Traders hope to use Macao as the starting point of expanding into neighbouring markets.
“The 2016 Macao Franchise Expo” (2016MFE) came closed yesterday. It was also held at the same time and location as the “2016 Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair”. The two concurrently run expos were a great success and enterprises reacted enthusiastically to the exhibitions, the attendance was higher than that of last year. By using the rising trends of “Internet +”, MFE held related forums to show enterprises how to seize the new opportunities in the Internet Era. Many exhibitors expressed that Macao was a gateway for them to enter the Mainland China market. They hoped to break geographical limitations and find more business opportunities through MFE. Exhibitors achieved various results in the three-day event. As a platform, MFE played a positive role in the exhibition of international brands and the promotion of the development of chain and franchise businesses. The New Online Business Matching Platform Service Achieved Initial Success The three-day event attracted about 17.000 visitors, including nearly 2.600 trade visitors. There were 103 matching sessions in the business matching area in the three day exhibition, which mainly involved franchising, chain stores, brand agency and others. According to figures from the organiser, 1,314 business negotiation sessions were conducted for specially invited trade visitors. Contracts for 18 projects were signed on-site involving the co-operation of chambers of commerce and associations; chain and franchising projects in the food and beverage industry; brand agency services for the marketing of branded products; and brand franchising and so on. The year MFE promoted the self-matching service through “Online Business Matching Service Platform” for the first time and encouraged exhibitors/enterprises/purchasing agents to register so as to take part in communication and matching. In the three day exhibition, there were 198 enterprises involved in business negotiations using the business matching service platform. Discussion on Internet Opportunities Becomes the Hot Button Topic During the exhibition, several forums were held under different themes and a series of seminars and presentations were organised. Among which, “Forum on International Franchise Business Opportunities” was held on the first day. It was themed “New Horizon for Chain and Franchise in the Internet Era”, which attracted the participation of more than 150 young business starters and SME entrepreneurs. On the third day, in the Opportunities of Starting an Online Business Presentation, Taiwan “Beauty88 Online Shopping Mall” introduced the advantages of Internet entrepreneurship including key points of social publicity and integrated O2O mode “Online Purchase, Offline Service”. It was also pointed out that e-commerce was of great potential in Southeast Asian countries. In the forum “The Secrets of Using System to Develop Business Opportunities”, the president of Asia Branding & Franchising Association, Karen Kwan, shared her experience on how to achieve a situation of wealth-raising by using the information system. She hoped that entrepreneurs would keep up with modern trends through continuous education, and make full use of the system models to manage their company’s brands. Taking Macao as the Starting Point of Expending to Neighbouring Markets As there has been growing international participation over the years, attracting a larger number of globally-renowned brands, MFE continues to consolidate its role as a platform for business start-ups and investment. Mr. Luis Martinez, who is in charge of WJ-EVENTS from Portugal, expressed his wish to expand business in Macao through MFE. He also believed that Macao had more advantages in market development than Portugal. A renowned Brazilian footwear brand successfully found a franchising partner in MFE and communications between the two parties were in progress. There were also many well-known Japanese food and beverage enterprises in this year’s exhibition. Most of them saw finding new partnerships the starting point for expanding their market into Mainland China. A lot of exhibitors consulted with their preferred hotels and some of them were even in the process of field visits. Ken Watanabe, who is in charge of Tentakaku Co. Ltd. stated that although market competition for Japanese food in Hong Kong and Macao was fierce, as the No.1 Ramen noodle maker in Japan, they were confident about cracking the Macao market. Hiroshi Mori, who is in charge of another food and beverage enterprise Chibo Holdings Co. Ltd. thought there was no okonomiyaki specialty store of their type in Macao. They were in negotiation with Macao hotels and were confident about their success. The renowned bakery brand Cube Toast attended MFE for the first time but signed many purchasing orders. They felt it was pretty successful and fruitful.
