The 13th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO 2017) held a press conference in Macao on January 10, 2017.
The 13th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO 2017) will be held from January 12 to 14 at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, under the theme of Embracing Change, expecting to attract nearly 800 elites of global Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition (MICE) industry and business men to attend. This year’s Forum emphasizes the invitation to the representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries, in order to highlight Macao’s role as the cooperation platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
CEFCO 2017 is co-organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO), and jointly coordinated by the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). To deepen the media’s understanding of this year’s Forum, following the press conference held in Beijing on December 12, 2016, another press conference was held in Macao today (January 10, 2017), and IPIM Executive Director, Irene V. K. Lau and Deputy Director of the Department of Exposition of the CCOIC, Wang Rui introduced the latest preparations of CEFCO 2017.
According to Irene V. K. Lau, she was very pleased that Macao became the first region besides Mainland China to hold the Forum, and she believed that this Forum will serve as affirmation to the development of Macao MICE industry and promote the communication and cooperation between Macao’s exhibition companies and their overseas and domestic peers, so that professionals of the international convention and exhibition industry could better understand the advantages of Macao´s MICE market, including policy advantages. As a matter of fact, the 13th Five-Year Plan of the People’s Republic of China continues to support Macao to actively develop industries such as convention, exhibition and trade. The Macao SAR Government provides a series of support to the organizers and participants in trade fairs. In terms of advantages in hardware and software, Macao offers over 190 thousand square meters of large-scale international convention and exhibition venues as well as hotel and catering facilities. The scale and professional level of the convention and exhibition professionals also continues to rise, providing strong support for promoting the internationalization and professional development of Macao´s MICE industry. In turn, Wang Rui believed that Macau, through this Forum, could demonstrate to the global MICE sector its unique charm.
During CEFCO 2017, “Global CEO Roundtable” will be held for the first time. Besides, there will be 3 plenary sessions, 4 sub-group meetings and 4 thematic lectures. On the sessions and meetings, important topics such as “Transformation of Exhibition Industry assists the Global Economic Recovery”, “Approach to Internationalization of Exhibition Companies”, “New Direction of Global MICE Industry under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative”, “Change in the Government’s role in Promoting the Development of the Exhibition Industry” and “Innovative Road of Macao MICE Industry” will be discussed. On the thematic lectures, hot innovations such as Cloud platforms and VR technology will be discussed. From the perspectives of government, enterprises and associations, it will be discussed how the global exhibition industry should seize the opportunity, embrace the challenge, and realize its transformation and development under the new circumstances where world economic recovery remains slow and China is accelerating its economic transformation and modernization.
“Exhibition and negotiation area for Macao exhibition enterprises” is set up to assist enterprises in expanding business opportunities
This year’s Forum highlights the invitation to representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries. So far, it has been confirmed that a lot of representatives from Portuguese-speaking countries, mainly from Angola, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Portugal, will attend the Forum, which will make full use of Macao’s role as a cooperation platform and also enhance the level of internationalization of this year’s event. The Forum will bring together representatives from well-known domestic, overseas and Macao exhibition industry as guest speakers to increase the participation of Macao MICE industry, and arrange visits to Macao convention and exhibition facilities and meanwhile experiencing the cultural tourism features of Macao, so as to deepen the participants' understanding of Macao's convention and exhibition facilities as well as Macao's economy and culture. In addition, the Forum will also set up an “exhibition and negotiation area for Macao exhibition enterprises”, Macao MICE enterprises and the six gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires will participate in the event. Participants will be able to visit the exhibition area during the event and communicate with the Macao MICE enterprises, boosting cooperation with the local exhibition industry on business opportunities.
Since its foundation in 2005,CEFCO has adhered to the idea of “opening-up, cooperation and win-win”. Moreover, CEFCO has actively engaged in the construction of a platform for exchange and cooperation between China and foreign countries’ exhibition industry and has been successfully held in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places for 12 consecutive years, attracting annually about 800 foreign and domestic guests from well-known Chinese and foreign exhibition companies, industry organizations, professional media, research institutions and the official entities responsible for the sector. Every year, the Forum releases China’s Exhibition Economy Development Report composed by the CCPIT, which reviews comprehensively the policies, laws, regulations, industry trends and market characteristics of China’s exhibition industry and which has become an important window for overseas and domestic MICE industry to know more about the China’s exhibition industry.