Press Conference of the Business Matching and Seminars & Presentations

Organized by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, co-organized by the Macao Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Association of Macau, Macao Importers and Exporters Association, Association of Knitting and Spinning Industry of Macau, Macao Shipper's Association, The Macau Association of Banks, Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers, The Macau Small and Medium Enterprises Association, The Macau Chinese Enterprises Association, Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Commission, The Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong and coordinated by the Macao Convention and Exhibition Association, Macau Fair and Trade Association and The Association of Advertising Agents of Macau, the "13th Macao Trade and Investment Fair (MIF)" will take place at the Macao Venetian Resort, from 23rd to 26th October, 2008. MIF, an event accredited by UFI (The Global Association of Exhibition Industry), is the largest exhibition in Macao held annually to promote international co-operation and investment. The theme of this year's MIF is "Macao: An Efficient Business Platform to Leverage the Advantages of Regional Cooperation". Through a series of product exhibitions, seminars and conferences, business matching sessions and projects promotions, MIF aims to consolidate Macao's role as a business platform to promote cooperation with the other countries and regions and to support the small and medium-sized enterprises in the search of business opportunities. A series of business matching activities have been planned. Also, promotional activities and seminars concerning franchising, chain enterprises and branding will be organized for the first time, so as to attract the investors to these investments. In addition, the Buyers' Corner and Business Matching Area will offer one-stop service, including a market information, and legal consultancy on the laws of Mainland China and Macao, as well as information on CEPA. BUSINESS MATCHING TO DEVELOP BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IPIM has contacted and invited buyers, suppliers, franchisors and brand names owners to form business delegations and join MIF's specialized promotion and business matching sessions, to jointly create new business opportunities. Up to present, the Organizer has received a total of 1309 matching intention, including 137 for sourcing projects from buyers, 331 for supply projects, 50 for franchising and chain enterprises projects, 167 for brand name projects, 624 for investment projects, mainly related to hotel and tourism, manufacture, food retail and distribution, convention and exhibition, general merchandise, technology products, construction, infra-structure, medicine, restaurant, etc. BUYERS As of today, we have received 137 purchasing goods of 39 buyers, from Mainland China, Macao, United States of America, Hong Kong, Singapore, to purchase through Macao, food, wine, nuts, coffee, meeting and convention equipment, jewels, watches, hotel equipment, cosmetic, pharmaceutical products and nutritive items, construction materials, energy saving products, office maintenance products, packing and gift items, etc. There are 331 suppliers registered so far, offering, among others, the following items: general merchandises, food and beverage, articles for the hospitality business, pharmaceutical products and medicine, etc. FRANCHISING AND BRANDING To assist the small and medium enterprises in the development of their business and to attract to Macao more brand names from abroad, this year's MIF will launch several activities to promote franchising and agency of branded articles. A Pavilion for Franchising Activities will be set-up and, in addition, support will be provided to the local enterprises interested to develop such commercial activity, by arranging contacts with the franchise operators and the representatives of brand names from 50 countries, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States of America, Japan, etc. On the other hand, IPIM has received requests from brand names owners, from Indonesia, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Brazil, Malaysia, Romania and other countries, for assistance to look for agents in Macau. COOPERATION IN INVESTMENT PROJECTS IPIM has invited investment promotion agencies from China and abroad to send in their lists of investment projects, so that the investors could use the Macao platform in the search of the right business partners. So far, 624 investment projects, mainly from Mainland China (including re-construction projects, Sichuan Province, affected
by earthquake), Brazil, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, related with civil construction, infra-structures, tourism development, food processing, high-technology projects, construction of industrial parks, automobile production, biological products for medicinal purposes, chemical and organic products, construction materials, etc., were received. SPECIALIZED BUSINESS MATCHING This year, more efforts will be paid so that the exhibitors and representatives of trade associations could take advantage of the trade services platform offered by Macao, to enlarge their business networks and to establish the right business partnership. In this regards, the organizer has planned several matching sessions for business delegations, including "Sourcing Day for USA Great Hotels and Resorts and Macao's SMEs", in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce in Macau, "Exchange Seminar between the Portuguese-Speaking Countries, Fujian and Macau and Promotion Seminar of Fujian Products", in cooperation with the Division of Foreign Trade Cooperation of Fujian Province, to be held on 24th October, and "Business Matching for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Convention and Exhibition Service Industry", on 25th October. SEMINARS AND PRESENTATIONS SESSIONS During this year's MIF, there are altogether 27 seminars and presentations sessions, during which the SMEs will be able to look for new business opportunities, to connect with the international market so as to attract investors and investments, for development of their business and to enter into business partnerships. The Organizer will arrange, on 24th and 25th October, a series of promotional activities specially designed for the SMEs, including forums on the new era, products promotion, business matching in international trade, cooperation opportunities between the SMEs and the operators of brand names and franchising. At the same time, the Pavilion for Specialized Business Negotiations will arrange a show of catalogues of products of 80 companies, from Thailand, Indonesia the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, etc., displaying more than 150 items, including beverages, agricultural products, sea food, spices, arts and crafts, medical equipment, furniture, lamps, logistic services, software, electrical appliances, jewels, accounting services and design. ON-LINE BUSINESS MATCHING TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY The Organizer will set up for the first time a Center for Business Matching in Sourcing and a Pavilion for Business Matching and Products Promotion, to facilitate contacts among the entrepreneurs. At the same time, to coincide with these business-matching activities, IPIM has improved its on-line business matching service. This service is provided 24 hours a day, so that any interested party can obtain information on the buyers and suppliers, even before the opening of the MIF. Additionally, our facilitators for Business Matching will plan the matching activities of the parties and arrange for the booking of the matching sessions, thereby increasing the success rate of these activities. The newly-introduced on-line platform for business matching will follow the commercial classification generally used in the international market and a total of 900 commercial classifications were set: Macao's main business categories are placed in the front rows, to be followed by the business activities of the companies and thereafter the nature of the projects, the goal of which is to increase the accuracy of the data base. A classification in accordance with activities and themes have also been introduced, e.g., this year's edition of the MIF has been divided into four major categories, namely: business matching, franchising, brand names agency and cooperation in investment projects. All these will increase the automation function of the business matching. At the same time, on-line pre-registration service will be provided for all participants to confirm the date of their business matching. At present, updated business matching information is already available on-line. Enterprises will be able to register on-line and obtain the latest news on the MIF. After the MIF, this service will continue to support the enterprises in their search for business partners, so as to achieve the best result. On the other hand, through on-line search engines at the Buyers’ Corner, Business Matching Area and Macao Trade and Invest Kiosk at exhibition hall of MIF, visitors can obtain the latest information on projects. The Organizer has installed several on-line search systems, to enable the visitors to find the exhibitors' products and services. Buyers and professional participants can thus locate the pavilion and the booth number of any exhibitor, thus facilitating business contact. BUSINESS MATCHING FACILITATORS – A SUCCESS FACTOR So far, the Organizer has pre-arranged 729 business-matching sessions. On-site registration for business matching is welcomed and will be available at the "Buyers’ Corner" and "Business Matching Area". Interested parties can visit our website – www.mif.com.mo - and the Macao Trade and Invest Kiosk for more information or contact our Business Matching facilitators, Mr. Chan (tel.: 853-8798 9241) or Mr. So (tel.: 853-8798 9286) directly for registration and the latest information. For details regarding seminars and presentations sessions, please contact our hotline: 853-8798 9604 / 8798 9605, fax: 853-2872 7123 / 2872 8213, e-mail: twh@ipim.gov.mo.