NANNING: Dried-fruit entrepreneur Pollapat Mahitapong has set up three new production lines at her processing factory in Thailand, eyeing China’s giant market.
For three consecutive years, the Thai entrepreneur has participated in the annual China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Thanks to the platform, her dried fruits are sold in China as well as Vietnam and Singapore.
At the expo, which closed on Monday, entrepreneurs such as Mahitapong had been inspired by the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in mid-November, expecting their businesses to benefit from the agreement and to expand across the participating countries.
A total of 15 Asia-Pacific countries including ASEAN’s 10 member states and China signed the RCEP, the world’s biggest trade pact.
After the pact takes effect, more than 90 percent of import tariffs between participating countries will be phased out, which will reduce production costs and commodity prices, bringing benefits to both enterprises and consumers.
“I’m confident I’ll receive more orders from ASEAN and even from Japan and the Republic of Korea through the RCEP,” said Mahitapong. She said her husband’s nephew, who holds an MBA degree, is ready to help with their business. “I’ve heard business people will be able to obtain visas more conveniently among RCEP countries, so we plan to send him to Japan to do market research after the pandemic,” she added. –Agencies
