Chinese Importers Interested In Foodstuff, Wine From Galaţi

Marilena Dinu,

Galaţi

Two delegations of businesspeople and authorities of the city of Wuhan, China, were in Galaţi yesterday to meet with representatives of the business environment and the local administration in preparation of the Romanian - Chinese Economic Forum.

The initiative followed the remarks of the People"s Republic of China"s Consul to Constanţa, Wang Tieshan, who promised the Galaţi Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture that he would further pursue the twinning of the two cities by creating a cooperation platform for businesses in the two countries to help stimulate economic, scientific, commercial and medical exchanges.

"The Chinese partners stated their interest in bilateral cooperation, especially in IT, machine tool building, the chemical industry, science and education. They noted that the reputed Agricultural Research Institute in the area could be the catalyst to successful cooperation," said Galati County Prefect Claudiu Brînzan.

Sun Chaozhong, the Head of the Chinese Delegation, told a meeting with businesspeople from Galaţi that he was ready to organize in China, in 2010, a fair of Romanian products including the most representative products of Galaţi County. Sun Chaozhong also invited Romanian foodstuff and wine producers to attend the 18th edition of a food & wine fair scheduled to take place in Wuhan in December.

"We wish to consolidate business exchanges between our two cities and I am confident that this visit will stimulate partnerships between Romanian and Chinese counterparts," said Sun Chaozhong. In turn, Petrică Herăscu, owner of Galmopan Group, although he had been exporting products of his biscuit factory in the Brăila Free Zone for more than half a year, he was still interested in developing other partnerships with Chinese businesspeople, even in other areas than foodstuffs. "China is our main export customer. We export approximately 80% of our biscuit output to China, the U.S., Japan, the Middle East, France, Italy, Holland, Hungary and Croatia. I will accept the invitation to go to the fair organized in December. I look forward to the details, but, generally speaking, I am interested in other partnerships with Chinese businesspeople, including real estate partnerships," Herascu said.

Marian Filimon, President of the Federation of Small- and Medium-Sized Business Associations (PIMM) in Galaţi, said Galaţi County had the potential to export foodstuffs and wines that the Chinese partners would appreciate. "The establishment of this forum is extremely beneficial and could turn out to be extremely useful. China is a huge economy and has outstanding financial resources. The Chinese people want to invest in Romania and to import Romanian products to their country, as the trade balance is currently in their favour," Filimon added.