Trade Community Agents
You will find that there are plenty of agents who operate and find their business on the trade communities. Agents are people that are either located in the region or have very good connections with multiple manufacturers in that regions. These people can often be as useful as they are frustrating! When you are looking for new product lines you generally want to be dealing directly with the manufacturer as the prices are likely to be considerably less expensive. However, because of the nature of the work these people carry out, their English tends to be much better than average, which makes communicating your requirements very much easier.
Agents can be very useful if you are looking for something in particular or if you are looking to have a product fabricated or manufactured. A good agent can either source or negotiate a manufacturing deal on your behalf without you personally having to visit the region. Because of their knowledge of the area and the businesses that operate therein and their command of both English and the local languages, these people can save you a lot of time and money.
I would stress at this point that the manufacture of any product should not be entered into lightly, as the process can be very time consuming and costly. So, if you do decide to have a product manufactured on your behalf, first make sure that you have a proven market for that product. However, if you are going to manufacture anything, Asia, even withstanding the shipping costs, has got to be a consideration and using agents with a good understanding of the locality is a must.
