Representatives of enterprises and business associations from around the world gathered in Macao for the 22nd Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (22nd MIF), held from 19 to 21 October 2017 at the Venetian Macao.

The theme of this year’s MIF was “Co-operation – Key to Business Opportunities”. The event was a great opportunity for businesspeople to exchange opinions. In the course of the three days, 67 agreements were signed and 389 scheduled business- matching sessions took place in the MIF Business Matching Area.
Exhibitors said MIF gave them the opportunity to showcase their products.

Macao businesses blossom

Terence Kou is in charge of a Macao sportswear and sports equipment company Triangle Sport. Mr Kou said the 22nd Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) was the first MIF Triangle Sport had taken part in. One of the main objectives of MIF, he said, was to give businesses in different places an opportunity to learn from exchanges with each other. His company took part in the 22nd MIF to look for suitable business partners.

Triangle Sport began operating in 2013 as an online shop and eventually acquired brick-and-mortar premises. The company designs and makes sports shirts, protective sport equipment and towels. It endeavours to supply its customers with high quality, well-designed sportswear which they could otherwise obtain only from places such as Hong Kong or Taiwan. The business gets custom from sports clubs in Macao, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Mr Kou said he hoped to make Triangle Sport more visible by taking part in MIF and make arrangements to co-operate with other enterprises. His company is enrolled in the MIF Online Business Matching Service Platform, and it was approached several times even before the 22nd MIF began.

Oriental Guia Enterprises is another Macao company. It sells air-conditioning systems and other sorts of equipment that save energy or are friendly to the environment in other ways: air-conditioning and air purification systems, LED lighting, solar panels, food waste disposal devices and water purification systems. The company’s main customers include government departments, education institutions, hospitals and hotels.

Oriental Guia Enterprises Operation Director Ivan Lei said the company had taken part in every MIF since 2009 with the purpose of introducing its products to the private and public sectors. Every year, the company also looks for new products to be showcased at MIF.
Mr Lei said that every year customers visited the Oriental Guia Enterprises booth at the MIF, and that the company got some good results. He said his company would continue to take part in the MIF, considering that it is not time consuming and expensive to do so.

Founder of Macao sportswear and sports equipment company Triangle Sport Terence Kou

Oriental Guia Enterprises Operation Director Ivan Lei

Services and resources to look into new opportunities for business and to reconnoitre markets nearby, as well as accelerating business development. Some said the event served well as an occasion for communication and other forms of exchange, therefore helping increase co-operation in the region.

The organisers of the 22nd MIF invited Angola to be the “Partner Country” of the event and Guangdong to be its “Partner Province”. The purpose was to facilitate closer co-operation in trade and other economic matters between Mainland China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries, and to drum up greater market opportunities globally.

MIF attracted enterprises from over 50 countries and regions from around the world. There were more than 1,500 booths.

With a view to further capitalising on the advantages of the platform and reinforcing the theme of the “Belt and Road” and regional economic and trade co-operation, the subsidiary events included the “Angola, Guangdong and Macao Trade and Investment Forum”, the lecture “How to Help the Products of Portuguese-speaking Countries Enter the Chinese Market”, “China and Portuguese-speaking Countries SMEs Investment and Trade Matchmaking Event” and “Cambodia Trade, Investment & Tourism Development Forum”.

These events were meant to promote communication and other forms of exchanges between all parties; to promote networking and collaboration between traders and other businesspeople in Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries; to help enterprises “go global” and explore markets in those parts of the world covered by the “Belt and Road” initiative; increase trade and other economic exchanges multilaterally; and give Macao enterprises and young people in the city more opportunities for co-operation and development.

The 23rd MIF will be held from 18 to 20 October 2018.

Macao a springboard for going global

Among the exhibitors and trade visitors that attended the 22nd MIF were executives of big companies from various parts of the world, some of whom have been attending MIF for years. One such executive was Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding Co. Ltd.’s Chairman and General Manager Tang Jun.

Guangdong Hengjian Investment manages assets on behalf of the provincial government and the provincial branch of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, holding equity in more than 20 enterprises and controlling several listed companies.

Mr Tang thinks the arrangements for the latest MIF were more effective than before, giving it more features and highlights. He said the event introduced the Portuguese-speaking Countries in detail, giving Mainland Chinese enterprises a better understanding of the markets in those countries.

Mr Tang said Macao played an important role as a Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries. He said the city had advantages stemming from its past.

Macao had an important part to play in connecting Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. He believes Guangdong Hengjian Investment can collaborate with Macao and make use of the city as a place where China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries can conduct business, with a view to helping the best enterprises in Guangdong to go global and expand into Portuguese-speaking markets.

Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding Co. Ltd Chairman and General Manager Tang Jun

Importance of Macao set to grow

Angolan Construction Ministry Private Investment Technical Support Office Director Cláudio Rodrigues also attended the 22nd MIF. Mr Rodrigues believes Macao has the potential to become even more representational as a platform where Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries can conduct business.

“Macao is helping train more human resources, and is channelling more resources and know-how from China – particularly Guangdong – to Angola,” Mr Rodrigues said. “We could try to do more in terms of the finance sector, using Macao’s expertise to increase co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, which could help promote more commercial exchanges.”

Mr Rodrigues regards Sino-Angolan co-operation as strategic and both parties are seeking to increase such collaboration.

“Over the years, China has financially supported several development programmes and several large investments in public infrastructure in Angola. We now want to expand that co-operation to other sectors, such as healthcare, agribusiness and the training of human resources,” he said.

“We also want to direct some of that investment into our country’s private sector, in order to support the growth of local companies and promote the diversification of our economy.

“We have been promoting further co-operation between the business communities of Angola and China, especially to support small and medium enterprises.”

Mr Rodrigues said it was important not only to get Angolan companies to invest in Mainland China and Macao, but also to get Macao companies to invest in Angola. “We are ready to help this kind of initiative by the private sector,” he said.

Angolan Construction Ministry Private Investment Technical Support Office Director Cláudio Rodrigues