Group Photo
The 21st Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (21st MIF) will be held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 20 to 22 October. Yesterday (19h October) the 2nd Young Entrepreneurs Forum of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was held before the fair opens today and attracted more than 250 academics, entrepreneurs and representatives from institutions within the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking Countries and Macao. Many associations and institutions signed letters of co-operation intent. Jackson Chang, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institution, mentioned in his remarks that during the “5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries”, the central government had issued “18 new measures” which include supporting Macao in establishing “the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries” and is believed to be in favour of the establishment of “the commercial and trade co-operation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries” in Macao. He encouraged today’s youths who intend to start their own businesses to grasp the advantages of the platform and explore the development opportunities, so as to promote the joint development of the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking Countries and Macao. Xu Yingzhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat to the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macao) mentioned in her remarks that, last year value of trade between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries nearly reached US$100 billion, China had become one of the most important trade partners of Portuguese-Speaking Countries and the fastest growing main export market for Portuguese-Speaking Countries. At present, Portuguese-Speaking Countries have set up nearly one thousand enterprises in China and China’s overall investment in Portuguese-Speaking Countries is almost US$50 billion. She thought that, this year’s Forum would not only provide a platform for young entrepreneurs to look for business opportunities, but also provide conditions for exchanging advanced management and operation ideas, which would have positive significance on the communication between young entrepreneurs from Macao and Portuguese-Speaking Countries. The Forum set up two special topics which were “the role of Macao in the creation of one platform and three centres for co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries” and “Presentation of Linking Projects between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries – information/internationalisation”. Association representatives, young entrepreneur leaders, academics and experts from Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries shared their respective development situations, ongoing difficulties and challenges and expressed their insights on the joint search for business opportunities. In addition, during the Forum, Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association, SINO Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Countries Federation, FIJE – Federação Iberoamericana de Jovens Empresários, CONAJE – Confederação Nacional dos Jovens Empresários, Bloque Mercosur, Câmara de Comércio de Moçambique, China Europe International Business Association, Association of Sino Portuguese Youth Entrepreneur signed letters of co-operation, in order to better promote the collaboration and development between all the parties. This Forum was jointly organised by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Association of Sino Portuguese Youth Entrepreneur, Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association, China Europe International Business Association, SINO Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Countries Federation. Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao SAR, Jackson Chang, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institution, Xu Yingzhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat to the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macao), Vicente Manuel and Cristina Morais, Deputy Secretary-Generals of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, Glória Batalha Ung, Executive Director of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Sofia Pegado da Silva, the Consul General of Angola in Macao, Rafael Custodio Margues, the Consul General of Mozambique in Macao, Maria João Bonifácio, the Macao head of Portugal’s trade and investment agency, AICEP Portugal Global/Trade Advisor in the Consulate-General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong all attended the Forum.
