Third Caexpo Ends On High Note
By Alex How

Bandar Seri Begawan - The third annual China-Asean Expo (CAExpo), which ended last Friday recorded a trade volume totalling US$1.27 billion, an increase of 10.2 per cent from last year, the expo's organising committee stated.

The expo is held annually in October in Nanning, China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The gathering of Asean and Chinese businesses is ideal for scouting for new products and industries, as well as arranging collaborations between the two areas to manufacture products for the region and the world.

This year's CAExpo enjoyed brisk trade growth with exports totalling US$1.03 billion, imports totalling US$75 million and the domestic trade reaching US$167 million, said Li Jinzao, deputy director of the organising committee at a press conference.

Trade in mechanical equipment stood at US$635 million, accounting for half of the total, followed by electronic products, agricultural products and farming materials, he said.

Traded goods at the expo has shifted from agricultural products like fruits and vegetables in 2004 to industrial products this year, said Zhang Xiaoqin, an official with the Secretariat of the Expo.

The growing trade of mechanical and high-tech products at the expo demonstrates a change in two-way trade between China and Asean countries, Zhang added.

More than 130 contracts on international projects, including investments of US$5.85 billion, were signed at the Expo, a 10.5 per cent increase fromlast year. The total contractual investments included US$2.56 billion by Chinese investors for projects in Asean countries.

Also gaining was Brunei's First Emporium, which signed a memorandum to bring in fruits from Guangxi during the CAExpo. First Emporium will import US$1 million worth of fruits- and agricultural product with the Guangxi 'Agriculture Group from as early as next month.

Other local companies participating in the CAExpo also garnered promising results with buyers from other countries showing great interest in Brunei made products.

Meanwhile, all Asean countries including Brunei were allocated a piece of land in Nanning, neat to the International Convention and Exhibition Centre, for development.

Brunei will first build an administrative office on the allocated land, followed by other developments including a residential and commercial zone that reflects Brunei culture and scenery. Other countries participating in the project are Japan, South Korea, and China as well as Hong Kong and Macau. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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