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