Seeking more business-to-business cooperation with China, Greece showcased 20 companies from its food and beverage sector to China at a trade show which ran Nov. 29-30 in Beijing.
The event was one of the recent steps Greece has taken to promote economic and cultural exchanges with China, said Pelagia Karpathiotaki, President of the Institute of Economic and Cultural Action Greece-China (IECGC) and the organizer of the show.
Karoathiotaki said tourism and agricultural products are both important economic pillars in Greece, but that Greek goods are barely known by Chinese consumers.
Virginia Patista, one of the exhibitors from a small, privately-owned Greek honey company, said that within hours of the show’s opening, several Chinese businesses had already expressed interest in potential cooperation with her. “A businessman wanted to introduce our honey to his supermarket chain. We will talk about details later, but I am confident about our products.” Patista said.
“We are from the north of Greece, which is famous for natural honey. I’m sure our honey will bring a unique feeling for Chinese people,” added Patista, who said this was her first time visiting China.
Among exhibitors at the trade show, most were small, privately-owned companies for whom cooperating with China is a recent experiment. Giorgos Mpiziotis, Manager of Feleagoods Company, who owns the business with his wife, said, “Our products mainly exported to European countries and we hope to develop a larger market in the U.S. and Asia.” He added: “I think this trade show is really nice, because we can display our products by (tasting and showing) people face to face.”
The organizer also invited many Chinese business people to attend the trade show. A Chinese businessman told China.org.cn that the quality of South European products is generally high, but the prices are far more expensive than domestic products. “From my personal experiences, people from south Europe lack efficiency and can hardly guarantee the quality all the time,” he said. “But I will consider a deal if they can drop the prices. After all, their goods are pretty good.”
Dimitris Kourkoulas, Deputy Minister of Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Theodore Georgakelos, the Ambassador of Greece, attended the opening ceremony of the trade show on Nov. 29.
(Source, foto: china.org)
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