Exhibitors appraise of the field tour enabling them to experience a different Macao.
The “22nd Macao International Trade and Investment Fair” (22nd MIF) and “2017 Portuguese-Speaking-Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macao)” (2017 PLPEX) concluded successfully today (21st). During the three-day events, a total of 67 agreements were signed, covering co-operation between government and association and other areas of collaboration such as agriculture, tourism, sport, education, network promotion, product manufacturing, agency and repackaging, high technology, trade of food products and brand co-operation. Pre-arranged on-site buyers conducted a total of 389 matching sessions in the Business Matching Area.
The events provided a platform for promotion, showcasing, communication and exchanges to enterprises from Macao, the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking Countries, countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” and all over the world, to assist them to “go global” and expand development space, which also fully reflect the development vitality of Macao’s diverse economy. The two concurrent events conducted in total 45 activities including forums, seminars and presentations. In addition, MIF, this year, had specially invited Angola and Guangdong as its “Partner Country” and “Partner Province” respectively and set up thematic pavilions.
This year, enterprises from over 50 countries and regions participated in MIF, with more than 1,500 booths, and for the first time, PLPEX was held as unique event, attracting over 210 enterprises and institutes to participate. The concurrent events generated a cumulative effect and achieved significant results and wide acclaim from participating merchants and residents. Some exhibitors said that PLPEX, as an independent event, highlighted its professionalism, greatly enhancing the efficiency of business matching with enterprises from Portuguese-speaking Countries. Together with MIF, PLPEX presented a more distinctive feature to accommodate the diverse needs of businessmen from different places.
Diversified events to promote regional co-operation and expand development space of Macao
With a view to further capitalising on the advantage of the platform and reinforcing the theme of “Belt and Road” and regional economic and trade co-operation, MIF and PLPEX successfully held a number of associated activities, including “Angola, Guangdong and Macao Trade and Investment Forum”, “Cambodia Trade, Investment & Tourism Development Forum”, “The 7th Jiangsu – Macau • Portuguese-Speaking Countries Business Forum”, “Fujian, Macao and Portuguese-Speaking Countries Economic Exchange Networking Session”, “14th World Summit of Chinese Entrepreneurs’, “Lecture: How to Assist Portuguese-speaking Countries’ Products enter the Chinese Market” and “China and Portuguese Speaking Countries SMEs Investment and Trade Matchmaking Event”, to promote exchanges and communication between all parties and business and trade networking and collaboration between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, assist enterprises to “go global” and explore markets in countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”, increase multi-lateral economic and trade flow, and provide local enterprises and young people with more opportunities for co-operation and development. Furthermore, other captivating programmes, such as PSC Fashion Show, Portuguese-speaking Countries Art piece Showcase, and Cultural Music/Dance Performance also caught the attention of many participants and residents staying to enjoy the performance.
MIF and PLPEX held concurrently to generate cumulative effects
Exhibitor from Jiangsu, Mr. Sheng expressed that it is the first time his company has participated in MIF and they signed a co-operation intent with a bank in Macao. He believes that MIF covers an extensive area and a rich variety of contents; and in terms of networking with Portuguese-speaking Countries, Macao engages certain advantages, and thus the positioning of Macao as a Sino-Portuguese platform is very valuable and also helps to reduce the threshold for Mainland Chinese enterprises to enter into the Portuguese-speaking Countries’ markets and “go global”. He further said that their company had built a factory in Brazil after 2010, and in the recent years, they have encountered different problems in terms of the legal environment, tax policies, labour environment, public safety, culture and customs, when exploring the markets in countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”. Macao enjoys evident advantages in term of bilingual specialists in the Chinese and Portuguese languages, human and cultural exchanges, financial resources, which can help enterprises adapt more quickly to the Portuguese-speaking Countries’ markets. An exhibitor from Portugal, Ana Marimto, depicted that their company mainly targets the Macao market and some of their alcohol products have been available for sale in the Mainland, and this is the first time they have participated in PLPEX, as a standalone event, they hoped to allow more Mainland exhibitors to know about their products. Ms. Wang, an exhibitor from Taiwan said that they specialise in lemongrass essential oil and they sought to meet more agencies from Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland via the platform of MIF.
SMEs Pavilion a favourite with residents
The third day of the events fell on Saturday, a local resident, Ms. Tang, spent the whole morning in the venue and almost filled her backpack to bursting with the items she had bought. She said that this is the third time she has visited MIF as she generally has no spare time for shopping. She added that the two events set up many booths and offered a wide selection of products at discounted prices, and more importantly, she has trust in MIF, which is why she bought so many items. Besides strolling around the booths, she also visited other MIF and PLPEX pavilions and thought that the different countries, regions and enterprises showcasing their products have widened her knowledge. First-time MIF exhibitor, Mr. Huang from Ningxia, said that he brought to MIF pastries stuffed with Chinese wolfberry and attracted many Macao residents wanting a free taste and buy their products. He believes that the biggest gain of participating in MIF is to interact with customers and gather first-hand information of the industry and receive recommendations, which is really helpful to gain an understanding the market.
Exhibitorsappraise of field tourenabling them to experience a different Macao
To bring Macao’s role as a Sino-Portuguese platform into full play and promote Macao’s moderate economic diversification, IPIM organised business people participating in MIF and PLPEX to visit a number of outdoor and indoor MICE facilities in Macao and the Portuguese-speaking Countries’ Food Products Exhibition Centre in order for them to gain a better understanding of the strength of Macao’s MICE industry in terms of hardware and software and the positioning of Macao’s role as a Sino-Portuguese platform and boost the community economy of Macao through the guided tour. An exhibitor in the tourism sector, Mr. Zhang from Tianjin, said that the arranged field tour allowed him to understand different aspects of Macao. Ms. Wang, a tourism agent from Shenzhen, mentioned that she was very honoured to have the opportunity to visit the MICE venues and historical attractions and taste the local street food, and this was a rewarding experience. Furthermore, IPIM will also arrange a field trip to Zhuhai and Zhongshan for businesspeople from Portuguese-speaking Countries from 22nd to 24th October to deepen their understanding of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as well as to reinforce exchanges between enterprises from different places.
The 23rd MIF and 2018 PLPEX are scheduled to take place from 18th to 20th October 2018.
