At the 2023 CIFTIS, the booths of Belt and Road countries attracted numerous visitors with a wide range of featured products, such as Pakistani jewelry and carpets, Georgian red wine, and Iranian handicrafts. Through CIFTIS, a comprehensive, state-level exhibition with global reach, enterprises from Belt and Road countries promoted their products and services and expanded their cooperation with China in service trade.
At the fair, Amir Ghorbanali, director of China Iran Trade Promotion Center, gave a warm welcome to visitors and showed them exquisite handicrafts from Iran. "This is the second time that Iran has participated in CIFTIS. This time we have showcased products and services of 10 enterprises, with the hope of finding more partners and especially selling more quality products of Iran to China through e-commerce platforms, thereby further promoting trade cooperation between the two countries," said Amir.
Amir added that Iran, one of the important countries in the joint development of the Belt and Road, signed a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement with China. Now is the best period of opportunities for China-Iran cooperation, especially in high-tech sectors. "We hope that e-commerce platforms, while facilitating and supporting the export of Iranian products to China, can also promote Chinese enterprise's trade in Iran by recommending Chinese products to the country."
At this year's CIFTIS, 11 Pakistani enterprises formed an exhibition group to showcase their products such as jewelry and carpets. Some logistics and AI enterprises also came to seek cooperation. Pakistan jeweler Ahmed Aqeel brought his products to the fair for the second time. At present, he has opened two jewelry shops in Shanghai and Shenyang. Given the brisk business, he is planning to open a third one in Chaoyang District, Beijing.
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Ahmed noted that remarkable results have been achieved in the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative. Today, favorable policies for industrial parks in the corridor have attracted many enterprises, bringing plenty of job opportunities. "Pakistan and China have broad prospects for cooperation in service trade, and we are upbeat about the potential of the Chinese market."
With the theme "Nation of Health and Modern Medicine", the exhibition area of Thailand focused on showcasing Thai medical and health services. Sakarn Saensopa, commercial consul of Thailand's Consulate-General in Shanghai, said that the Belt and Road Initiative is contributing to continuous improvement in the infrastructure of all relevant countries and closer people-to-people ties. "We hope to showcase and promote more achievements of Thailand in service trade, and help Thai enterprises find more cooperation opportunities in the Chinese market."
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The green-decorated Irish National Pavilion was very eye-catching, evocative of the natural beauty of the European country known as Emerald Isle. Ann Derwin, ambassador of Ireland to China, attended this year's CIFTIS. She emphasized that Ireland enjoys well-developed medical technology and pharmaceutical industries. 14 of the world's top 15 medical companies have set up their headquarters or branches in Ireland, one of the largest medical technology suppliers in the world. China has a huge population and a growing middle-class consumer group, which means a huge market size. Therefore, Ireland and China have tremendous opportunities for cooperation in the field of health.
