LatAm expo paves way for business deals

As a strategy to get integrated in the Belt and Road Initiative, the southern coastal city of Zhuhai is seeking to tap cooperation opportunities with the countries of Latin-America.

The success of the first China-Latin America and Caribbean International Exposition held in the city earlier this month speaks volume for the promising prospect.

The three-day event attracted 523 companies and associations from 24 Latin American and Caribbean states and 33 countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and saw agreements involving 73 projects, worth more than 3.2 billion yuan ($485 million).

The China-Latin America Economic and Trade Cooperation Park opened during the expo, making it a new channel serving Sino-Latin American business projects.

The park, which has attracted 2.5 billion yuan in investments, aims to boost bilateral deals in the auto, aviation, electric power generation and finance sectors.

"Zhuhai will strengthen its connectivity and promote communications in tourism, culture and sports events through the park in the future," said Wang Xiaobin, director of the Zhuhai bureau of commerce.

Wang said that thanks to the short distance between nearby Macao and the Hengqin free trade zone - and close connections between Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries - Zhuhai could boost its links to Macao and provide an economic platform for Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries.

That platform aims to promote projects in trade, investment, finance, culture and sports events.

Zhu Qingqiao, deputy mayor of Zhuhai, said: "We have released a series of preferential policies and given support to investment and trade, finance and taxation and service guarantees for Latin-American companies." Organizers said that some Latin-American companies came to the recent expo to seek cooperation opportunities.

Fernando Lugris, Uruguay ambassador to China, said that many companies in his country wanted to invest in Zhuhai. Uruguay's coastal resort town of Atlantida established friendship ties with Zhuhai in June.

He added that there were plans to hold the 12th China-LAC Business Summit in Zhuhai next year, which will deepen bilateral communications and cooperation.

(China Daily 11/29/2017 page15)