Search Issues

IPIM’s ‘Service on the Doorstep’ benefits Macao, Greater Bay Area

The “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” (Greater Bay Area) was first introduced in official documents in 2015. Since then, the interaction between Macao, Hong Kong and the nine municipalities of Guangdong has become increasingly close and frequent, and the relations have grown even stronger after the signing of the “Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Co-operation in the Development of the Bay Area” in July 2017.

The Greater Bay Area occupies a total area of 55,900.9 square kilometres, including Macao, Hong Kong and the nine rapidly developing municipalities throughout the Guangdong Province – Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. There are 69.57 million residents in the area with 43.45 million of them in the labour force, generating a GDP that reached US$1.56 trillion in 2017.

The Greater Bay Area boasts a number of advantages including its geographical location, high-end developments in industrial structures as well as innovation-driven and open economies. By the end of 2017, direct investment from Greater Bay Area cities in Macao amounted to MOP76.96 billion, accounting for about 33.8 percent of total foreign direct investment, involving more than 2,200 enterprises. Meanwhile, Macao invested close to MOP15 billion in the Greater Bay Area.

At the same time, the relationship between Macao and the Greater Bay Area cities is growing rapidly. In 2017, more than 6.14 million visitors from the Greater Bay Area travelled to Macao, accounting for 20 percent of total visitor arrivals.

Personnel from IPIM’s Mainland Affairs Division and the Guangzhou Representative Office visit the commercial and trade promotion organisations of the nine municipality governments in the Greater Bay Area

Visits to gain insight

IPIM’s Guangzhou Representative Office showcases products from the Portuguese-speaking Countries

Macao government encourages small and medium-sized enterprises to “go out” of Macao and tap into the Greater Bay Area market. During the first half of 2018, in an effort to learn more about the development plans of the Greater Bay Area cities and to help Macao integrate into the growth of the area, the Mainland Affairs Division and the Guangzhou Representative Office of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) visited the commercial and trade promotion organisations affiliated to governments of the nine municipalities in the Greater Bay Area. They also partnered with commercial associations and enterprises.

Through these visits, IPIM’s personnel were able to gain deeper insight into the economic and trade affairs of each municipality. They also took the opportunity to introduce the scope of responsibilities and services of the Guangzhou Representative Office to the Greater Bay Area municipality representatives. In-depth discussions about how to deepen the Guangdong-Macao collaboration and the development of the Greater Bay Area were held. IPIM officials also visited eight Macao-owned enterprises to learn more about their developments and insights into the Greater Bay Area opportunities as well as their needs.

Boosting interconnection through MICE platforms

In line with Macao’s development strategy, IPIM has been allocating a considerable amount of resources to nurture the city’s MICE industry in recent years and is working closely with multiple MICE platforms in the Greater Bay Area to promote IPIM’s services.

At the Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair 2018 (GMBPF) in July 2018, IPIM signed a number of memorandums of co-operation with Huizhou, Dongguan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, in addition to the ones IPIM had previously signed with five Greater Bay Area cities. With these final signing ceremonies at this year’s GMBPF, all of the memorandums between IPIM and the nine cities in the Greater Bay Area are now complete. Also during the GMBPF, the Guangdong-Hong Kong‑Macao Bay Area Enterprise Roundtable was held, where IPIM, InvestHK and heads of commercial departments of the nine municipalities gathered together to discuss issues relevant to simplification of investment-related administrative procedures for the three areas, business registrations and key economic and trade tasks of the municipalities.

The concurrent Macao Franchise Expo 2018 rolled out the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Business Zone”, which gave attendees an opportunity to meet directly with professionals from the Greater Bay Area and learn more about the business and investment environment of the area.

Guangzhou Representative Office enhances service scope

In line with the construction of the Greater Bay Area and to boost the connectivity of the area, the Guangzhou Representative Office of IPIM has expanded the reach of the “One-stop Service” and the “Service on the Doorstep” to the nine municipalities of the Greater Bay Area. The aim is to publicise Macao’s investment environment and give the Macao industry a clear picture of the Greater Bay Area.

The Guangzhou Representative Office provided additional services to assist Macao-owned business in commercial registration in Mainland China, and to support internship, employment and entrepreneurship of Macao youths. The Representative Office has also optimised investment procedures for Mainland Chinese enterprises. In collaboration with the Macao Economic Bureau, the Labour Affairs Bureau and the Monetary Authority of Macao, the Representative Office has set up more counters to provide financial product licence applicants all the information they need related to approval procedures, and to provide investors applying for industrial licences the means to set up industrial establishments with consultations and document collection services.