“Honduras is small, but has great enthusiasm for China” – Exclusive interview with Yadira Gomez Chavarria, Minister of Tourism of Honduras | Focus on China International Import Expo

The Sixth China International Import Expo National Exhibition was fully resumed offline. 69 countries and 3 international organizations from five continents gathered together. Honduras, Kazakhstan, Serbia, South Africa, and Vietnam served as the guest countries and became the guest countries this year. Highlights of the National Show.

At the Honduran booth of the National Exhibition in Hall 5.2 of the CIIE, Honduras Minister of Tourism Yadira Gomez Chavarria had an in-depth conversation with reporters. Coffee, tobacco, seafood… This new friend is eager to introduce the specialties of his country to Chinese consumers.

“The atmosphere (of the CIIE) is very good! We have shared it with many people and many countries, and we feel that the Chinese government is very friendly.” Yadira Gomez Chavarria told reporters.

Yadira Gomez Chavarria (Photo by Wang Zhexi)

“For the market”

As a first-time exhibitor and guest country of the CIIE, Honduras’ national exhibition booth showed visitors the country’s rich tourism resources, archaeological discoveries, natural scenery and magical experiences in multiple dimensions, and promoted the country’s high-quality products on site, including tobacco and coffee. , cocoa, fruits and delicious seafood, etc.

At the scene, the reporter saw that there were crowds of people in front of the information desk, and keywords such as “seafood” and “coffee” were leaked from time to time, making it a busy scene.

(Photo by Wang Zhexi)

Yadira Gomez Chavarria told reporters, “We are one of the best coffee producers, and our bananas, pineapples and other fruits, and seafood are very good.”

Honduras is located in northern Central America, and the Mayan civilization is one of the most famous ancient civilizations in Central America. Yadira Gomez Chavarria also focused on introducing the tourism resources of Honduras to reporters, including Copán, the largest city in the Mayan civilization and the coral reef second only to Australia.

Although these scenery cannot be brought to the scene like food exhibits such as coffee, Honduras still tries its best to let the audience feel the local scenery. “We have prepared many videos to show the beauty of Honduras,” said Yadira Gomez Chavarria.

When a reporter asked why we still need to participate in offline exhibitions like the CIIE since there are video displays and Internet purchasing is very popular, Yadira Gomez Chavarria bluntly said, “It’s for the market.”

“If we start trading with China, we need to ‘jump’. Our order volume may be small (for China), but China’s huge market can give almost all of our products a way out.”

In addition to bringing a variety of products, Honduras also performed dance and music performances on site. Although the stage was small, Honduras was very enthusiastic about China.

equality and reciprocity

On June 12, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks with Honduran President Castro who was in China for a state visit. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between my country and Honduras in March this year, the relationship between the two countries has taken off rapidly and has made a good start, showing great vitality and broad prospects. Bilateral trade exchanges have become increasingly frequent.

According to Chinese statistics, in 2022, the trade volume between China and Hong Kong will be nearly 1.6 billion US dollars. From January to August this year, China’s imports from floods surged by 191%. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Honduran white shrimp, coffee, bananas and other agricultural products have successively gained access to the Chinese market, injecting vitality into bilateral trade and meeting the diversified needs of domestic consumption.

Yadira Gomez Chavarria has personal experience of this. She believes that trade with China can help the growth of local companies.

“We will do our best to bring (these) companies to China. Although our companies are relatively small, I think if they can come here, they have the possibility of development.” Yadira Gomez Chavarria said, below In this step, Honduras will further promote trade between the two countries and facilitate the implementation of visas from China to Honduras.

“I think it will be very helpful for connectivity between the two countries. We are now looking to other Central American countries that are already connected with China, such as Panama, as an intermediate point between the two countries.”

During the interview, Yadira Gomez Chavarria also repeatedly talked about her expectations for the bright future after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“I think we will have a very strong bilateral relationship.” Yadira Gomez Chavarria told reporters, “We are very happy to have such a relationship because China respects us very much, even though we are small (area) and China is huge (area) , but the relationship between both parties is equal.”

“We very much like the way China has created prosperity despite its huge population. You have good education and complete medical services, which is what every country wants. We have benefited a lot from it.”

“We hope to establish a good relationship with the Chinese government and Chinese people.” Yadira Gomez Chavarria finally said.