MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Business and government officials meet in China to promote Latam/Asia trade

IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

A thousand government officials and business executives from Latin America and the Caribbean, China, Japan and Korea participated Thursday in the opening session of the China-Latin American Caribbean Business Forum with high-ranking Chinese authorities and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) executives.

Participants were welcomed by the Governor of the Sichuan Province, Jiang Jufeng; the President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Wan Jifei; the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan; and IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

“China has become an IDB member country in January 2009 and both China and Latin America and the Caribbean are eager to increase trade and investments,” said Moreno. “Through this forum, the IDB seeks to expand and strengthen the commercial ties between Asia, and especially China, with Latin America and the Caribbean, by promoting investment and facilitating the identification of business opportunities.”

“China is now the biggest trading country with Latin America and the Caribbean after the United States and we believe there are important business opportunities for entrepreneurs on both sides of the Pacific Rim,” Moreno added. “With so many rich economies experiencing little growth, more South-South cooperation in both the public and private sector is becoming increasingly essential.”

This China-LAC summit is part of the series of Asia-LAC Forums that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has organized in recent years. A Forum took place in 2007, in Korea and again in 2008, in Japan.

The IDB is organizing the October 21-22 event with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). It is collaborating closely with the People’s Bank of China and the Sichuan Provincial Government.

Top level government officials and business executives are participating in sector-specific discussion panels to analyze current business conditions and opportunities. Speakers include Nizan Guanaes, CEO, Grupo ABC; Guan Dong Yuan, Managing Director, EMBRAER CHINA; Luis Fernando Alarcón, CEO, ISA; Antonio Neto, CFO, Los Grobo; Marcelo Claure, CEO, BRIGHTSTAR; Gesner Oliveira, President, SABESP; Jeffrey Davidow, President, Instituto de las Americas; and Anabel González, Trade Minister of Costa Rica.

In this forum, participants will discuss how to do business in China and Latin America, and how to develop sustainable growth. In addition to expert panels, there will be opportunities for one-on-one meetings between participants from Latin America and the Caribbean and their potential partners in Asia, to identify opportunities for investment in areas such as infrastructure, sustainable energy, mining, tourism and services. Organizers have set up hundreds of one-on-one meetings.

Business executives will participate in one-on-one meetings of LAC entrepreneurs with potential Chinese and Asian strategic partners for investment projects and buyers for LAC’s goods and services. For this purpose, the IDB and the CCPIT offer online matchmaking services for registered private sector participants at no cost.

The Forum was organized by the Integration and Trade Sector and the Office of Outreach and Partnerships of the Inter-American Development Bank.