Feature: Turkish food firms say CIIE key platform to explore Chinese market

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-30 01:45:55|Editor: huaxia

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) serves as a key platform to increase the visibility of Turkish firms in the Chinese market, especially for companies in the food industry, Turkish exhibitors said.

"We are delighted that China has maintained its decision to hold the expo on Nov. 5 as scheduled, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, because we consider the third CIIE as a key event for our target country: China," Serap Unal, deputy secretary general of the Aegean Exporters' Association (EIB), told Xinhua.

Because of the global health crisis, eight Turkish firm managers will be participating in this year's expo online, while physical stands will be arranged in the expo in Shanghai.

Unal indicated that Turkish enterprises highly value this event as it enhances the image of Turkish products among the Chinese consumers.

"We have an increasing amount of food product exports to China. In 2015, the amount was 131 million U.S. dollars, while in 2019 we reached 226 million dollars, thus the Chinese market is very important for us," she remarked.

Despite the raging pandemic, Turkey has not stopped its exports but the costs have gone up because of strict health measures imposed on workers and at gates of ports of all countries, said the official.

"The CIIE also shows China is reaffirming its opening-up policy, which is especially important nowadays," Unal added.

KFC Gida A.S. is a producer of Mediterranean and Aegean food products from Turkey. The company, which is participating in the CIIE, is a major packer of dried fruits, pickles and sun-dried vegetables.

Can Ersuz, a sales manager for this company, explained to Xinhua that the event has served as a major instrument for business deals over the years.

"This is the third time that we participated in the CIIE. We consider the Chinese market and consumers as crucial and we have also opened an office to conduct sustainable communications with our reliable business partners in China," he said.

Ersuz said he was hired by the company because he has a diploma from an university in Shanghai and speaks fluent Chinese, in sync with his company's vision to open up to the Chinese market, which he says is "very promising."

"We are exporting healthy snacks of dry apricots and figues to the Chinese market as people want to eat healthy and keep fit during this pandemic," Ersuz said, adding that dry cherries are also on the list for the coming months. Enditem

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