Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) Acting President Vincent U U Sang said yesterday he expected the number of contracts signed during the 27th Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (27th MIF), Macau Franchise Expo 2022 (MFE) and 2022 Portuguese Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macau) (PLPEX) to increase by over 50 percent compared to last year’s triple fairs.
U made the remarks on the sidelines of the three expos’ opening ceremony, which was attended by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and other government officials.
The three expos, which started yesterday and will be on today and tomorrow at the Venetian’s Cotai Expo, are taking place both online and offline. They were only open to traders yesterday, but members of the general public are welcome to visit the three simultaneous fairs today and tomorrow.
According to an IPIM statement, over 50 projects were signed yesterday, covering areas such as the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and health industry, technology and innovation projects, sports, and new energy, with local SMEs accounting for about 60 percent of the total.
The statement also noted that more than 30 venture capital institutions are attending the fair, including funds and associations from MIF’s partner province Zhejiang, as well as the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.
According to the statement, this year’s three expos have a total exhibition area of 29,300 square metres, comprising 1,871 booths, with 1,047 exhibitors, an increase of 12.8 percent over last year, while there are 1,264 exhibitors in the online exhibition halls with 3,728 online exhibits.
Macau Innovation Investment Union Association President Ip Sio Kai said before yesterday’s Innovation-driven Investment and Financing Project Matching that the local government will speed up the upgrading of Macau’s financial regulations and systems to enhance the business environment for industrial funds and venture capital businesses.
In addition, nearly 40 PLPEX exhibitors and representatives of products from Portuguese-speaking countries and traders conducted business matching at the PLPEX expo yesterday, aiming to help products from Portuguese-speaking countries expand their markets and thus giving full play to Macau’s role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, the statement said.
In order to stimulate consumption and support the recovery of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the three exhibitions have teamed up this time with exhibitors to launch sales campaigns where visitors will receive gifts such as “lucky grab bags” when they reach a certain spending amount, as well as being entered into lucky draws to win prizes, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Macau Fashion Festival 2022 also kicked off yesterday, organised by the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM), with the aim of promoting and supporting the development of Macau’s creative and cultural industry, and creating opportunities for future business development.
According to a CPTTM statement, yesterday’s event featured seven professional fashion shows, with designers from Dongguan, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Taipei to “combine traditional wisdom and design aesthetics with the new power of technology.”
One of the fashion shows alternated between virtual fashion technology and physical fashion, striving to creating an innovative way of presenting fashion, the CPTTM statement said.
The IPIM statement stressed that during the three expos, COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures imposed by the Health Bureau (SSM) will be strictly carried out.
This photo provided by IPIM yesterday shows a Portuguese-speaking Countries Business Matching Session for the 2022 Portuguese Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macau) (PLPEX).
This photo provided by IPIM yesterday shows the opening ceremony of the 27th Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (27th MIF), Macau Franchise Expo 2022 (MFE) and 2022 Portuguese Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macau) (PLPEX).
Models strut their stuff on the catwalk at the 2022 Macau Fashion Festival at the Venetian’s Cotai Expo yesterday. – Photo courtesy of TDM
