The South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair 2019 got off the ground yesterday in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province with Sri Lanka being named as the theme country.
A total of 3,348 enterprises from China and abroad are attending the SSACEIF. Sri Lanka the theme country has over 100 stalls showcasing various local products.
The leader of the Sri Lankan delegation Deputy Minister of Development Strategy and International Trade, Nalin Bandara addressing the inauguration said the SSACEIF was a viable platform for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to showcase their products and explore new export markets.
While highlighting strong Sri Lanka – China ties the deputy minister said bilateral trade between the two countries have reached a new high.
He also noted that Sri Lanka today has become the most popular overseas destination for Chinese tourists with over 300,000 Chinese tourist visiting the country last year.
He called for further enhancing inter-connectivity between China and Yunnan in various sectors especially Yunnan’s highly developed technological sector.
Aruan Chengfa, the Governor of Yunnan province said the Fair will be catalyst for further strengthening ties between China and South and Southeast Asia.
He said the SSACEIF could further boost trade between China and South and Southeast Asian nations.
Meanwhile Ruwan Edirisinghe President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that this the first time a separate commodity products display area has been allocated for South Asian countries at SSACEIF.
He said the SSACEIF which began in 2007 has gone from strength to strength.
The exposition’s main focus is on the display of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
With six major exhibition areas, the exposition will feature exhibitors from 74 countries, regions and international organizations. Nearly half of them are overseas companies, organizers said.
Sri Lanka is the theme country of this year’s SSACEIF, and the main guest country is Cambodia. Contracts to be inked during the SSACEIF are estimated to total over 600 billion yuan (about 86.7 billion U.S. dollars).
The SSACEIF is being held parallel to the the 2nd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum, the 14th China-South Asia Business Forum and the 7th China-South Asia Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum .
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