The Business Matching service of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) helped one company boost its established business and was instrumental in helping it start a related enterprise.

The sake market in Hong Kong hardly existed when Manabu Kiyama arrived in Hong Kong from his Japanese home of Niigata. Recognising a business opportunity, Mr Kiyama established The Sake Shop eight years ago, offering a variety of sakes to the Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese mainland markets.

Mr Kiyama then decided to import the very best Japanese rice to Hong Kong and, from there, into the Chinese mainland - the largest rice market on the planet. He struggled, however, to find premium Japanese rice suppliers. "Last year, I began talking to Japanese rice farmers referred by my sake suppliers, but they are very conservative and risk-averse."

Mr Kiyama was then approached by the HKTDC's Business Matching service, which was hosting a delegation of Japanese food suppliers investigating opportunities in Hong Kong. This meeting proved instrumental in turning his vision into a business.

"The HKTDC's business matching specialists introduced me to a rice farmer from my home town of Niigata," Mr Kiyama said. "We reached a consensus in just our first meeting. I was impressed by the HKTDC's extensive business network and its ability to match the interests and requirements of both sides precisely."

There was another welcome surprise for Mr Kiyama. Through Business Matching, he found a sake brewer from Hiroshima, a region he had previously overlooked. "Without the HKTDC, I would have had no chance of connecting with this supplier," Mr Kiyama said.

Reprinted from Next Magazine, Hong Kong, July 2008.