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APEC Mart Scheduled
The second APEC Investment Mart to be held in Shandong Province's Yantai is expected to be one of the highlights in a series of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) activities that China is hosting this year, according to officials affiliated with the event.
The mart is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) and the Shandong provincial government and organized by the Yantai municipal government. It will run June 9-15.
At the first plenary meeting of the mart steering committee Friday, Wu Hailong, vice-director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's international co-operation department, urged organizers to make the mart one of the most memorable APEC events of the year.
Chief Negotiator Long Yongtu said the mart will create precious opportunities for China to expand its opening up process, develop an export-oriented economy, attract foreign investment and encourage domestic companies to enter the international market.
At a press briefing held in Beijing Friday, Yantai Mayor Yang Jinjing revealed that the mart will include an investment policy meeting; a high-level forum of officials, economists and business representatives from APEC member economies; an exhibition of investment opportunities in APEC member economies; and talks on investment co-operation.
Yang also said a 100-square-metre free exhibition area will be offered to APEC members to showcase their projects.
The mayor expects 50 business groups and 5,000 individual business people will visit the mart.
Over 2,700 business people from the 21 APEC members took part in the first APEC Investment Mart, held in South Korea on June 2-5, 1999, according to the mayor.
South Korea alone signed contracts worth US$3.2 billion foreign capital at the last mart, he said.
(www.chinadaily.com.cn)
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