Committee discusses measures to improve MICE industry

The Committee for the Development of Conventions and Exhibitions is holding its first plenary ordinary meeting of the year last week, calling on industry players to enhance its competitiveness.

Chairman of the Committee and Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, moderated the meeting and recalled that the SAR’s strategy to develop the industry by “prioritizing conventions” resulted in an increase in the value of the MICE industry – totaling MOP3.5 billion, compared to MOP1.44 billion in 2015. 

Meanwhile, a total of 28 conventions of more than a thousand attendees were brought to Macau via the “One-stop Service” for MICE Bidding and Support, reaching an annual growth of nearly 50 percent.

According to the chairman, the MICE sector should map out an effective way to enhance the region’s competitiveness by taking into consideration factors such as competition for talent, diversification of customer base, software and hardware facilities, and the spillover effect of policies launched in neighboring areas.

As cited in a press release issued by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), he also identified some of the major tasks for the future development of the SAR’s convention and exhibition industry, namely, making better use of the city’s advantages, and deepening collaboration via “+Macau.”

Meanwhile, the committee suggested adopting the practice of banks, which encourage students of local tertiary education institutions to actively join MICE activities by acknowledging their participation in MICE with “growth points,” thus facilitating talent recruitment for the local MICE sector.

Other opinions included further enhancing existing support measures for MICE training according to the latest developments in the industry, improving the planning of hardware and software facilities for transportation services over the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

During the discussion of the neighboring region’s newly launched MICE support measures, the secretary general of the Committee and acting president of IPIM Irene Lau pointed out that the new measures taken in adjoining areas like Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will improve the competitiveness of the industry.

She also consulted the committee about the region’s response to relevant measures, aiming to promote the qualitative development of the city’s MICE industry.