DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- Tejari Announces Ambitious China Expansion Plan, Paving a New Silk Road Oriented Around Electronic Commerce

The marketplace spirit was alive and well at the UAE-China Business and Economic Cooperation Forum held in the city of Shanghai as Tejari vowed to develop a new "e-Silk Road" to restore the former glory and success of the historical trade route between China and the Middle East. Tejari's participation in the forum marked the culmination of a high-profile trade delegation from the UAE to China, led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080402/299525 )

Within the forum, high-level Emirati and Chinese officials witnessed two strategic cooperation agreements between Tejari and its Chinese business partners to advance the e-Silk Road vision. The first agreement formed a joint venture with Ren Jun, Chairman of YinShengTai Group, the leading real estate developer in Qingdao, China, to establish Tejari China (under the Chinese brand name of 'Te Jia Ye') and set in motion the opening of over a dozen new offices across China throughout 2008. The subsequent initiative formed a strategic agreement with Hensen Tien, General Manager, of ShanghaiMart, China's first and Asia's largest permanent international trade mart, to facilitate export promotion and strengthen commercial links for textile trade with the Middle East.

Omar Hijazi, CEO of Tejari, joined the distinguished delegation of UAE's leading organizations in a four-day summit designed to further enhance trade with China.

Hijazi said: "Our ambitious plans mirror the pace and energy of this region, and we are enormously proud to join this inaugural trade delegation as we fulfill our mission to build up and facilitate greater trade opportunities between the UAE and China. Tejari's electronic marketplace comprises the largest buyer network in the Middle East and Chinese businesses can benefit from our unique matchmaking and transactional technology to secure more trade and interactions".

Chinese business will be able to benefit from the global product exposure that e-commerce can bring by setting up their online showrooms and bid electronically on the tenders and auctions posted on the Tejari marketplace. It is through Tejari's success in boosting links between emerging markets globally that they are now able to advance the traditional Silk Road trade route in order to connect Chinese businesses to our 150,000 members in the Middle East.

Tejari's local operations will be executed through its business partnership with the YinShengTai Group, the leading real estate developer in Qingdao, China. Established in 2003, YinShengTai Group has constructed more than 0.8 million square meters of high quality residential and commercial real estate property.

In his trade mission speech, Ren Jun, Chairman of YinShengTai Group said: "There are long-standing trade ties between China and the Middle East. Since as early as 2000 years ago when the DongHan Dynasty existed, the world-famous 'Silk Road' prospered. At present, China is the second largest trading partner to Dubai since three consecutive years as well as the largest source of imports. I believe that the 'e-Silk Road' advocated by Tejari's online marketplace will be the bridge between China and the Middle East, and will help China's trade relations in the region to flourish".

Tejari's first trade partnership with ShanghaiMart is focused on serving China's largest export market, the textile industry. Trade between the UAE and China increased by 40 per cent last year to US$20 billion, of which textiles accounted for US$2.4 billion. The partnership will launch a dedicated trading community portal at http://www.ishanghaimart.com, which will significantly lift trade between Shanghai and Dubai along with the broader Middle East region.

Through http://www.ishanghaimart.com ShanghaiMart sellers can now directly reach the UAE and emerging markets where Tejari is present in order to increase their visibility and sales. Furthermore, as part of this deal, Tejari will deploy its proprietary e-readiness training program, ensuring that all Shanghai members are properly trained to conduct business online. This program will provide eReady(TM) certifications to participating members and is expected to have a direct impact on the capacity development and e-readiness of suppliers in the Shanghai region.

Hensen Tien, General Manager, ShanghaiMart said "Through this specialist portal ShanghaiMart members will not only be able to transcend boarders with direct trade links across the world, but will also benefit from Tejari's expertise which will significantly boost trade for our 2,500 member business community. The agreement between ShanghaiMart and Tejari will moreover provide the base for a direct link between over 220,000 Chinese textile manufacturers and buyers across the world."

"With these business agreements in place, Tejari aims to export Dubai's spirit of innovation to directly advance trade between two of the most rapidly developing economies in the world. Chinese sellers now have direct channel to the Middle East markets and will increase their export efficiency. We see the new generation of Fortune 500 companies coming from the emerging markets such as the UAE and China. By bringing advanced electronic commerce technologies to the new economies we hope to drive significant benefits to businesses with more access to trade opportunities, increased transparency, and lowered transaction costs that will stage Tejari as the bridge to the future of commerce." said Hijazi.

As part of the UAE China Summit program and to celebrate the signing of these partnerships, Tejari hosted a VIP reception at the Pudong Shangri-la hotel under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Khalid Sultan al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade in the UAE. The event was attended by key officials from the UAE and Chinese delegations. Tejari unveiled its export promotion packages to Chinese suppliers and plans for a series of ten offices to be opened in the country throughout the upcoming months. Tejari aims to bring onboard 100,000 companies in the year 2008.

Tejari, which was launched by the Government of Dubai, is one of the most successful units of Dubai World, a holding company responsible for much of the Emirate of Dubai's phenomenal economic growth. Tejari's innovative online trading portal and training programs help to facilitate trade between companies and geographies across the globe and to develop electronic commerce skills of business throughout the emerging markets. Tejari is committed to not leaving any company behind as the business world is transformed by electronic commerce.

About Tejari

Tejari is one of the leading B2B online marketplaces in the emerging markets. Tejari enables buyers and sellers to transact and share information about a variety of goods and services via a secured Internet environment. Tejari provides a single point of contact for an open and growing community of buyers and suppliers, permitting spot-purchasing and on-line auctions that enable participants' real-time access to new markets and greater cost savings. Visit Tejari at http://www.tejari.com

About Export Promotion Package (EPP)

Export Promotion Package is Tejari's export promotion service through a combination of online and offline services. The online part allows EPP members to transact directly with Middle East buyers and the offline part allows supplier members to attend sourcing fairs abroad and meet face-to-face with contracting buyers.

For further information, please contact: Tejari Hill and Knowlton Howaida Rabee Rania Helmy Events and Public Relations Manager Account Manager Tel: +971-4-391-3777 Tel: +971-4-3344930 E-mail: Howaida.Rabee@tejari.com Email:rania.helmy@hillandknowlton.com

For further information, please contact: Tejari, Howaida Rabee, Events and Public Relations Manager, Tel: +971-4-391-3777, E-mail: Howaida.Rabee@tejari.com; Hill and Knowlton, Rania Helmy, Account Manager, Tel: +971-4-3344930, Email:rania.helmy@hillandknowlton.com