REGIONAL> Development
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REGIONAL> Development
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SE Asian tour boosts Heilongjiang prospects
By Yang Hongzhi and Jia Jingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-03 07:45
The Heilongjiang local government has launched a bid to strengthen the northeastern province's economic ties with a number of southeast Asian countries, notably Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The opening stage of this initiative has already seen senior officials from the region making working visits to the three countries and opening talks on wider cooperation. The first of the visits saw Yang Aiwu, deputy secretary-general of the Heilongjiang provincial government, leading a high-level delegation to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. The four day trade mission, running from April 7-10, saw Yang and his team meeting with many of Malaysia's government leaders and a number of senior business figures. Initial meetings included sessions with Liew Vui Keong and Jacob Dungau Sagan, deputy ministers for international trade and industry, as well as Yong Ah Pwi, president of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce. The Heilongjiang delegation also toured Malaysia Chang'an Berjaya Auto, an existing China-Malaysia automotive joint-venture. The team later visited one of Malaysia's leading confectionery manufacturers, Sweetkiss Food Industry SDN BHD. The trip culminated in the official launch of the province's southeast Asian 2009 promotional campaign: "An Introduction to Heilongjiang and the 20th Harbin Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation".
Commenting on the motivations behind the visit, Yang said: "Through talks with local Malaysian administration officials and business leaders, we hope to expand Heilongjiang's presence and increase levels of cooperation." As one of China's traditional manufacturing centers, Heilongjiang's officials believe the province has much to offer in terms of economic cooperation, especially with regard to its industrial infrastructure, its wealth of natural resources and the opportunities offered by many of its vast development areas. The delegation was keen to highlight many of the province's key strengths, including its agricultural base, its status as a key supplier of natural resources - notably coal, oil and timber - as well as its growing reputation as the destination of choice for winter sports enthusiasts. The team also highlighted the existing benefits of its close economic ties with its northern neighbor, Russia. The two sides discussed a number of proposed co-operative ventures in the fields of tourism, agriculture, lumber processing and the contemporary service sectors. Particular interest was shown by Malaysian negotiators in developing a number of initiatives in the agricultural sector. The high-profile visit attracted considerable media attention, including coverage by the Sin Chew Daily, Oriental Daily and Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency. Singapore summit The delegation's subsequent visit to Singapore saw the team focusing on potential co-operative opportunities in a number of different areas, including tourism, the bio-chemical industry, manufacturing, finance, logistics and even landscape gardening. The well-received promotion saw local Singaporean officials and businessmen impressed by the opportunities outlined by the Heilongjiang presentation. One official, Ignatius Lim, the commercial counselor of the Singaporean Embassy in China, said the team's visit had prompted him to plan his own tour of Heilongjiang in the very near future. Following a meeting with Poh Choon Ann, head of Chinese affairs for the Singapore Business Federation, undertook to inform all 15,000 members of the Federation of the opportunities offered by Heilongjiang. He also moved that a cooperative memorandum be drawn up between the federation and Heilongjiang as part of the establishment of a joint business forum. He said: "As part of this initiative, I believe that Singapore could play a major role in coordinating economic cooperation for countries throughout the southeast Asian region." Indonesia initiative The final leg of Heilongjiang's whirlwind trade tour took place in mid-April when the team touched down in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. Discussions during their stay focused on the possibilities opened up by greater cooperation in the mining, forestry, tourism, infrastructure construction, bio-power generation aeronautical engineering sectors. John Prasetio, vice-chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), said he saw great potential benefits in developing closer links with Heilongjiang. He particularly emphasized the opportunities open to the Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd (HAIG), one of the province's largest manufacturers, as well as to Heilongjiang's power generation equipment suppliers. Following the presentation, it was announced that Indonesia would be sending a sizable business delegation to the 20th Harbin Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation, scheduled to run from June 15 to 19. Plans were also unveiled to sign long-term cooperative agreements with Heilongjiang. Summarizing the success of the visits, Yang said: "We are now on the verge of signing a large number of cooperative agreements and have a number of significant joint venture projects in the pipeline. We believe these developments bode well both for the success of this month's trade fair and for our future economic cooperation with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia."
(China Daily 06/03/2009 page7) |
