Philippines expected to achieve $0.7 billion in sales at China Expo

According to the World Journal, Glenn, Assistant Secretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said at a video press conference on Tuesday that the Philippines aims to participate in this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) to set a new sales record of US $0.7 billion.

The Philippines is close to achieving its sales target as the CIIE Philippines Pavilion opened on Monday with sales of $0.61 billion, of which $0.603 billion was from fresh fruits and seafood and about $7 million from processed agricultural products.

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Rudolph said, "These are not just memorandums of understanding (MOUs), but real procurement agreements."

The CIIE is the largest procurement fair in China, and only welcomes foreign companies that want to explore the huge Chinese market. No Chinese companies participated in the fair.

China holds the CIIE at the Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center in the first week of November each year, aiming to find sources of foreign products to meet the growing demand of the Chinese market.

This year's fair will close on Friday.

The main character of the Philippine Pavilion at the 2023 Expo is durian.

Anna, the Philippine agriculture commissioner in Shanghai, said at the same briefing that most of the $600 million in sales came from bananas and durians, which only began exporting in April this year.

She said there are great opportunities for Filipino durian farmers and exporters to meet China's demand.

"For all the fresh and processed food we sell to China, sales have always been a challenge," she said." The Department of Agriculture (DA) has an expansion plan for the local durian industry to increase production and maintain the quality of durian, she added.

In 2022, the Philippines' sales at the CIIE will reach US $0.65515 billion, the highest sales in the Philippines at the CIIE.