MIF KICKS OFF

2014/10/24

From：Macau Business Daily

Be there or be square. The 19th Macau International Trade and Investment Fair has attracted participants and exhibitors from over 50 countries. At least 142 local enterprises are supporting the four-day event

The 19th Macau International Trade and Investment Fair kicked off yesterday. Among the forums hosted by industry leaders, protocol signings between governments, and business matching sessions for enterprises, the Fair itself also features over 1,900 exhibition booths, occupying 30,000 square metres.
One of the highlights of this year’s edition is the Latin America Pavilion and a Latin American Business and Investment Series hosted by the Macau Association for the Promotion of Exchange between Asia Pacific and Latin America (MAPEAL).
The Commercial Consul of the Embassy of the Republic of Costa Rica in the People’s Republic of China, Jose Pablo Rodriguez, said the country has around 4,500 different products to export. To Macau and MIF, they have brought food specialties such as organic chocolate, fine coffee and gourmet tuna, as well as fancy cigars, primarily because of the territory’s booming hotel and casino industry.
Jose Pablo Rodriguez, representing the trade commission of Costa Rica, told Business Daily that they don’t usually join this kind of fair, usually being onlookers rather than real investors. But they took a chance this year.
“Macau’s a very important market in terms of the connection with Latin America. There’s already some acceptance of Latin America here and people are more used to our culture,” he said. “We thought it could be a very good point of entry to Macau [en route] to the China market, as well as reaching Hong Kong and Taiwan.”

Made in China

A section featuring electronic technology products from Shenzhen City in neighbouring Guangdong Province is another highlight this year. As the hi-tech industry has become one of the pillars of Shenzhen’s development, the Economic, Trade and Information Commission of Shenzhen Municipality is leading a delegation representing Shenzhen IT enterprises at the MIF 2014.
Myron Mai, sales director of the Shenzhen Nuolijia Digital Technology CoLtd, said they had brought mainly electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets to showcase at this year’s MIF. Myron Mai told Business Daily that the company is an active participant in this kind of fair. They’ve just finished another display at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair.
He said that they are at the Macau MIF to seek opportunities for export to Portuguese-speaking countries. But he said the first day of the Fair welcomed less people than he was expecting, the facilities were unsatisfactory as they could not access the Internet via the wi-fi network provided by the organisers and there was a lack of indicators and signs. Mr. Mai said he hoped that there would be a better turn out of people in the following days of the Fair.
Participants from over 50 countries and regions are attending this year’s MIF. Until now, some of these countries have never been represented at the conference. Over 142 Macau enterprises have also registered.

Copyright@Macau Business Daily