- 24th edition of International Autumn Trade Fair (IATF10) to feature 300 exhibitors from China
The total volume of trade between China and the UAE was US $ 14.99 billion in the first nine months of 2009, with exports to UAE amounting $13.29 billion against $ 1.7 billion imports into China says the Commercial Office of Chinese Consulate in Dubai.
In 2008, total trade volumes stood at $ 28.16 billion, out of which $23.55 billion were exports to UAE and $ 4.61 billion were imports into China.
The bulk of products imported from China are household and domestic appliances, cookware and kitchenware, tyre and rubber products, shoes, hardware, machinery and machine tool and building materials.
Currently, the UAE has the highest number of Chinese companies in the GCC where the country is home to 2,000 Chinese companies compared with just 20 in Saudi Arabia for instance. The strategic location of the UAE and its close proximity to markets in central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Africa are the major attractions for Chinese companies.
Organisers of the 24th International Autumn Trade Fair (IATF10), the region’s pioneer consumer goods show to be held from January 17 – 19, 2010, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, are upbeat about the Chinese participation at the show.
Satish Khanna, General Manager of Al Fajer Information & Services, organizer of the show, said: “The three-day Autumn Fair, a leading regional buyer-seller meeting ground for the consumer goods segment, will feature around 300 exhibitors from China who are participating under a national pavilion. Ranked as one of the more popular general trade fairs in the region, the exhibition will occupy 13000 square meters of space, out of which China constitutes 5,500 square meters.”
Khanna said: “This is probably the biggest Chinese presence in 23 years of Autumn Fair history. In all, 8 groups are involved in organizing Chinese participation this year and some of them have been coming since its inception.”
Since establishing diplomatic ties on November 1, 1984, the political, economic and trade relations between the UAE and China have developed significantly in both scale and substance. In recent years, UAE-Sino ties have strengthened with burgeoning trade and investment cooperation. Bilateral trade between the UAE and China recorded an impressive growth of 33 percent in the last eight years.
Khanna emphasized: “Most of the Chinese goods and services exported to the UAE are re-exported to other countries in the Middle East, Africa and even Europe. Trade between the UAE and China rose 40.5 per cent last year, and exports from China to the Gulf are expected to rise next year with China consolidating its position as the hugest exporter to the region. Exports from the Asian country to the Middle East reached $60bn last year. Handicrafts, textile products, clothes and apparels, light industrial products, machinery equipments and products made of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin are the major Chinese export items to the UAE.”
Zhejiang Foreign Trade & Economic Co-operation Bureau will be repeating their presence in this edition under the Chinese pavilion bringing in a wide range of goods manufactured in Zhejiang Province of China with participation of 86 leading enterprises.
Over the last 23 years, IATF has been recognised as a robust regional business platform for the global consumer goods industry keen to expand footprints in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The exhibition’s significance comes at a time when global consumer goods manufacturers are shifting their focus to developing economies.
