IPIM to coordinate all MICE activities from November

Irene Lau

The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) will be the entity responsible for all works related to the sector of conventions and exhibitions, effective from November.
The range of new activities includes the participation in the research and formulation of policies, strategies and measures related to the convention and exhibition industry, and the implementation of the “Support Program for Professional Training and Education in the Convention and Exhibition Sector”, among others. Some of these roles were previously attributed to the Committee for the Development of Conventions and Exhibitions and the Economic Activities Development Department, operating under the Macau Economic Services.
In a press conference held yesterday at the Macau Business Support Centre, IPIM’s acting president, Irene Lau, said: “This measure aims to increase the efficiency, integrate resources and optimize the idea of the ‘one-stop’ service for all MICE activities, benefiting the organizers and working in favor of the development of this industry”.
This new package of measures, that will be in full force from January 2016, includes the implementation of a series of special support plans to the convention and exhibition sector, such as the Business Tourism Plan that, up until this time, has been managed by the Macau Government Tourist Office.
IPIM will also become the only institution with the overall responsibility to assess all applications and requests for financing and support of all MICE activities.
Irene Lau also revealed that although the annual budget for finance support of IPIM will remain the same (MOP100 million), the Institute will recruit six more staff collaborators to help with the new tasks.
Alongside the change in the departments, there are also some adjustments being made to regulations. One of the important changes mentioned by Mrs Lau was related to the application for financial support of international activities and has to do with the increasing interest from the government concerning the participation of the local associations in broader organizations. In this way, the government will restrict the organization of international-level exhibitions and conventions to the associations that are members of the International Association of that business sector.
The most recent figures related to the local MICE sector were released by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). The report issued this month indicates that Macau is the Asian top performer in 2014 for the MICE industry, with an increase of 38.1 percent in space sold, from 143,000 m2 in 2013 to 197,500 m2 in 2014, beating markets such as Vietnam and Philippines and standing very close to the Indonesian market results.
UFI’s report continues to show mainland China on top of the list with 10.4 million m2 in net space sold, which represents more than 56 percent of the whole Asian market. RM