing Awards (HKLA) have been held six times now,since 2015. There are five award categories in the HKLA 2020,the Best Hong Kong Young Property Award,as well as the Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award. These awards recognise the outstanding achievements of the practitioners in the relevant industries and promote Hong Kong's creative industries. With a view to nurturing new talent in character design and promoting local original designs,the Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award is dedicated to Hong Kong designers with less than nine years of design-related working experience,and their application of new character designs must have never been commercially licensed.

About Asian Licensing Association (www.ala.org.hk)

The mission of Asian Licensing Association (the Association) is to foster the growth and expansion of the licensing,creative and innovative industries by sharing the experience and professional knowledge of the industry practitioners. The Association aims to cooperate with the HKSAR Government,the other governments in Asia and other statutory bodies to assist the licensing,creative and innovative companies,thus enhancing the overall business environment and competitiveness of Hong Kong. The Association also aims to provide guidance to the industry practitioners for making win-win decisions which are favourable to both their members and the general public. The goal of the Association is to establish Hong Kong as the Asian hub for licensing,creativity and innovation.

About Create Hong Kong (www.createhk.gov.hk)

Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated agency set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in June 2009. It is under the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and dedicated to spearheading the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups,exploring markets,and promoting Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital,and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK sponsors the HKLA since 2015 to encourage Hong Kong creative industries to explore business opportunities through licensing.

Annex 1

"Hong Kong Licensing Awards 2020" Awardees

Best Licensee Award (Note 1)

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Gold

Daniel & Co. (Gifts) Limited

Sanrio Characters

Merit

MRM Entertainment Limited

MONOPOLY DREAMS™ Hong Kong

Merit

Longwise Inc. Limited

Van Gogh Senses

Best Hong Kong Property Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Gold

Kennyswork Co. Ltd.

Molly

Silver

SHIBAINC LIMITED

SHIBAINC

Bronze

Chiilaku Limited

Squly & Friends

Best Promotion Campaign Award (Note 1)

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Gold

Tuen Mun Town Plaza

tmtplaza - Hello Kitty x Müllerchen Christmas Encounter in Apple Forest

Merit

Swire Properties Management Limited

(Cityplaza Hong Kong)

LINE FRIENDS Merry Go Park @ Cityplaza

Merit

Citywalk

Citywalk x TO-FU OYAKO Christmas Gift Planet

Best Hong Kong Young Property Award (Note 2)

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Gold

Masterbot Group Ltd

Nick The Robot

Silver

ISATISSE STUDIO

THE EYE BAG GIRL ABEL

Silver

Vanch (International) Technology Company Limited

Vanch Card

Best Hong Kong New Character Design for Licensing Award

Winning Designer

Character for Licensing

Gold

Kiki Cheng

Cataholic Wonderland

Silver

Kwok Yuen Mui

Fruity bb

Bronze

Loraine Pun

Labbit Friends

Note 1: No Silver and Bronze Awards for this category

Note 2: Double Silver and no Bronze

Annex 2

"Asian Licensing Awards 2020" Awardees

Best Licensee Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Shanghai MILKGROUND Food Tech Co.,Ltd.

PAW Patrol

Best Asian Property Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

SMARTSTUDY Co.,Ltd.

Pinkfong,Pinkfong Baby Shark

Best Young Property in Asia Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Aniplex Inc.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Best Property in Asia Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

San-X Co.,Ltd.

Sumikkogurashi

Best Promotion Campaign Award

Winning Company

Property for Licensing

Tuen Mun Town Plaza

tmtplaza - Hello Kitty x Müllerchen Christmas Encounter in Apple Forest