33rd ATPF CEO Meeting is held Online in Macao

The 33rd Asian Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF) was held in Macao on 24 September. With the theme “The development and Innovation of TPOs in the New Era”, the Forum was organised by the IPIM and moderated by Mr Benson Lau Wai Meng, President of IPIM. Under the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the ATPF meeting was held online for the first time.

Representatives of trade promotion entities from 20 Asian economies, including Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam participated in the ATPF this year. In particular, Mr Zhang Shaogang, Vice Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and Mr Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director of Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) also took part in this online meeting.

Two meetings were held, one on how trade and investment promotion organisations could be innovative when affected by the pandemic, and the other on how to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ competitiveness. Mr Agostinho Vong Vai Lon, Executive Director of IPIM introduced IPIM’s services that support businesses, and shared experiences of hosting online activities when the city was hit by the epidemic, and presented some of the achievements of these events.

Participants of the 33rd ATPF have a discussion online