Featured Philippine products at the 2023 China International Import Expo (CIIE) generated $1.1 billion in combined purchase and booked sales, up by 67.9 percent from the previous year’s $655 million, the Board of Investments (BOI) said over the weekend.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the figure was the highest so far in six years that the Philippines joined the annual import fair.
“The CIIE has become an important platform for the country to showcase its best-selling food products and attract potential investors in China, creating new business opportunities and boosting the economy,” Rodolfo said.
He said the annual import trade fair has become a tool “to expand [the Philippines] bilateral trade and investment relations with China and the rest of the world.”
The Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), a unit of BOI, said all 16 companies that participated in the five-day import expo sealed purchase agreements amounting to $900 million prior to the official opening of the expo.
More than $226 million was recorded under booked sales, sales under negotiation, retail sales and business matching activities.