India set to make impact at China's first South Asia Expo

India is all set to make its presence felt at the first South Asia Expo and Commodities Fair being organised from tomorrow at Chinese city of Kunming, displaying a range of products, including handicrafts, furniture, and traditional Indian medicines like Ayurveda.
A 130-member business delegation headed by Rafiq Ahmed, President of the Federation of Indian Exporters Organisations (FIEO) arrived in Kunming and set up their stalls at the India Pavilion.
This is the first time China is organising a South Asia specific fair, upgrading its previous commodity's fairs into a full fledged trade fair to firm up its business links with the India and other South Asian countries.

The four-day fair would be inaugurated by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Goli.
A number of top leaders and officials from the subcontinent and other Asian countries were invited by China to take part in the fair.
Joint Secretary, Commerce Ministry, Asit Tripathy and Indian Consulate General, Guangzhou, K Nagraj Naidu would take part in number of trade meetings being organised by China for SAARC countries.

This is mainly a fair meant for small and medium industries and expected to provide a good exposure to Indian businessmen, Naidu told PTI from Kunming.
With Bollywood touch and over 30 stalls, the Indian Pavilion would attract considerable attention, Naidu said.

Designed and conceived by the Ministry of External Affairs the Indian pavilion would be housing a textile goods from SMEs, handicrafts, furniture, Wellness products, metal crafts and traditional Indian medicines like Ayurveda, he said A number of Indian businessmen brought their products to make impact at the fair, he said.
The TATA group too is taking part in a big way as it is pursuing five star hotel projects in Kunming.
The Chinese government has approved plans to upgrade previous commodity trade to make South Asian Countries Commodities Fair to firm up growing economic and trade ties between China and South Asian countries, Li Jinzao, China's Vice Minister of Commerce told the media.

China is now a major trading partner and investor for South Asian nations, who are also important markets for engineering contract business and key investment destinations for China, he said.
The volume of trade between China and South Asian countries increased from USD 5.7 billion in 2000 to USD 93 billion in 2012, or an average growth rate of 26 per cent annually, he said.
India-China trade along amounted to over USD 66 billion last year. China's imports from these countries also increased by 23 per cent on average annually over the same period, from USD 1.9 billion to 22.6, he said.

By the end of 2012, China's non-financial direct investment in South Asian countries reached nearly USD four billion, Li said.
In addition to growing the volume of trade, China will also make efforts to achieve balanced trade, he said adding that he sees good prospects for economic and trade ties between the two sides.
Some 1,139 companies from 32 countries or regions have registered to participate in the two events, according to organisers.