Chat-bout.net - Jamaica prepares for six-month Chinese expo

Jamaica prepares for six-month Chinese expo

Jamaica's participation in Expo Shanghai 2010, a six-month long trade show in China, is being coordinated by four Government ministries, using Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) as a rallying point for business interest.

The expo is expected to bring some 70 million buyers and sellers to Shanghai during the May 1-October 31 event.

Jamaican companies have a short window in which to prepare their products for the trade show with today, January 20, the deadline for advising JTI of interest in being part of the Brand Jamaica contingent. More information is available on the JTI website at www.jamaicatradeandinvest.org/shanghai.

The Brand Jamaica booth is to be incorporated into the CARICOM Pavilion at the expo.

JTI says its market research suggests that products such as spices, condiments, rums, beers, art and crafts, apparel and coffee are likely to do well in China, and has promised assistance to exporters preparing for the trade show.

It will cost US$700 to register with JTI.

"We are hoping that many of our exporters will find the Chinese market to be lucrative and we are willing to work with them to bring about their success," said Dr Dana Morris, Jamaican coordinator for Expo Shanghai 2010 and manager of JTI's Caribbean, Latin America & Emerging Markets Regional Office.

The ministries involved are - industry investment and commerce; youth, culture and sports; tourism and its marketing agency, Jamaica Tourist Board; and foreign affairs and foreign trade.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said, in a January 13 national broadcast on the economy, that this year he will be travelling to Asia, starting with China in February, to seek out business deals and investments.

Industry minister Karl Samuda said he will accompany Golding on the trip in February.

Jamaica hopes to use the Shanghai expo, the JTI said, to position itself as a trading and distribution hub for goods from Asia transitting to regional countries within the Caribbean and Latin American belt.

A US$2.5 billion project at Caymanas Estate, just outside the capital - still awaiting financing - is meant to provide the required port linkages, warehousing and light manufacturing infrastructure.

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