Asean seeks higher intra-regional, China trades

NANNING, China — Southeast Asian economies including the Philippines are expected to see an increase in intra-regional trade and investments as the 12th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) opens today.

Hu Suojin, deputy director-general at the general office of China’s Ministry of Commerce, said in a briefing yesterday trade missions and bilateral talks have been lined up on the sidelines of the four-day expo here.

 “Eighty-one trade and investment promotion programs will be arranged at the 12th Caexpo. Some of them are arranged by country breakdown, for example, sourcing meeting for Vietnam, promotion conference on technological cooperation of Thailand and promotion conference on Chinese SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Cambodia,” Hu said in Chinese.

The Philippines itself has a promotion conference that will tackle the current investment climate in the country slated for Saturday afternoon.

Other programs are categorized by industry such as procurement meetings for food processing and packaging machinery, and a promotion conference for electric power businesses. An SMEs cross-border trade and investment cooperation symposium has also been arranged during the expo.

 “More individual trade visitors and buying missions will participate in the Caexpo. 85 groups of investors and buying missions have confirmed their visits,” Hu said.

Aside from those coming from China and Asean member countries, trade visitors and missions are expected from South Korea, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, and from North American and European countries, he added.

At the same time, there is a projected climb in the number of Chinese trade visitors and buying missions this year, Hu said.

The annual Caexpo has been a significant event in driving exports between China and the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The expo, which was first conducted in 2004, was initiated to support the existing China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Hu said there were 2,207 enterprises accepted in this year’s expo and there were 4,600 booths arranged. Of these booths, 1,296 have been prepared for the 10 Asean countries.

China is among the Philippines’ biggest trade partners. Latest exports data showed outbound shipments contracted by four percent to $34.214 billion in the seven months to July from $35.659 billion in the same period in 2014.

During this period, China accounted for the third biggest chunk of the Philippine goods at 11.5 percent or about $3.939 billion in value.