By Greggy Eugenio/PNA
SHANGHAI, China — The Philippines has showcased the country’s trade, tourism and investment sectors in the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) in the National Exhibition Convention Center on Tuesday here.
Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, who led the opening of the national pavilion, said there are more than 100 foreign trade buyers participating in the CIIE.
“With such a big potential market, several countries compete against each other to obtain even a small space in China’s growing trade activities, such as this exposition. The Philippines is very fortunate to be provided a space in this very in-demand expo,” Lopez said.
The country’s entry is a 136-square meter national pavilion, bannered by the theme “Partner Philippines: Building Value Together,” showcases the country’s initiatives in trade, investment, and tourism.
It features 10 partner government agencies and companies as well as 11 universities. These universities seek to promote their undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as English as a Second Language (ESL).
According to Lopez, China is the top trading partner of the Philippines, amounting to USD25.5 billion in 2017, and a total of USD19.6 billion from January to August this year.
China, Lopez added, is the Philippines largest import partner at USD17.5 billion in 2017, and the fourth largest export partner at USD8 billion in the same year.
“The Philippines appreciates the Chinese government’s thrust to deepen its globalization commitment.
CIIE is China’s way of conveying to the world that it is ready to open more of its market and encourage more exporters to China. It sends a strong signal to the world that China would also like to help balance trade with its trading partners as China believes in promoting globalization that’s is more inclusive, to achieve the goal of having shared prosperity with other countries,” Lopez said.
The Philippines, he said, is one of the “fastest growing economies in Asia, with one of the largest domestic market for consumer goods.”
“It has a young, large, innovative and cost-efficient talent pool that is adaptive to changing technology. It has resurging manufacturing sector, pursuing inclusive and innovation-driven industrialization. It has thriving startup ecosystem with notable capabilities in embedded system, financial technology, and artificial intelligence,” Lopez added.
Philo Chua, one of the exhibitors and owner of the Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates, said joining CIIE is an honor for him in presenting Filipino-made chocolates to the Chinese market and other foreigners who attended the expo.
“We all know that China is a big market and it is very exploratory for us to introduce our Philippine chocolates to the Chinese market. Also, we want to gauge and know what kind of products work here,” Chua said.
Chua said apart from chocolate products, the Chinese market loves ginger and the adobo flavor. These two products, he said, are very strong and unusual to their taste buds.
The Philippines has a total of 36 exhibitors including 28 for food, five for consumer goods (apparel, accessories and consumer goods, electronics, automobile, and information technology), and three for services (tourism and service outsourcing).
The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Tourism (DoT), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are among the partner agencies of DTI for the 5-day CIIE expo, which will run until November 10.
