(Yicai Global) June 28 -- It’s more than 100 days away, but Rouen Sovannarith has been eagerly awaiting the third China International Import Expo as he thinks the event will provide a powerful boost for trade and investment between China and Cambodia.
Sovannarith is the president of the Cambodian Rural Development Agency (CRDA). It was established in 2006 with the mission to organize agriculture cooperatives, provide training on leadership and farming skills to farmers, and cooperate with domestic and international partners to support Cambodian agriculture through exports.
Sovannarith was in Shanghai for the second edition of the CIIE last November, where Cambodia was one of the 15 guest-of-honor countries including France, India and Russia.
“I gained a lot of experiences at the previous editions of CIIE. It helped us to build relationships between CRDA and international agencies, companies, and government agents to promote and support economic activities between countries,” said Sovannarith.
A range of agricultural products was displayed at the Palace-like pavilion of Cambodia at the expo, including featured goods such as rice, corn and pepper.
“We strongly believe that trade can promote and strengthen the relationship between Chinese and Cambodian culture and traditions. So the CRDA is here to promote and support government policies for trade and investment between two countries, especially to move the procurement link to trading, business, and investment for both countries too,” he said.
CIIE is a good platform to promote bilateral trade between China and Cambodia, he added.
Sovannarith has been worried about the impact of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus outbreak on Cambodia’s exports in the past three months.
The pandemic halted the process of procurement between China and Cambodia. It struck areas such as construction, real estate and commodity import and export trading.
Despite of this, Sovannarith said that their communications and relationships with
Cambodian firms are good. “We have developed many plans to work together as partners.”
“My personal suggestion is that we should form or establish special permission or permits for procurements so both countries can start business exchanges, promote investment and encourage development so we can come back from the slowdown of economic activities. This would also promote the participation of businessmen, traders and investors in development and growth,” Sovannarith said.
Sovannarith was gratified to learn that the third CIIE will be held in the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai in November given the coronavirus has been largely contained in China.
“CIIE is a messenger who can bring China and Cambodia governments together to jointly develop policies, bylaws and other procurement plans which encourage businessmen, traders and investors to get involved in creating more benefits and economic growth for both countries,” he said.
With two editions successfully held since 2018, China International Import Expo (CIIE) serves as the platform for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange, as well as opening-up and cooperation. The third edition of CIIE will take place in Shanghai from November 5th to 10th. Thousands of companies, which are leading players in their industries, will gather at the expo to showcase their products and services, and seek business opportunities with global buyers.
At CIIE, participants can both purchase a wide range of products from the world and can also sell their products to the world. CIIE helps drive investment both inward and outward and contributes to maintaining a stable global supply chain.
Starting from June 24, professional visitors around the world can log into the CIIE website (www.ciie.org) and locate Business Exhibition - Buyer - Registration to sign up for the event. CIIE welcomes global buyers to join the upcoming event and to share opportunities presented by China’s further opening up.
