ASIA-INVEST PROGRAMME
The Asia-Invest Programme was launched in 1997 as an initiative of the European
Union to promote and support business co-operation between the EU Member States
and Asia.
The Programme provides assistance to intermediary organisations to facilitate
mutually beneficial partnerships between EU and Asian companies, in particular
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as to strengthen the
framework conditions to increase trade and investment flows between the two
regions.
The Programme will continue for another 5-year period from 2003-2007, with a
budget for project funding of €35 million, in which three main areas of activity
will be pursued: (i) Business to business match-making and
partnership building; (ii) Asian private sector development, and (iii)
Institutional capacity building, networking and dialogue.
The project TECHFOOD EU-ASIA is a project co financed by the European Commission
under the Programme Asia Invest 2006-2007.
The project recognize that, in the
context of globalization and increasing regional food-trade, issues of food
safety and international coordination upon related policy, standards, risk
evaluation, and technology development have taken on renewed prominence and
urgency.
The overall aim is therefore to promote technological and business collaboration
between SMEs from the European Union and Asia in the field of Food Processing
and Food Packaging technologies.
Small and medium sized enterprises from Italy,
Slovenia and Hungary as much as from China, Mongolia and Vietnam operating in
the target sector are warmly invited to participate in the project which will
culminate in the organization of two matchmaking events, one in Italy and one in
China.