Xinhua, Buenos Aires :
The first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) will offer Argentina an unprecedented opportunity to promote its value-added products to a market of roughly 1.4 billion people, an Argentine export promoter told Xinhua.
“What we are most interested in is raising Argentina’s visibility by identifying it with wine, not just from Mendoza but also (the provinces) of Salta and San Juan,” said Mario Lazzaro, the executive director of the export promotion agency Promendoza of Mendoza Province.
Mendoza is among the Argentine provinces sending the largest delegation to the CIIE to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10. The delegation of the province, which is renowned for its wineries, embraces representatives from more than 30 companies, including 16 wineries.
It prepares to boost business via the CIIE, and Promendoza hopes to better position regional wines in China, where Argentina is currently the eighth-largest supplier of wine.
“The success of Argentinian wine owes a lot to engineering and biotechnology,” Lazzaro said.
“It has a significant amount of added value from the biotechnology used to obtain fruits in earlier seasons, taking into account that in Argentina we are in counter seasons to China,” said Lazzaro, referring to the seasonal differences between the southern and northern hemispheres.
Speeding up natural agricultural cycles allows Argentina, for example, to time its harvests so goods will reach Chinese shelves in time for major holidays, such as the Spring Festival.
But biotechnology is also applied to “obtain fruits that look better and have a better texture,” he added.
Growth in Mendoza’s wine exports to China “has been slow,” admitted Lazzaro, going from approximately 20 million U.S. dollars in 2015 to a little over 24 million dollars in 2017.
“It’s not the pace we are aiming for. We want it to be greater,” he said.
The province has also seen a 1.7 million U.S.-dollar increase in its olive oil exports to China, and a 600,000-dollar increase in concentrated grape often used as a sweetener.
The first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) will offer Argentina an unprecedented opportunity to promote its value-added products to a market of roughly 1.4 billion people, an Argentine export promoter told Xinhua.
“What we are most interested in is raising Argentina’s visibility by identifying it with wine, not just from Mendoza but also (the provinces) of Salta and San Juan,” said Mario Lazzaro, the executive director of the export promotion agency Promendoza of Mendoza Province.
Mendoza is among the Argentine provinces sending the largest delegation to the CIIE to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10. The delegation of the province, which is renowned for its wineries, embraces representatives from more than 30 companies, including 16 wineries.
It prepares to boost business via the CIIE, and Promendoza hopes to better position regional wines in China, where Argentina is currently the eighth-largest supplier of wine.
“The success of Argentinian wine owes a lot to engineering and biotechnology,” Lazzaro said.
“It has a significant amount of added value from the biotechnology used to obtain fruits in earlier seasons, taking into account that in Argentina we are in counter seasons to China,” said Lazzaro, referring to the seasonal differences between the southern and northern hemispheres.
Speeding up natural agricultural cycles allows Argentina, for example, to time its harvests so goods will reach Chinese shelves in time for major holidays, such as the Spring Festival.
But biotechnology is also applied to “obtain fruits that look better and have a better texture,” he added.
Growth in Mendoza’s wine exports to China “has been slow,” admitted Lazzaro, going from approximately 20 million U.S. dollars in 2015 to a little over 24 million dollars in 2017.
“It’s not the pace we are aiming for. We want it to be greater,” he said.
The province has also seen a 1.7 million U.S.-dollar increase in its olive oil exports to China, and a 600,000-dollar increase in concentrated grape often used as a sweetener.
