Association hopes for more FinTech seminars in the region

Keyvin Bi

The E-commerce Association of Macau kicked off its first seminar on FinTech yesterday. It discussed the systematic advantage of using Macau as the service platform for China and Portuguese-speaking countries’ trade and finance cooperation and as the Portuguese-speaking countries’ RMB clearing center.

Speaking on the sidelines of the “International Economic Seminar on Fintech in Macau,” president of the association Keyvin Bi noted that Macau can play an enhanced role in the Greater Bay Area’s development and technology, thus it could push forward economy, trade and finance cooperation in the three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

Bi implied that there is an absence of seminars on FinTech in Macau, which hinders the growth of the sector in the region.

Questioned whether the association is working on acquiring alternative Chinese payment methods through non-banking firms such as Alibaba’s WePay and Tencent’s Tenpay in Macau, the president remarked, “it should be coming.”

With the emerging popularity of the payment method, Bi noted that there are partners who are ready to implement the technology in Macau, stressing that it should already be available in the territory.

“We don’t need to wait because if we do, we lose a lot of chance [of progressing],” he said.

The tight competition in the FinTech industry does not worry Bi, but he hopes that the government will work on being open to different trends and ideas.

“We want to organize events for young people regarding new technologies, new ideas and innovation but how is our government [helping]?” he questioned.

“[They] still keep the old mindset. They need to open their minds [and ask] maybe they need to recruit or invite more international consultants for help to look into the future or how to progress from here,” Bi added. 

Meanwhile, the association revealed its plans to invite a speaker from the United States to bring similar topics to the region, along with speakers from the city’s neighboring regions.

During the seminar, two cooperation agreements were signed with the intent of promoting  international finance and technology innovation.

The seminar was co-organized by the International Blockchain Association, and supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT).