Import export association marks 50th anniversary

The Macau Importers and Exporters Association marked its 50th anniversary yesterday with a dinner gala celebration gathering political officials and leaders from across the sector.
The association’s president, Tsui Wai Kwan, stated in an address that the sector has overcome hardships, boomed in a golden era, and now needs to step up to take advantage of new opportunities brought by the nation’s strategic policy in order to grow sustainably.
Mr Tsui explained that the purpose of establishing the association was to protect the export industry’s interests, as back in 1965 the sector was facing multiple barriers due to complicated export formalities. Moreover, the then-exporters found it difficult to recover payments from trades with Lusophone African countries due to their minimal foreign exchange reserves.
Macau’s export processing industry has also witnessed a 30-year golden era, beginning in the 1970s when Western countries implemented garment import quotas. The sector was once the city’s most important industry and drove growth in other sectors such as manufacturing, construction and finance.
Due to the liberalization of global trade since Macau’s handover, many local factories have relocated to the mainland and overseas. Nevertheless, boosted by Beijing’s preferential policies, Macau’s external trade figure tripled from some MOP30 billion before the handover to nearly MOP100 billion in 2014, stressed the president.
“Today the country proposed the strategic ‘Belt and Road’ Initiatives and included Macau in that vision. Macau’s small and medium-sized enterprises should promptly grasp this opportunity as Macau will once again become an intersection of East and West in the Maritime Silk Road,” he stated to the guests.