The United States Mexico-Chamber of Commerce California Regional Chapter organized its fourth trade mission to Asia. Past missions have been so successful that the board of directors authorized a trip to India to explore opportunities.
The trade mission began in Hong Kong where the business delegates attended meetings at various locations such as Hutchinson Port Holdings, operator of one of the busiest ports in Asia, where we met Monica Charvet, the company’s marketing manager for Latin America. After that meeting we visited Cathay Pacific Cargo’s facilities to understand how merchandise travels from the U.S. or Mexico to Asia, we had the opportunity to meet with Sarah Chau (who is this? What is her title?). During the same day we visited Jimmy Chiang, director of promotions at InvestHK, a company that assists organizations wanting to set up a presence in Hong Kong.
We also had the pleasure of meeting Alicia Buenrostro Massieu, consul general of Mexico in Hong Kong who kindly assisted in setting up a meeting with companies that have invested in Hong Kong and learned about the challenges and opportunities of entering the Asian Market.
Next, we travelled to Shenzhen where we had the opportunity to meet with professionals at CWCC, a business advisory firm, and attend a presentation on exploring business opportunities in China, taxation and challenges.
In Guangzhou we visited the Interceramic plant. Interceramic is a top manufacturer and distributor of ceramic tile and natural stone.
One of the goals of members of delegation was to learn more about doing business in Singapore. In response, Eduardo Ramos Gomez, a partner at the law firm Duane Morris LLP, organized a seminar titled “Doing Business in Singapore: A Gateway to Asia” led by Rachel Rui Qi Choo, Akshay Kothari, and Roshini Mohan Krishnan. Who are these people? What professions and companies? We also visited the Latin American Chamber of Commerce and attended a presentation focused on market entry strategies delivered by Altios International and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
We travelled to Mumbai and meet with Anirudha Dutta, an author and analyst with Capital Group, who provided an overview of the status of the Indian market—its challenges, current economic forecast and planned initiatives ideas of India’s new president, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Our experiences in India were magnificent and we learned many ways Mexico and the United States can create partnerships.
In Delhi, we visited Cinepolis, a Mexican movie company, and met with the director general Javier Sotomayor who presented a general overview of the challenges the company had to face in the initial phases of establishing their business in Dehli and how they became a very important part of the company’s worldwide success.
