Expo brings big business to autonomous region
Tibet was showcased to the world as open, confident, inclusive, beautiful and harmonious at the fourth China Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo, local officials said.
At this year’s event, which is one of the most important in the autonomous region’s calendar, major issues related to tourism development, targeted poverty alleviation and investment promotion were discussed.
A total of 108 contracts were signed during the expo, reaching a total transaction value of more than 54 billion yuan ($7.86 billion).
These mainly focused on tourism, environmentally friendly industries, modern services, border trade and logistics, according to Ngapo Jinyon, chairman of the Tibet Federation of Industry and Commerce.
He said this shows how Tibet’s business environment has significantly improved, adding that investments can help promote the optimisation and upgrading of the region’s industries and stimulate market vitality.
During the expo, State-owned enterprises agreed to invest more than 16.9 billion yuan in Tibet, to further help relieve poverty in the region. Private companies also signed some 40 projects with a total investment of 18.2 billion yuan and donated cash and medical equipment for targeted poverty alleviation within the autonomous region.
A meeting was held to discuss investors’ needs that was presided over by Qizhala, chairman of the regional government, and attended by the mayors of Tibet’s cities, who promised efficiency in their dealings with private companies.
Zhuang Yan, deputy Party chief of the region, said the expo built a platform to promote cultural, tourism and business co-operation between Tibet and the world, thus helping the region to further open up.
He described this year’s event as "more international" than its previous iterations.
Among the 1,500 or so delegates who attended the event, 256 were from foreign countries, including Nepal, Mongolia, Spain, Hungary and India. The event was also open to foreign media.