The 22nd Macau International Fair (MIF) kicks off today, with the 2017 PLPEX (Exhibition of Products and Services from Portuguese-speaking Countries) to be held concurrently at The Venetian Macao from October 19 to 21.
This year’s MIF will occupy 27,000 square metres, feature 1,500 stands and welcome over 1,000 enterprises from over 50 countries and regions, with the 2017 PLPEX to have 220 booths – 60 per cent more than the last edition – spread over 3,000 square metres.
“Both exhibitions will be more innovative and richer in content than ever before, aiming to attract customers and bringing in more business opportunities for enterprises and investors from home and abroad,” Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) President Jackson Chang said yesterday.
The Executive Director of IPIM, Irene Lau, stated that this year’s budget was expected to be the same as last year’s, at MOP33 million (US$4.1 million), but with the department
considering it could be increased by 10 or 15 per cent in the case of unexpected damages – such as the those caused by the passage of a typhoon.
Last year’s MIF was affected by Typhoon Haima, which led to the suspension of one of the event’s days.
Last year’s edition saw the signing of 50 business protocols – two of them with Brazil – for tourism, Internet and cross-border commerce; IPIM representatives said this year would also see ‘plenty’ of agreements signed, with Ms. Lau stating the percentage of agreements signed at MIF that lead to actual investment “close to 85 per cent”.
“There have been some problems with the implementation of certain agreements but projects with concrete objectives, such as the development of factories, have led to something. We
always follow up on the projects and deals made and are available to help if issues are raised,” the IPIM Executive Director added.
ANGOLA IN THE SPOTLIGHT
This year’s MIF has selected the Portuguese-speaking country of Angola as its partner
country, a role filled by Portugal last year, while neighbouring Guangdong acts as the partner province, bringing a delegation of 250 people.
Angolan representation includes a delegation of 50 companies and over 800 entrepreneurs, with the African country’s representative at the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao), Belarmino Barbosa, stating yesterday that the delegation expects to sign several agreements for infrastructure development.
“With [Angola] having passed through a long period of civil war that destroyed the country from north to south, the country is still in its development phase and needs almost everything. It’s why we appealed to Mainland China for financing. Now, to diversify the economy we also require investments in agriculture, fishing and tourism,” Mr. Barbosa said yesterday.
The Angolan representative also stated that after one year of negotiations the Angolan bank BIC will make a formal request to the MSAR authorities to open a branch in the city.
Mr. Barbosa annoinced that the country’s new president – João Manuel Gonçalves, elected in August – will seek to improve the economic relations between Angola and Mainland China via measures such as increasing the speed of work visa procedures.
“Chinese businessman have complained that acquiring a visa to the country takes many months, so the new president requested the process be revised,” he added.
