The four-day Guangdong & Macau Branded Products Fair kicked off yesterday at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo, and Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said during the opening ceremony that the fair has “always” been an “important platform” for enterprises from both sides to showcase their products and explore business opportunities.
Macau hosted the first fair in 2009.
In his speech, Lei said: “As an economic and trade event under the framework of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, the Guangdong & Macau Branded Products Fair has always been important for enterprises in Guangdong and Macau to showcase their high-quality products to the outside market and explore business opportunities”.
He added that the focus of this year’s fair is “innovation”, which, for the first time, includes three featured areas, namely Hotel Facilities & Services Area, Smart Devices Area, and China Chic Area, guiding potential customers to gain a deeper understanding of the new market demands brought about by the “smart development” of the hospitality industry, helping small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grasp the new market trends in upgrading and restructuring their businesses, while facilitating the expansion of the new consumer market by showcasing a wide range of goods that embrace Chinese culture.
According to Lei, this year, more “professional customers and buyers” from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) have been invited to participate in the annual fair, with 70 percent of them being first-time exhibitors from Guangdong Province, thus deepening the role of “attracting business through trade fairs” while bringing in more innovative opportunities.
The fair – 2024GMBPF, jointly organised by the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, comprises 453 exhibitors, including 168 from Macau, 213 from Guangdong and other provinces and cities in mainland, as well as 72 from “Belt and Road” (B&R) countries and regions in six themed areas, namely the Guangdong Branded Products Area, Macao Featured Products Area, The Belt and Road Area, Hotel Facilities & Services Area, Smart Devices Area, and China Chic Area. The “largest-ever” Guangdong-Macau fair is open to the general public from today to Sunday, Lei stressed in his speech.
Also delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Sun Bin, deputy director-general of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, said that Guangdong and Macau have maintained close economic and trade relations for a long time and have become an important platform for economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, with growth in commerce and trade between the two places in the first half of the year, noting that in the first six months, Guangdong and Macau achieved a trade volume of 9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26 percent.
Meanwhile, a protocol-signing ceremony was held at the event venue after the opening ceremony, during which, according to an IPIM statement, 16 signings took place on the fair’s first day, including an agreement on education cooperation in the Greater Bay Area between the Macau Fair & Trade Association and The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), as well as cooperation in the production of semifinished food among enterprises.
Paris-based UFI President Michael Duck told reporters after yesterday morning’s signing ceremony that his association has inked a two-year cooperation agreement with the Macau Fair & Trade Association involving exhibitors with experience in the local venue and organising business: “[The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo], an exhibition venue which is run well according to international standards and expands the business capabilities for all exhibitors here and small- and medium-sized enterprises in particular to be able to get the most in terms of meeting the bias”.
Xie Jiayan, who owns a booth featuring “hanfu” (traditional Chinese clothing) fashion, noted that Macau is a place of cultural exchanges between East and West, adding that she expected to explore, through this fair, the future development of cultural tourism in Macau by promoting knowledge of traditional Chinese clothing here and around the world.
Dancers wearing traditional “hanfu” garb at the Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair’s China Chic Area on its opening day yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong (left) and Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province Deputy Director-General Sun Bin deliver their separate speeches during yesterday’s opening ceremony of the four-day Guangdong & Macau Branded Products Fair at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo. – Photos: Yuki Lei
