(From left) IMC's Country Manager-Hong Kong and China, Jorge Oltra; General Manager, Albert Ventura and Head of Trade Related Services, Invest HK, Charles Ng, looking at the products designed by IMC

Spain's IMC Toys ("IMC") recently announced the opening of its new regional sourcing office in Hong Kong. The expanded Hong Kong operation will also be used as a regional office.

IMC's general manager Albert Ventura said the toy company sees Hong Kong as a strategically important location to co-ordinate international business activities in the toy sector.

"Hong Kong is known as the toy capital of the world, conveniently located next to the Chinese mainland factories and offering flexibility, unparallel logistics & banking services, transparent rule of law and skilled English-speaking workforce. If you are in the toy business, you have to be in Hong Kong."

Founded in Spain in the early 80s, IMC provides product design, sourcing and production of toys for clients around the world. In 2001, the company established an international marketing office in Hong Kong. Given the exponential growth in business in recent years, the company has decided to strengthen its presence in this region by expanding its Hong Kong office into its regional sourcing centre.

The larger Hong Kong office, with 20 staff, offers quality service to its customers and manages all international sales, and supervises the manufacturing of products. According to Felipe Almirall, R&D director of IMC, the company plans to hire more staff in 2006.

The new regional office in Hong Kong will work closely with other IMC commercial offices around the world, including the UK, Portugal and, soon, France.

Speaking about future developments in Hong Kong, Jorge Oltra, IMC's newly appointed country manager for Hong Kong & China, said: "As long as China offers competitive manufacturing and the toy business gravitates around Hong Kong, we will continue investing in Hong Kong according to the business needs."

The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong,  Simon Galpin, said the city "creates great opportunities for international toy companies like IMC - to enjoy convenient access to the manufacturing facilities in the mainland and also tap the expertise from experienced management and logistics talent in Hong Kong."
 
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