SHANGHAI: The Philippines will hold its first state-level trade exhibition in the city on March 27 as an important business activity in China, spearheaded by its Department of Trade and Industry.
The four-day event - entitled Philippine Solo Exhibition - will have more than 160 Philippine enterprises attending. Exhibits involve food, beverages, furniture, home furnishings and fashion accessories.
    Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formed an inter-agency Co-ordinating Committee to conduct the fair.
    Song Fangsheng, spokesman with the Shanghai International Exhibition Company Ltd, said it was the Philippines' first major solo trade exhibition in Shanghai. The event has the theme "Philippine-China: Ties That Bind."
    "It is a high-profile project of the Philippine Government and part of its Philippine Export Development Plan for China," said Felicidad Tan-Co, executive director of the Centre for International Trade Expositions and Missions, another organizer of the exhibition.
    "The exhibition highlights many business opportunities available to foreign investors in the Philippines," Song added.
    Statistics reveal Sino-Philippine trade grew by an annual average of 27 per cent between 1995 and 2001.
    The Philippines exported semiconductor materials, machine parts, gasoline, cotton and plastics while the Chinese side sold home appliances, mobile phones and garments, and invested in the Philippines, Song said.
    During the exhibition, a food festival will be held to display the favourites of Filipinos along with a fashion fair to showcase Manila Wear.