PLPEX doubles in size, budget increases 10%

The third Portuguese- speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (PLPEX), which is held alongside the 24th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF), will feature a significant expansion of its exhibition space this year.

The exhibition will grow from 3,000 square meters last year to an area of approximately 6,000 square meters this year, said the Executive Director of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and Coordinator of the MIF, Sam Lei, during a press conference held yesterday for the launch of the event.

Questioned by the media, Lei noted that although the total exhibition space and number of exhibition booth remains the same, the budgets for both the MIF and the PLPEX have increased by over 10% each, reaching MOP33 million for the MIF and MOP8.9 million for the PLPEX.

The MIF and PLPEX will be held at the Venetian Macao from October 17 to 19 and have made the African country of Cape Verde their partner country this year, and Jiangsu province their partner province. Both regions have a highlighted role at this year’s event.

The Cape Verde Pavilion will cover a total of 180 square meters and will feature a “wide range of activity sectors and broader participation from all the different islands [that compose the country],” as explained by the President of Cabo Verde Trade Invest, Ana Lima Barber.

“We hope that through participation in the MIF we can gain more understanding about the economy and development trend of Macau, so that we can work further on the collaboration between Macau and Cape Verde,” added Barber.

According to the official, Cape Verde will bring a large delegation to the MIF. It will include both the private and public sectors, and several government officials at the ministerial level.

Barber also noted that, of the 22 companies that will be represented at the MIF this year, “two are from agribusiness, six represent the commerce sector, eight are from the services sector and six from industrial sector, in which are included areas such as cosmetics, textiles, and food and beverage, among others.”

As for the Jiangsu Province Pavilion, it will cover an area of nearly 300 square meters. It will feature not only the province’s capabilities, but also ongoing collaborative projects between the province and Portuguese-speaking countries, in which Cape Verde is included.