Should British companies consider exporting their goods to Singapore or Taiwan? The Grocer spoke to some of the emerging markets' leading buyers to find out what the situation is like in their countries: South Africa. Neil Balfour, Tacoma: "The country is coming out of a very difficult period, and we are starting to feel a slight quickening of pace, which is good news. "With the new South Africa there is a burgeoning section of affluent black people which is a whole new market. "We are interested in quality British products, the kind of things that can only be produced in the UK. They may be more expensive, but there are people willing to pay the price." Taiwan Chen-Chung Tai, Nanlien International: "There is not a great knowledge of British products over in Taiwan at the moment, there is not a wide choice. Whisky is the biggest British import at the moment. "Taiwan has a big market for eating out. I'm looking to source things like soft drinks and confectionery. "Exporters would need to offer a great deal of marketing support with their products if they want to compete with local producers. "There are high costs involved when exporting to Taiwan, but there is a lot of potential as well." Poland Jacek Slonowski, SaneChem: "At the moment people are reluctant to buy British foods because of things like BSE and foot and mouth. People are tending to be a lot more cautious when it comes to UK products. "There is a big demand for ready meals. We have a lot of foriegn foods already available but there is always room for more, and restaurants and hotels are always looking for good quality products." Singapore Goh Hieng Long, Cold Storage: "There is a market for some British products. We import sauces, soup and mineral water, but distance is a problem and prices are often very high. "American culture has a big influence on Singapore, we get a lot of US shows on television and their products get a great deal of exposure, so any British products need to be heavily promoted and marketed." Hungary Ferenc Ketting, Multikon: "Registration fees are a big difficulty for any exporter, because the government charges extremely high fees, sometimes as high as 50% of the product price. "But there's a great deal of potential here. In the short term companies might not be making much money, but anyone looking to import into Hungary has to think of the long term benefits." {{FEAT. GENERAL }}