MAS-WM to advise on Far East opportunities
The region’s manufacturers should start seeing China as “an opportunity instead of just a threat”. That’s the view of Simon Griffiths, the chief executive of the Manufacturing Advisory Service – West Midlands (MAS-WM), who said now is the time to open up new trade links with the emerging superpower.
Griffiths said the recent high profile visit to China by Prime Minister David Cameron underlines “growing momentum and confidence” from UK companies to do business in the Far East.
However, he warned that entry into the Chinese market “should not be taken lightly”.
Griffiths said: “In recent years, China has been viewed as the big bad player, eating up high volume work and materials at an unbelievable rate.
“This has had a major effect on UK manufacturing and resulted in our industry moving towards the higher value added part of the global chain; this could now be the right time to make the most of this shift in approach.
“Chinese firms are desperate to incorporate the latest technologies and innovations and this lends itself perfectly to the UK’s knowledge base, one of our greatest strengths.”
MAS-WM is now working with Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds, who recently returned from a trade mission with the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC). The two will host a ‘China in your hand’ event in Birmingham on 28 January to give existing and fledging manufacturing exporters the chance to talk to experts about doing business in the country.
The event will highlight the need for low cost sourcing and joint ventures as wells as some of the West Midlands’ manufacturers’ concerns and barriers associated with Chinese trade.
