"I have never seen in Vietnam an exhibition of such a large scale. The China-ASEAN Expo offers us huge business opportunities," a Vietnamese businessman told Xinhua on Thursday.

 

"This is my first time to be here. Our company is looking for sales agents in China," said Cian Quynh Ca, with Vietnam's Tehuco company which mainly sells vegetables and fruits.

 

"Though our company has not decided which agent to collaborate, the Expo makes it convenient for us to negotiate with potential partners from across the world," he said.

 

"I can talk to dozens of enterprise representatives every day," Ca added.

 

Unlike Ca, many ASEAN businessmen have been to the Expo for three consecutive times since the event was first launched in October 2004. As more and more enterprises outside Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region flood into Nanning every autumn, ASEAN businessmen now have a lot more choices to seek their partners.

 

Ma To Huong, international sales manager of a Vietnamese coffee company, told Xinhua that the Expo had provided them with a number of business opportunities.

 

Huong said her company found a local partner in Guangxi at the second China-ASEAN Expo in 2005.

 

"We have already set up two chain coffee stores in Nanning in the past year. We hope to find a partner outside Guangxi this year, so we can sell our products to other parts of China," she said.

 

The four-day third China-ASEAN Expo, which opened on Tuesday, attracted the attendance of more than 2,000 enterprises from China, all the 10 ASEAN member countries, and many other countries and regions around the world.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)