According to Raymond J. Hall, ERA’s CEO, the mission for manufacturers is designed to help establish business contacts and relationships to sell into the dynamic Chinese marketplace. Participation will be limited to 20 companies, with priority given to manufacturer members of ERA. Participating companies can include their representatives in their delegations.

A simultaneous mission is offered for reps that don’t have a principal participating and who want to represent Chinese companies and/or establish contacts to help track their products going into China (as manufacturing in China has increased, particularly in the EMS community, proper assignment of design-in credit has become a significant compensation issue for both reps and distributors).

The trade shows, which are a core magnet for the mission, are scheduled on March 12 to March 14, 2003. The Shanghai electronicChina, operated by Messe Muenchen, is a sister event to Electronica, the biennial Munich-based trade fair.

Hall says that impetus for the mission emerged from the discussion at a recent meeting of ERA ’s Large Rep Firm Special Interest Group, headed by Tom McCarthy, CPMR, of QuadRep, a major rep firm with offices throughout the Pacific Rim. The reps attending the meeting reported that and their principals are being impacted in a variety of ways by the explosion of China-based manufacturing activity. “China can represent both a threat and an opportunity with its fast-growing roles as customer, outsource, and competitor, said McCarthy.

More information about the ERA-Department of Commerce trade mission is available at info@era.org or by calling (800) 776-7377 or (312) 527-3050.

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© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.