The 29th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (29th MIF) and the simultaneously held Macao Franchise Expo 2024 (2024MFE) wrapped up on Saturday, with the four-day event having drawn 66,000 visitors, of which over 9,600 were trade visitors, a 14 percent increase from last year, the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) said in a statement on the same day.
According to the statement, the event, which had over 1,300 exhibitors from 18 countries and regions, recorded an increase in the number of business matching sessions and projects signed, pointing out that there were over 1,000 business matching sessions and 103 projects signings.
The statement added that nearly half of the projects were related to Macau’s four emerging major industries, aka 1+4. Moreover, according to the statement, around 18 companies said they planned to set up shop in Macau, with seven already having finished the government’s company registration procedure.
In a TDM report on Saturday, IPIM President Vincent U U Sang told reporters that the dual fair saw an increase of around eight percent in business meetings. Moreover, running one day longer than in the previous years, U remarked on the event’s first time opening on a Wednesday compared to previous editions when it opened on a Thursday. “This change has garnered very positive feedback from the tourism and hotelier sector, and we will continue with this arrangement next year”.
Among other highlights and activities held across the event were over 80 trade and investment promotion sessions that focused on the “1+4*” industries such as eight themed matching sessions, two signing ceremonies, five “multi-venue events”, and over 10 activities involving Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs).
This year’s simultaneous exhibitions boasted four pavilions and 10 exhibition zones, spanning a total of 38,000 square metres, which a previous IPIM statement highlighted as being the largest two-fair event has been in recent years.
*The Macau government’s 1+4 model aims to consolidate and diversify the development of the city’s tourism and leisure industry while putting special emphasis on promoting the development of four nascent industries, namely 1) big health, 2) modern finance, 3) high-tech, and 4) MICE and commerce as well as culture and sport.
This handout photo provided on Saturday by the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) shows visitors at the four-day concurrent 29th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (29th MIF) and the Macao Franchise Expo 2024 (2024MFE).
