IPIM claims China-PSCs trade ‘growing significantly’

China’s Ministry Of Commerce representative Deng Le

A sharing session on trade experiences and the investment environment was held yesterday, attended by representatives from Portuguese-speaking countries and Chinese entrepreneurs.

The event was jointly organized by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries – Macau (Forum Macau).

The event also served as an assessment on the current status of relationships in terms of trade and cooperation between the parties, recent event outcomes and the launch of future projects, namely the “Portuguese-speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition” which will be held in Macau next month between the 19th and 21st as part of the 22nd Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF). The MIF will feature a diverse range of sectors such as food and beverage tourism, electronic commerce, investment, and environmental products as well as several government bodies and departments.

As mentioned by the Executive Board Member of IPIM, Glória Batalha Ung, in the opening speech of the sharing session, trade has been growing significantly, registering in the first six months of this year “USD67.7 billion, which corresponds to a hike by 31 percent year-on-year.”

The trend is also followed by the direct investment of Chinese companies on the Portuguese- speaking countries which, from the beginning of the year until now, has reached USD50 billion, according to official estimates.

Such investment was conducted in the infrastructure, agricultural, tourism, energy and finance sectors, among others.

Ung also noted that back in June of this year, at a meeting held between businessmen of all countries in Cape Verde, there were 10 cooperation protocols and memorandums signed. According to Ung, half of these involved Macau companies. “In the 2018 edition of the meeting that will take place in Portugal, we hope that there will be more participation by Macau companies from different sectors.”

During the event, the deputy secretary-general of the Forum Macau, Ding Tian, reaffirmed the extensive work of the Forum in promoting the growth in cooperation and trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Tam further highlighted the general growth that was reached in 2016 – USD90.87 billion, which was increased by 37.58 percent in the first half of 2017 alone.

For the future, Ding said the goal is “to extend the areas of cooperation for the 18 sectors [noted by Central Government],” adding, “Macau has been performing a irreplaceable role [in the application of such guidelines].”

In conducting brief evaluation on the status of the cooperation and relations between China and countries of the group which are considered less developed (Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe), the third secretary for Commerce from China’s Ministry Of Commerce (Division of Western Asia and Africa), Deng Le, highlighted the partnerships and trade figures between China and these African countries, specifically noting the “Blue Economy Initiative” in Cape Verde, in which she claimed that “China is a privileged partner.”

The commerce representative also took the opportunity to mention the current ongoing projects of the Cape Verdean government to privatize many of state-owned companies, inviting the entrepreneurs and business owners present in the room to “be part of this investment.”

One of countries the official drew specific attention to was in relation to the smallest of the parties with whom China only recently reestablished relations – São Tomé and Príncipe. Deng said China is starting to cooperate with the state through projects in the areas of Agriculture, Health and Human Resources.

Such investments are, for the time being, amouting to between USD6 million to USD8 million.

Deng also noted the measures taken by China’s government to exempt customs duties on the imports from such countries (in 8290 categories of products) as a support measure to try to balance commercial trade in which the China has the major share.

As she mentioned, this measure “is already in force since January 2015 for Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau,” and will be “extended soon [to São Tomé and Príncipe].”

São Tomé and Príncipe first presentation under Forum Macau

The São Tomé and Príncipe delegate in Forum Macau, Gualter da Vera Cruz, presented for the first time his country and its investment potential to a panel of entrepreneurs at Forum Macau. The delegate highlighted the potential of the country in several areas, namely in regards to sea resources and tourism. Vera Cruz noted not only the dimension of the country composed by two islands but its connection to an area, as he mentioned, “that comprises a total of 300 million people and that includes Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola.” São Tomé and Príncipe itself has a population of only 200,000 people. Besides beach and other outdoors tourism, Vera Cruz also highlighted the country’s fishing sector potential, highlighting the 160,000 Square kilometers of maritime area included in the country’s territory.