23rd MIF kicks off | Lionel Leong praises local MICE industry

Lionel Leong

The 23rd Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (22nd MIF) and 2018 Portuguese-speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macau) (2018 PLPEX) opened yesterday at The Venetian Macao. It marked the congregation of senior government officials, entrepreneurs and businesspeople from Macau, mainland China, Portuguese-speaking countries, countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”, European countries and the United States.

MIF is organized by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and co- organized by 15 economic and commercial departments as well as business associations from Macau, mainland China, and Hong Kong. This year’s MIF is themed “Co- operation – Key to Business Opportunities.” The exhibition covers an area of 24,000 square meters and has over 1,500 booths.

The Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macau SAR, Lionel Leong, noted in his speech that Macau has made considerable progress in its efforts to integrate itself into the national development, is supporting the building of the Belt and Road initiative, the construction of the Greater Bay Area and accelerating its development as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure and the Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking courtries.

“In terms of the MICE industry [meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions], Macau has been committed to nurturing a number of signature local exhibitions and has worked proactively to introduce new conferences, seizing thousands of attendees,” said  Leong.

“At present, large international conferences held in Macau are growing steadily in number. The international and professional levels of these conferences are also improving,” said Leong.

“Looking ahead, Macau will continue to leverage its function of precise liaison as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. The city will endeavor to fulfill its historic missions endowed by the new era and seize development opportunities to serve the needs of our country and deliver the strengths of Macau,” said Leong.

According to the secretary, from January to August, a total of 19 quality conferences attended by thousands of visitors have been introduced in Macau, more than double the eight conferences that were held during the same period last year.

Under the theme “Cooperation – Key to Business Opportunities,” this year’s MIF invited Mozambique and Fujian as its Partner Country and Partner Province respectively.

A diverse array of forums will be held, including the Mozambique-Fujian-Macau Trade and Investment Forum, the Jiangsu-Macau-Portuguese-speaking Countries Business Forum, the 4th Young Entrepreneurs Forum of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, and the 15th World Summit of Chinese Entrepreneurs, as well as the 9th Asia Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF) Joint Exhibition.

In addition, the 2018 Portuguese-speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macau) (2018 PLPEX) will continue simultaneously, alongside this year’s MIF.

With a bigger scale and more diverse activities organised, the 2018 PLPEX has attracted more than 250 exhibitions from mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, and the eight Portuguese-speaking countries and regions.

Activities such as the Portuguese-speaking Countries Wine and Food Business Matching Seminar and the Portuguese-speaking Countries Food Experience Zone will be staged to further capitalize on Macau’s role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and its Three Centres, especially as the food product distribution center for Portuguese-speaking countries.

This year, PLPEX is rolling out the Brazil Unmanned Shop Experience Zone (Brazil Center) to showcase assorted Brazilian products with an innovative retailing approach and promote Brazilian products through interactive experiences. 

HKZMB’s opening will benefit three cities

ON THE sidelines of the MIF opening ceremony, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong said that the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will benefit the three cities [more on page 3]. Recently, Liu Cigui, Communist Party Secretary of Hainan province, said that opening casinos in Hainan is absolutely out of question. In response to Liu’s announcement, Leong said that the international competition for Macau’s gaming industry will not slow down just because Hainan will not open casinos. In addition, when talking about next year’s budget within his secretariat, Leong revealed that his sector might increase investment in infrastructure in its 2019 budget.