‘Ghost exhibitors’ and ‘low quality products’ under gov’t monitoring

In response to media reports claiming problems in relation to Macau-focused exhibitions held outside the MSAR, particularly involving some of the companies that represented the city in the “Dynamic Macau” event held in Kunming, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, said that the government “has to be very careful about how public funds are spent, even if it is just 10 cents.”
A report from All About Macau described how, after the opening ceremony of the Kunming event, many of the Macau exhibitors left the venue, leaving behind only temporary workers to manage the exhibiting booths.
The media outlet reportedly interviewed one exhibitor participant at the Kunming Dynamic Macau Fair, who admitted that “some people took advantage of the government’s subsidy and used the event as a free package tour [to visit the city].”
Other problems were also reported about the so-called “ghost exhibitors,” namely the presence of low-quality products and other products that are sold as “Made in Macau” when they are not.
The local participation in the Kunming event, that has been held since 2009, is subsidized by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) with more than MOP20 million in funding.
Secretary Lionel Leong said that the government is paying attention to the accusations and will review each case together with the event organizer in order to “improve the mechanism or the relevant laws and regulations” to “correct mistakes.”
IPIM’s president Jackson Chang also referred his assessment to the joint investigation with the organizer. “Once this is found, it will be included in our [black] list,” to help IPIM to properly review and reconsider other applications from the same exhibitors, he said. RM