The grand trade and investment fair began on June 12 in Yunnan Province’s capital Kunming, China’s major gateway to Southeast Asia and South Asia, highlighting China's closer ties with the region as it pushes forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, at the opening ceremony, said the government of Bangladesh is putting in efforts to turn Bangladesh into an important manufacturing hub in Asia and urged the countries, including China, to avail themselves of the massive investment opportunities.
The Commerce Minister expressed happiness saying SSACEIF is attracting ever greater attention to South and Southeast Asia.
"This grand expo is providing a huge platform to the private businesses investment opportunities. We hope it’ll contribute meaningfully to bring the peoples and economies of these regions closer," said Minister Tipu Munshi.
India is occupying the largest number of booths -- 240 -- demonstrating growing engagement between China and India on trade and investment front. Bangladesh set up 19 stalls in the fair.
Staff members perform to promote tourism products on The South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair (SSACEIF) in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 12, 2019. UNB/XINHUA
The mega exposition at the Kunming Dianchi Lake International Convention and Exhibition Center is featuring 17 pavilions and 7,500 booths, including the Belt and Road Investment and Cooperation pavilion, the green energy pavilion and the forest ecological products pavilion on a total exhibition area of 170,000 square metres.
The BRI and Cooperation Pavilion aims to build an efficient communication platform for investors, and comprehensively demonstrate Yunnan's advantages in terms of opening up, development and opportunities under the BRI.
There are mainly six exhibition areas -- thematic, Southeast Asia, South Asia, international, domestic and never ending CSA Expo.
For the first time, the BRI Investment Cooperation Pavilion, Green Energy Pavilion, Forest Eco Products Pavilion and the Digital Yunnan Exhibition Area are set up in the fair venue.
Some 3,348 enterprises from 73 countries, regions and international organisations, business leaders, experts and scholars as well as about 167 representatives from ministries and local governments are attending the fair.
The theme of this year's fair is ‘Gather at the Opening-up Frontier Together, Build the Radiation Center Together and Share Prosperity and Development Together’.
Exhibitors demonstrate the making of ethnic crafts on The South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair (SSACEIF) in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 12, 2019.UNB/XINHUA
This year's theme country is Sri Lanka and the host country is Cambodia.
Chhuon Dara, Cambodian Commerce Ministry Secretary of State, said the BRI provides a platform for international cooperation, boosts international exchanges, helps build a global economic system and promotes international trade and investment, according to Xinhua.
According to Kunming customs, Yunnan's trade with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) increased 13.6 percent year-on-year to reach 44.2 billion yuan (6.4 bln U.S. dollars) in the first five months of this year. Its trade with South Asian nations surged 75.4 percent to over 1.5 billion yuan in the same period.
Zhang Guohua, vice governor of Yunnan, said Yunnan has become more open with the help of better transport infrastructure and a batch of cross-border cooperative projects.
Infrastructure interconnectivity has provided more opportunities to Thailand, said Sithichai Jindaluang, deputy governor of Udon Thani Province, Thailand.
The China-Laos-Thailand International Railway Corridor will promote trade and investment between the three countries, he said
Statistics show that the total trade volume between southwest China's Yunnan Province and the five countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) increased 5.6 percent year on year in 2018.
Ruwan Edirisingh, president of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Southeast Asia Commodity Expo along with the China-South Asia Exposition has boosted the economic exchanges between China and South Asia, which have maintained rapid economic growth in recent years.
South Asia boasts abundant natural resources while China has obvious advantages in financial and industrial technology. Therefore, the two sides have great cooperative potential, Ruwan Edirisingh said, adding that Chinese enterprises will enjoy more preferential policies when investing in South Asia.
In 2018, China's imports and exports with South Asian countries totaled 140.1 billion in 2018, up 10.5 percent year on year.
Sune Detvongsa, vice president of the Lao National Institute of Economics, said e-commerce and the digital economy will become important driving forces for regional economic growth and industrial transformation. “Governments need to make greater coordination and efforts to maximize the opportunities brought about by regional cooperation and connectivity.”