SME fair to help boost trade with Ecuador

Ecuador's role as co-host of the China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair will help boost trade between China and the South American country, said Mariella Molina, consul general of the Ecuadorian consulate in Guangzhou, on Wednesday.

"It will be a big moment for officials and businesspeople from Ecuador to participate in the upcoming fair because they will meet their Chinese counterparts. I believe it will be the beginning of an expanded economic and trade relationship between the two countries," Molina said.

The annual fair, which Ecuador and Vietnam helped organize this year, will be held Sept 22-25 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

According to the organizers, Ecuador has planned to set up a 1,000-square-meter exhibition area for industries including aquatic products, agricultural products, handicrafts and wood products. Vietnam will have a 3,000-sq-m exhibition area for industries focusing on agricultural products, food processing, daily necessities, furniture, handicraft, wood, environmental protection and energy conservation, new energy equipment and machinery.

Ecuador's trade with China has increased in recent years. However, most Chinese people still know very little about Ecuador, Molina said.

Trade between the two countries reached $1.7 billion in the first seven months this year, a 54.5 percent year-on-year, according to the Central Bank of Ecuador.

But Ecuador's exports to China were valued at only $236 million in the first seven months.

Molina said Ecuador has arranged for some 35 industrial leaders from various sectors in which the South American country is highly competitive to attend the event.

"For many of them, it will be the first time they display their high-quality products in China. In other words, it will also the first time for many Chinese to see, know and taste those fantastic, exotic products from afar," Molina said.