Lusophone pavilion highlight of this year’s MIF

Jackson Chang

One of the highlights of this year’s Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF), which will take place between October 17 and 20 at The Venetian Macao, will be the Portuguese-Speaking Countries Pavilion. The president of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) says that the pavilion will occupy around 1,500 square meters of the MIF venue, with more than 260 lusophone participants attending.
“I think [the participation of Portuguese-speaking enterprises is very important because Macau is acting as a platform for those countries. And a lot of people from mainland China are expecting to meet some of those  enterprises”, the president said on the sidelines of an MIF media lunch yesterday.
With the announcement by the central government about the creation of three centers in Macau, IPIM has allocated space in the fair for a Portuguese-speaking countries food pavilion. Jackson Chang has confirmed that participants can expect new companies in the lusophone area, especially enterprises from the food sector.
Moreover, the president believes that the number of local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participating in MIF is not insignificant. He points out that, apart from setting up booths in MIF, local SMEs can simply show up at the event. “You don’t have to really participate in the fair [with booths]. We have a business-matching centre. We can call you and match you with other companies coming from other parts of the world,” he said.
Like MIF in previous years, participants from Latin American countries will join the event. Jackson Chang said that they are glad to see the presence of ministerial-level officials from Peru this year.
Other countries mentioned by Mr Chang include Madagascar. “They hope to use this platform to get more business, and to access mainland China,” he said.
Before he spoke to the media, the IPIM president gave a speech to the attendees of yesterday’s media lunch. He said that this year’s promotion on MIF is satisfying, with more than 4,500 people from around 50 countries and regions already registered for the event. Apart from Peru, it is also the first time representatives from Indonesia will participate in MIF. The participants from PLP also exceed 260 this year, the greatest in the 19-year history of MIF. During the four-day event, two exchange sessions will be held for food and beverage.
The president later revealed that there will be at least 48 agreements signed during MIF this year.

70 portuguese companies attend

About 70 Portuguese companies are taking part in this year’s MIF, the largest show of products held in the region. The Portuguese-speaking pavilion is mainly filled with companies from Portugal who have returned to Macau representing the food and service sectors. After the fair, the Portuguese companies are going on a tour of China to cities such as Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Jiangmen, Guangzhou, Foshan and Beijing, where they are going to participate in “events and seminars” to advertise Portuguese products.