LOCAL exhibitors at the 5th Nanning CAEXPO received a royal welcome yesterday as Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Masna paid a visit to the Brunei booths as well as the Cities of Charm pavilion at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre (NICEC).

Princess Hajah Masna greeted visitors at the entrance of both pavilions, the Cities of Charm and the Asean Commodities and Trade, where the Brunei contingent set up a beautiful display that compliments the essence of Brunei with its vision of Kg Ayer and the best of what local ICT companies have to offer.

The Princess, who arrived that afternoon, began her visit with a tour of the Asean Commodities and Trade pavilion where there were several booths from local ICT and industry sector companies. At this pavilion, the princess took the opportunity to ask the exhibitors various questions that revolved around what their industries had to offer.

Among the exhibitors that had their displays up and running were Sabli Food Industries, Aseana Taste and Ridha Handicrafts, and most of the ICT companies and incubates such as BruKiosk, WestEgrets and HAD Technologies.

From there, the Princess moved to the Cities of Charm pavilion, where Sheikh Jamaluddin, Director of Brunei Tourism Board, took the opportunity to show her the scaled walk-in model form of the Kampong Ayer Cultural Centre, which was completed this year.

The walk-in model portrays part of the actual centre with a wide array of information on Brunei and its many tourist destinations, freely available to be seen by all visitors.

Pictures of the many destinations complimented the display with a huge picture of Kampong Ayer towering the display on one side, while another picture of a Brunei tourist destination stood on the other.

The 5th Nanning CAEXPO officially begins today, October 22, with a grand opening ceremony that is expected to attract literally hundreds and thousands of visitors from various countries looking for the latest commercial trends available.

Local ICT exhibitors along with the rest of the participants were given several days to prepare their displays for the official opening and an official preview was conducted for state leaders and delegation heads who are scheduled to attend the various meetings and forums that will be running concurrently throughout the four-day expo.

Yesterday was the official preview for the officials and VIPs who, along with visiting their own countries' displays, also took the opportunity to tour some of the displays of other countries that are participating in the expo.

Earlier yesterday, Her Royal Highness, who is the Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MoFAT), began the first day of her programme at the second China-Asean High-Level Women's Forum in Nanning, the People's Republic of China.

According to a statement issued by MoFAT, Her Royal Highness together with the heads of delegations of the forum, attended a group courtesy call in the evening on Her Excellency Gu Xiulian, President of the All-China Women's Federation and President of the China-Asean Association at a leading hotel in Nanning.

Following the courtesy call, Her Royal Highness attended a welcoming banquet hosted by the All-China Women's Federation and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Government for all participants of the forum.

Throughout the visit, Her Royal Highness is being accompanied by Pengiran Lela Cheteria Sahibun Najabah Pengiran Anak Hj Abdul Aziz Pengiran Jaya Negara Pengiran Hj Abu Bakar.The Brunei Times