Sustained by the oil boom in recent years, the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) markets are more and more attractive to suppliers in China.

From 2003 to 2005, economic growth in the MENA region ( excluding Iraq) was the strongest in nearly three decades, averaging 6.2 percent a year, up from an average annual growth rate of 3.7 percent during the 1990s, according to the World Bank Annual Report 2006.

The continuous growth the economies of the MENA region resulted in increasingly consumer-based markets, said Bill Janeri, General Manager of the Middle East for Global Sources, a Hong Kong-based B2B (business to business) trade media publisher.

The increasing demands in markets of the MENA region constitute a lure to suppliers around the world, including those in China.

Driven by a desire to diversify their markets, many suppliers in China wants to establish themselves in "new, emerging markets", Janeri said.

A survey by Global Sources indicated that 58 percent of Chinese suppliers are currently exporting to the MENA region, while another 21 percent plan to enter the region within two years.

China is now definitely "the world's workshop", Janeri said, adding that with both manufacturing and manufacturing processes transferred to China, it "boasts sophisticated, world-class products."

Chinese suppliers are reliable and committed, "they want to develop long-term relationships," he added.

Source: Xinhua