SHANGHAI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday held a forum on the sideline of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai to show great market opportunities for international businesses in solving the challenges faced by the world's children.
"There are some very basic supplies of products that are very critical to children, and some are very high-tech that could inspire new solutions for children," said Shanelle Hall, deputy executive director of UNICEF, amazed by the scale, efficiency and diversity of the CIIE.
In 2017, a total of 3.46 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods and services were procured by UNICEF, according to the UNICEF Supply Annual Report.
"Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could open an estimated 12 trillion U.S. dollars worth of market opportunities for businesses," Hall said at the forum.
Representatives in the health and medicine industry from China and overseas exchanged opinions and ideas on how to better meet the needs of women and children under the cooperation with UNICEF.
"We're hoping that more and more Chinese businesses will leverage their core assets to respond to the needs of children and young people in China and globally," she said.
China has been closely cooperating with UNICEF over the past decades. "China will widen its opening-up, and continue pursuing the SDGs with UNICEF," said Zhang Yi, an official of China's Ministry of Commerce.
China's first import expo will run from Monday to Saturday in Shanghai, with multiple forums, trade talks and supportive activities to be held throughout the event.
