Mildura at the Chinese negotiation table

Friday 13 June, 2008

Mildura has earned a place at the Chinese negotiation table for trade and business deals during a successful Sunraysia Mallee Economic Development Board (SMEDB) delegation to Shanghai and the Yunnan Province.

The crux of the delegation, which included representatives from Mildura Rural City Council, the Shire of Campaspe, Greater Shepparton City Council and Horsham Rural City Council, was to attend and exhibit at the China Kunming Import & Export Commodities Fair.

All exhibitors at the trade fair received a number of enquiries and some very good leads for follow up on return to Australia.

Further to the trade fair, the delegation visited Mildura’s sister city Dali and Shepparton’s sister city Lijiang to conduct regional wine tasting sessions for senior business operators and government officials.

Andrew Millen, Chief Executive Officer of SMEDB said from China “Dali and Lijiang receive on average 20,000 visitors per day, and the abundance of tourists who visit the region for its spectacular natural beauty are demanding high quality food and beverages. This demand is creating an opportunity for businesses in the Mildura region to enter the market and receive good returns.”

“Our delegation also met with significant distributors in Shanghai prior to the trade fair and there are positive outcomes for wine with many enquiries for the local wineries to follow up,” said Mr Millen.

Chairman of SMEDB, John Irwin remained in Dali at the invitation of the Dali Government to discuss the establishment of a bottling plant following strong indications that the government would provide loans to the private sector to develop a wine handling facility for Mildura region wineries.

Mr Irwin said “SMEDB will be talking to businesses in the Mildura region with the expertise to construct a bottling plant and wineries able to deliver bulk wine to the Dali region.”

The four participating municipalities will meet to determine a regional strategy and response to the enquiries to bring back the benefits to the whole of the region and assist in making strong trade deals.

While exhibiting at the China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair, the Olympic Torch Relay travelled through Kunming.