MICE |Franchise Expo with regional ambitions

The three-day 2016 Macau Franchise Expo (MFE) came to a close yesterday, with exhibitors hoping to increase their company’s brand awareness in the Chinese market, including Macau’s neighboring regions.
In the Friday opening ceremony of the event, Jackson Chang, president of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), noted in his speech that MFE has been upgraded in terms of the event’s content and scope.
“This year, the MFE aims to become a mega event providing exhibitions, forums, business-
matching sessions and promotional seminars; and [to] play a positive role in various patterns of business co-operation, such as franchising and brand agency,” he said.
Macau Franchise Expo attracted a total of 17,000 visitors and 1,314 business negotiation sessions were conducted for specially-invited trade visitors over the three-day event.
On Saturday, a series of “Products Promotion Seminars and Sharing Sessions” were held, including “Investment Opportunities in Malaysia”, “Taiwan Quality Brands Presentation”, “Sharing by Mr. Robert Chua: From TV production to the F&B industry” and “Products Presentation by OTOP Taiwan On Top”, among others.
The Times spoke with some exhibitors yesterday, who expressed mixed feelings about the event. Some said that this year’s expo was satisfying, while one company stated that the event didn’t meet their expectations.
“We want our market to be known globally but I think not too many buyers came. […] It’s less than I expected,” said Heidi Lin, marketing manager of Taiwan-based coffee company Tummo Coffee.
On the flip side, Marcus Alonso, expansion manager of Lug’s Franchising, said the expo is a notable platform to showcase their Brazilian fast food in the Chinese market.
“This fair is very important because they receive a lot of different kinds of people from different country,” he said. “It’s the first time [for us] to introduce the product to the Chinese market.”
Meanwhile Karen Kwan, managing director of Math Monkey (Hong Kong) Ltd, said the expo served as a stepping stone for businesses to expand into the peninsula’s neighboring regions.
“The Macau organizers are giving us a good chance to bring Hong Kong brands to Macau and China,” she said. “So far, so good. [There are] many enquiries especially from [visitors from] China.”