“Up until today, we have three exhibitors from Brazil, six from Mozambique and five from Portugal [for 2017 Macao Franchise Expo (MFE)],” Irene Va Kuan Lau, executive director of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) said.
In response to the press during yesterday’s conference, Lau also reported that only two brands from Portugal participated in 2014 and one in 2015, one from Brazil, three from Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, two from Mozambique and nine from Portugal for last year’s edition.
“Our staffs who are responsible to contact firms from Portuguese-speaking countries have been putting a lot of effort in promoting the Expo these years,” said the IPIM executive director.
The ninth edition of MFE, together with the Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair 2017, will be held at the Venetian on July 28 to 30.
MFE is a premier annual event to allow international brands to seek cooperation opportunities, and this year’s edition attracted some 155 enterprises from local and other regions including mainland China, Brazil, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mozambique, Portugal, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Participating enterprises of this year’s MFE cover industries relating to fashion, food and beverage, retail, education, entertainment, finance, brand agencies and consulting services.
The organiser of MFE had invited Chinese entrepreneur Li Ning, a retired Chinese gymnast and founder of athletic shoes and sporting goods company Li-Ning Company Limited, as one of the Expo’s ambassadors and to speak and share his entrepreneurship experiences.
Continuing from last year’s edition, this year the Expo will set up a ‘Rebranding Zone’ to provide consulting services and support entrepreneurs who are intending to expand their businesses.
In addition, the first day of the Expo would hold a forum to discuss the use of Big Data to expand business, with experts from franchise brands to share their experiences.
2017 MFE is jointly organised by IPIM, Macau International Brand Enterprise Commercial Association, Macau Chain Stores & Franchise Association, Brazilian Franchising Association, the Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan and the Licensing & Franchising Association of Hong Kong.
This year’s MFE will take up a total of 6,000 square metres.
Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair
The IPIM executive director noted that the two expos – MFE and Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair – to be held simultaneously at the same venue would boost visitors, allow the sharing of resources and also create a more “cohesive atmosphere”.
Lau reported that there are 107 local enterprises attending the Fair, with also 194 from other parts of Guangdong province, 30 from Myanmar and 14 from Indonesia, adding that it is the first time to include a zone for Myanmarese firms in the Fair.
The Myanmarese zone will exhibit indigenous jade, clothing, hand-made and food products.
Also speaking during yesterday’s press conference, representative of Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, Mainland China Business Consultant (Guangdong), Huang Yongguang reported that trade between Macau and Guangdong had reached US$2.06 billion (MOP16.57 billion) during 2016, with Macau investing in 589 projects from Guangdong.
Huang further revealed that the contract of foreign investment reached US$3.21 billion and the actual foreign investment hit US$640 million, with 12 enterprises approved to operate in Macau.
A total of US$100 million was recorded for the additional investment amount of Chinese agreement; the actual Chinese investment hit US$40 million.
