The three-day 15th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF), themed “Green Innovative Digital Connectivity, started yesterday at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo.
The IIICF, co-organised by the China International Contractors Association and the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), yesterday afternoon hosted the two-hour “10th Forum of Infrastructure Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries & Business Meeting of Infrastructure Cooperation between Macao, Shandong and Portuguese-speaking Countries” at a ballroom in The Venetian Macao.
The afternoon’s forum, organised by the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), aka Forum Macao, with the aim of developing green cooperation infrastructure between China and Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs), held several panels on related issues.
According to the event’s statement, 120 people, including ministers and entrepreneurs from China and PSCs participated in the forum, probing into ways of strengthening cooperation in the fields of green technology, digital economy, green finance and clean energy. The statement added that the purpose was to stimulate green and low-carbon development of infrastructure in China and PSCs, as well as to share opportunities for cooperation in new infrastructure projects.
Ji Xianzhen, secretary-general of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, said during the opening session that the three-year action plan signed during the ministerial-level meeting of Forum Macao by the 10 participating nations in April with the aim of deepening cooperation and exchanges was being implemented by all parties.
China International Contractors Association Chairman Fang Qiuchen noted in his speech that infrastructure has always been a key area of cooperation between China and PSCs. Over the years, he underlined, China has cooperated with PSCs in fields such as transportation, telecommunications, water resources and electric power, promoting the “hard connectivity” of infrastructure, the “soft connectivity” of rules and standards, and the “heart-to-heart connectivity” with the inhabitants of the PSCs, thereby contributing to the recovery and growth of not only the economies of the PSCs but also the global economy.
IPIM President Vincent U U Sang said in his speech he hopes that Macau can become a bridge for cooperation between mainland provinces and cities and PSCs in the field of green infrastructure. He pointed out that Shandong is one of the mainland provinces with the most trade with Portuguese-speaking countries, and this year Shandong has also held thematic events in Hong Kong and Macau.
U said he hopes that yesterday’s event could further promote cooperation between PSCs and Shandong, whose representatives were one of the main participants in the infrastructure forum, thereby further promoting the concept of “polishing Macau’s golden business card as an international metropolis”.
Senior central government and Communist Party of China (CPC) official Xia Baolong came up with the concept during his seven-day fact-finding visit to Macau last month.
This year’s forum has attracted over 3,500 industry professionals, including a number of Macau enterprises, from over 70 countries and regions. The number of participating professionals from the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region has increased by 40 percent from last year, according to the statement.
The event, which ends on Friday, features over 200 themed and supplementary activities such as keynote speeches, roundtable conferences and thematic forums. More details can be found on http://www.iiicf.org/.
Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) President Vincent U U Sang (second from left, front) and other fairgoers listen to a spokesperson introducing an exhibitor’s products and services.
– Photo: William Chan
