With the help of professionals, almost 3,000 fruit, vegetable, seed and other food wholesalers in Central Mexico hope to export their products to Cuba and China.
The wholesalers at the Toluca Supply Center, the largest wholesale market in the central State of Mexico, are looking to academics and sector officials for advice.
"As merchants, we don't want to settle for this (local market); we want to transcend borders and take our products to Cuba and China," Salvador Palma, president of the market's administrative committee, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Consulting experts, he said, "allows us to learn the traditions, tastes and customs of those who will be our new customers abroad."
To that end, wholesalers met recently with members of the Latin American and Caribbean Academic Network on China, officials of the Secretariat of Agricultural Development of the State of Mexico, and representatives from state agencies that ensure vegetable and aquaculture standards.
Professor Yrmina Eng at the University of Havana, and analyst Ricardo Roman Chang at the China-Mexico Studies Center at Mexico's National Autonomous University, believe that the wholesalers have the potential to expand their business to Cuba and China.
What they need, say the experts, is to have a clear idea of which goods the target countries may be interested in, and they also have to consider trade logistics.
According to Eng, while the Cuban market offers suppliers untapped potential, it also presents difficulties.
"There is a great Cuban demand that officials and academics can identify so producers and wholesalers from the Toluca Supply Center can ship those products, though they also need to know about Cuba's needs and deficiencies," said Eng.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com
