Sanya explores cooperation and business opportunities with Latvia

A business delegation from Hainan's tourism city of Sanya paid a visit to the Baltic country of Latvia from Aug 21 to 23 to promote tourism and explore business cooperation opportunities.

The delegation consisted of five members from Sanya Municipal Committee of the the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Sanya's tourism, culture, radio, television and sports bureau, as well as the city's municipal department of commerce. 

The trip was part of Sanya's efforts to increase its global exposure, as well as to promote its tourism resources on the Baltic coast and in the Northern Europe region with the goal of strengthening cooperation and business exchanges between Sanya and these places. From Aug 21 to 29, the group's itinerary will cover Latvia, Croatia, and Hungary. 

From Aug 21 to 22, the members visited the Ministry of Transport of Latvia, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, as well as Riga International Airport. In-depth exchanges were held on promoting the opening of the Sanya-Riga direct air route, the use of complementary advantages to jointly develop tourism products, as well as the promotion of business and economic exchanges. Preliminary consensus was also reached on some other issues.

On Aug 23, a special promotion conference was held in Latvia's capital of Riga. Rong Liping, chairperson of the CPPCC Sanya Municipal Committee, addressed the audience and introduced the landscape, humanities, and history of Sanya, as well as the city's advantages in terms of shopping, living, and tourism. Rong highlighted Sanya's visa-free policies and tropical coastal tourism products for 59 countries, such as Latvia.

The group also conducted in-depth exchanges with relevant government departments and enterprises in Latvia, with many local enterprises expressing their strong interest in participating in the construction of the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone and Port.

Since the beginning of this year, Sanya has been actively organizing tourism promotion activities to help local enterprises "go global" and attract foreign investment. The city has teamed up with tourism agencies, such as Thomas Cook and Colatou, to promote itself overseas. 

Officials discuss cooperation and business opportunities at the Sanya City (Riga) Promotion Event on Aug 23. [Photo/Xinhua]