Nearly 30 expert service organizations from some 20 countries will offer expert advice on combating the financial crisis at an international talent fair to be held in Shenzhen on Friday and Saturday, fair organizers said yesterday.

The 2008 Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), the largest of its kind in China, will be held at the Convention and Exhibition Center.

The expert service agencies would offer Chinese employers training services free of charge, said the Shenzhen Municipal Personnel Bureau, one of the fair organizers. The agencies would try to assist Chinese companies to achieve satisfactory performances in the global financial crisis, the bureau said.

The agencies had been offering expert advice for many years and some had launched projects in China, which were well received by Chinese organizations, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), the fair initiator, said.

The British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) has been cooperating with SAFEA for more than 10 years. The agency, supported by the British Government and donations, launches over 50 projects in China every year in textiles, aquatic products and food.

BESO was set up in 1972 and offers expertise to developing countries to help enhance their economies. It usually sends volunteers to small and medium enterprises in those countries to offer consultation and training in technology, scientific research, agriculture, medicine, education and culture.

Professional expertise can assist Shenzhen to enhance its independent innovative capability, Li Feng, executive vice mayor of the city, said Monday.

"It is obvious that high-end industries have been less affected by the crisis and it is the same for top professionals who will hopefully help push Shenzhen's economic growth."

Editor: Yan