Macau has kicked off a trio
of signature events to boost investment, commerce, trade, and talent
cultivation in a first-ever attempt to strengthen cooperation dynamics with
Portuguese-speaking countries.
Among the three events, running until Saturday, is the Macao International Trade & Investment Fair, with the 30th edition of MIF coinciding with the China-Portuguese-Speaking Countries Economic and Trade Expo (Macau).
The second version of C-PLPEX
aside, the Macao Franchise Expo has also begun concurrently.
In a speech delivered
at an opening ceremony on Wednesday, Secretary for Economy and Finance Tai Kin
Ip underscored the MICE industry as a vital economic mainstay for the city.
As the main event, MIF has over the years expanded tenfold in floor area and attracted a total of two million visitors, the secretary pointed out.
This year, emerging
sectors such as biomedicine, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence
are high on the agenda.
Speaking to reporters
on the sidelines on Wednesday, Wang Kun, chief executive of WI Harper Capital
Management (Macau), said that the special administrative region’s stable
socio-economic conditions had created investment potential.
The investment fund manager’s presence in Macau was approved by the chief executive in July this year – the same time when the city introduced a new investment fund law poised to take effect early next year.
‘WI Harper was the first institution to receive a fund management licence in Macau after the new investment fund law was passed, we had made thorough preparations for this milestone,’ Wang said.
‘The agreement we have
signed this time focuses on how our licence will take root in Macau and align with
the region’s push for industrial diversification.’
WI Harper is looking to pump MOP500 million (US$62.4 million) into Macau’s fledgling start-ups. ‘Since we are more focused on investing in start-ups and early-stage ventures, it does not need to be in the tens or hundreds of billions,’ Wang explained. ‘For this segment, I think the market scale is very favourable for us.’
This year, over 300
exhibitors from the lusophone sphere participated in C-PLPEX, with their offerings
and products revolving around e-commerce, agriculture, new energy and blue
economy.
Information from the
Ministry of Commerce shows that trade between the country and Portuguese-speaking
countries reached over US$225 billion last year, up by nearly two per cent year
on year.
Imports from the
lusophone community abroad hit nearly US$140 billion, a fall of nearly 5.3 per
cent. Meanwhile, exports to those countries registered a year-on-year growth of
16.46 per cent to US$85.5 billion.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
