European Chamber of Commerce to steer away from just trading

The Macau European Chamber of Commerce (MECC) will begin a “new phase of cooperation between China-Macau-EU, giving more importance to a Legal Cooperation Program and step up cooperation in research and innovation,” Mr Vincent Piket revealed this week at a ceremony celebrating the chamber’s second anniversary.
The head of office at the European Union (EU) to Hong Kong and Macau mentioned that
“bilateral trade between the EU and Macau is strong, showing that European products and companies continue to be in high demand in Macau. However, we must look beyond trade and build a strong and diverse economic partnership for the long term.”
According to Mr Piket, the plans for the Legal Cooperation Program are part of the upcoming third phase of the cooperation scheme, which is determined by local officials who identify potential areas of development.
MECC will provide the legal expertise to develop those areas. “It is not a new program. We had it for quite a while – almost a decade already – but now we are reaching the third phase of it and we are very happy to arrive at this phase,” Mr Piket said.
MECC intends to play an important role in fields such as the training of interpreters, as requested by the Macau government. The EU office has seconded this need.
“This is another example of a very practical hands-on activity of cooperation between the EU and Macau,” explained Mr Piket. “The Macau government needs these interpreters and we [need them too] in Brussels for all the member states whenever we meet with China, which is very often. So we are cooperating in the training of these interpreters, and we also just signed a new phase of this program earlier this month.”
“We are finding ways to build around the big core gaming industry in Macau. We are trying to support the government in developing new ideas and models building on that core, and in the specificities of the European business interests in Macau and Europe,” the EU office head added.
The new president and vice president of the MECC Board of Directors were introduced at the ceremony: Pedro Cardoso, the CEO of Banco Nacional Ultramarino, and Professor Kevin Thompson, College Master of Moon Chun Memorial College at the University of Macau, respectively. As the Times reported, both were elected last October 15, after the expiry of the previous incumbents’ two-year mandate.