COOPERATION | EU-Macau business platform to help diversify local economy

The head of office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macau, Vincent Piket, has assured that the new EU-Macau business platform aims to aid the diversification of the local economy.
Mr Piket said Macau and the European Union have agreed to set up a EU-Macau business platform, whose agenda will be outlined in the coming months.
“The first meeting is planned for November. What we hope and are aiming for is that this platform will – in a very pragmatic way – identify areas in which Macau and the EU should do more, particularly in the framework of the diversification agenda of the government,” he stated.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Macau European Chamber of Commerce (MECC) gala dinner held on Friday, Mr Piket highlighted MECC’s role as a partner to boost EU trade, working also as a platform to discuss EU-Macau economic relations.
Although bilateral trade between the EU and Macau dropped by 11 percent last year to EUR613 million, Mr Piket recalled that, “the trade volume remains very high if you take into account the small size of the Macau area.”
“It’s part of the overall economic picture of both Macau and the EU, but we do think that it will go up in the coming two years,” he added.
Mr Piket recalled that luxury goods, food & beverages and the automobile service remain core sectors of the EU-Macau trade. Furthermore, he believes that we will see an increase in the services trade, tourism and environmental services.
But the EU is even more promising in terms of innovation: “What we really want is to cooperate with Macau in innovation. So [we’re aiming at encouraging] a lot of cooperation with the main universities here in order to boost innovation.”
The Macau European Chamber of Commerce held its summer gala dinner on Friday, launching for the first time the MECC Awards for Euro Excellence in Luxury, Food & Beverage, and Innovation.
Macau Legend Development Ltd., owned by casino tycoon David Chow, won the award in the luxury category, while CESL Asian won the Innovation award, and enterprise Vang Kei Hong won the Food & Beverage award.
The awards seek to encourage local organizations to embrace Macau’s long history of Sino-­Western commercial and cultural exchange, and to develop new partnerships for the future.
Ambrose So, honorary chairman of MECC and CEO of casino operator SJM said, “The chamber has made great progress to further its mission in the past year, including a cooperation agreement signed with the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to promote trade relations between Europe and the Pearl River Delta region.”
Mr So told reporters on the sidelines of Friday’s gala dinner that his company’s new property, under development on the Cotai Strip, will feature European brands such as the Versace and Karl Lagerfeld hotels.
“As you know Macau is a center for amusement, leisure and luxury brands. So we will have quite a number of luxury brands from Europe, and European services as well as restaurants,” he said.