Commerce and Industry: PRESS RELEASE - China mission means business
PRESS
RELEASE
China mission means business
A five-strong Sheffield-led
team will be heading east on Monday on a quest for knowledge.
Sheffield Positive Action
Training Consortium (SPAT-C) and the city’s Black Business Forum are undertaking
a trade mission to Xiamen, China from 6th to 13th September 2004 to coincide
with the China International Fair for Investment & Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen
(Fujian province) – 7 11 September 2004.
The trade mission is geared
towards ethnic minority entrepreneurs seeking out export/import trade, investment
opportunities and towards training providers. There’ll be opportunities
to meet and establish direct contacts with local and regional authorities in
China for future projects.
Planned activities also
include a visit to Hefei, capital of and provincial political, economic, cultural,
IT, financial and commercial centre for Anhui province, offering significant
prospects to small enterprises and training providers in economic development
in Sheffield and also the hosting of the delegation by a small business association
in Fujian Province.
The China venture co-incides
with a thirteen-week, SPAT-C -run export/import training course to commence
in October, launched this week with a ‘taster’ workshop: “Introduction
to Trading with China”. The course will combine practical export procedures
with a vocational qualification.
Setting the backdrop, Chief
Executive of SPAT-C, Satish Sachdeva said: “The Project will seek to establish
a ‘bridgehead’ for future development between the Sheffield BME
business community and appropriate provinces, municipalities and autonomous
regions in China, in particular within the Province of Fujian and the Municipality
of Xiamen, as well as relevant state ministries, commissions, offices, bureaux,
and associations in the field of investment opportunities and policy, and introduce
investment promotion projects and enterprise products from across China. The
visit is a follow up to a prestigious delegation of Chinese experts visiting
Sheffield in 2001.
SPAT-C consultant Steve
Ayris, who has convened the China mission and the export training added: “It
will be an opportunity to consolidate the collaboration developed, for the benefit
of social enterprise links between Sheffield and China – for the purpose
of this, the itinerary will also include a visit to the township of Hefei, capital
of and provincial political, economic, cultural, IT, financial and commercial
centre for Anhui province. Hefei is also a key scientific research and educational
base in China. This part of the itinerary is planned because the visit will
ideally suit the needs of Sheffield’s small entrepreneurs in the retail
and wholesale sectors. Yet another proposed event is the hosting of the Sheffield
delegation by an association of small businesses in the Fujian Province and
the trade & investment setup within the regional government of Guanzhou
Province. We have also already received several enquiries about investment opportunities
in South Yorkshire from Chinese entrepreneurs, prospects for studentships in
the UK and the channelling of UK expertise to Chinese counterparts. Others may
emerge after the return of the delegation, and the planned activity is needed
so as to fully capitalise on these opportunities (both on behalf of the BME
sector and other mainstream interests in Sheffield).”
EDITORS NOTE
The party will depart from Sheffield (Midland Station) for Shanghai, then Xiamen,
on Monday at 2.50 pm.
Sheffield Positive Action
Training Consortium (SPAT-C) is a Sheffield, UK-based training and economic
development agency. One of the long-established economic development and training
agencies in Sheffield, delivering vocational training, initially on behalf of
the Council, and subsequently under ESF and LSC suppliers’ contracts,
its programmes are designed to tackle disadvantages in training and the labour
market access facing deprived members of the BME communities, including bona
fide refugees. SPAT-C also initiate developments that have a multi-cultural
and community cohesion focus.
Contact: Steve Ayris 0114
275 6815 or 07734 130517 sayris@uk2.net , admin@spatc.com
3 September 2004
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