Cooperation | Hengqin preparing international food exhibition

Hengqin is preparing to host its first international food exhibition on December 3, featuring agricultural products from Macau, Taiwan and mainland China. In order to effectively plan the exhibition, the Hengqin administration organized a field trip for association heads, which focused on the circulation of agricultural products between the regions. It is expected from these field trips that the Hengqin Free Trade Zone (FTZ) will improve its trade relations with Lusophone countries.
The associations jointly stated in a press release that the expo is aimed at facilitating international trade and cross-border e-commerce, as well as attracting capital and investment to the free trade zone.
The Hengqin FTZ Development Company’s consultant, Ms He Huiping, who guided the tour, said that the company hopes to attract more exhibitors from Lusophone countries, while agents in mainland China can introduce a greater array of agricultural science practices and technologies as well as quality products to the Lusophone countries.
Ms He further suggested that many trade cooperation projects in Macau could be moved to Hengqin, which also requires the Hengqin administration to assume the role of host and thus grant land to build food refrigeration depots and trade centers.
“The administration supportive attitude and preferential policies for Lusophone countries in terms of land, taxation and custom clearance will probably move the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-
speaking countries [Forum Macau] that is based in Macau to Hengqin,” she added.
The consultant stressed that the Sino-Luso Cooperation and Development Fund has been injected by a capital of USD2 billion every year from the Chinese government.  However, only when the Hengqin administration approves the establishment of company for agricultural product trade, could it apply for financial assistance from the fund, so as to build a trade center that would receive Lusophone countries’ product traders.
The delegation also visited the Zhuhai International Convention and Exhibition Center and selected it as the the venue of the food expo. The building, opened last October, consists of a 10,000-square-meter exhibition hall, a ballroom, a professional kitchen, theater and concert hall, adjacent to a complex of hotels. BY