Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) has launched the Investor’s “One-stop Service” to assist local and foreign enterprises in implementing their investment projects, in order to contribute to the appropriately diversified development of Macao’s economy. From December 2019 to the end of February 2024, the Investor’s “One-stop Service” received 1,211 new investment proposals, of which 862 were assisted. According to the investors, the assisted investment proposals created 3,100 jobs and involved cumulative investments amounting to MOP 3.6 billion.
As of 7 March 2024, altogether 51 Macao investors’ commercial registrations in the Co-operation Zone have been processed, since the launch of the “Services Facilitating Cross-border Commercial Registration for the Co-operation Zone” in November 2021.
In line with the strategy of “1+4” appropriately diversified development, among the assisted investment proposals of the Investor’s “One-stop Service”, 105 proposals were related to the “1+4” industries, accounting for over 40% of the total (246), which is 3.5 times the number in 2019 (30). Among them, the proposals related to big health, high technology, exhibition and trade, and cultural and sports sectors have recorded significant increases.
World’s Top 500 Health Brand Enterprise Is Optimistic about Macao Market
During the Covid-19 pandemic, IPIM’s investment promotion work was adjusted to introducing brand enterprises in Macao. The recent successful case is a world’s top 500 pharmaceutical enterprise that is optimistic about Macao’s business environment and has invested in the city, which has boosted the benchmark effect for attracting more brand enterprises to invest in Macao. After the pandemic, most investors are generally optimistic about the resilience of Macao market and are satisfied with the development of their projects in Macao. Some are even interested in expanding their businesses in the city, reflecting the investors’ confidence in Macao’s future prospects. In recent years, some large enterprises have regarded Macao as one of the “multi-point deployment” in the “9+2” market of the Greater Bay Area, and even treated Macao as their first base outside the mainland market.
Innovative Services Brought Diverse Industrial Enterprises to Macao
IPIM provides the Investor’s “One-stop Service” to assist domestic and foreign investors to implement their projects in Macao. The “one-stop” services for the entire investment process before, during and after the implementation mainly include consultation on investment environment in Macao, and organising prior technical meetings before project implementation; assigning designated personnel to follow up the investment projects, and assisting investors with administrative procedures such as incorporation and company registration, and licence applications during the implementation; and regular follow-up on project implementation, pro-actively providing investors with appropriate assistance, including secondary investment intentions and business matching needs after the business operation has started in the city.
In response to the changes in the market and the industrial environment, the “One-stop Service” has also transformed from assisting Macao manufacturing and service industries in the early days, to the services oriented in the “1+4” industries investment promotion. In recent years, a number of service optimisation measures have been implemented, including the optimisation on the service process before, during and after the events for the “One-stop Service for Investors”, and assigning designated personnel to conduct “one-on-one” follow-up on the investment projects. “Invest Here” has also been rolled out to provide investment information about the nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area and key cities in Portuguese-speaking countries, such as commercial procedures and tax policies. “Prior Technical Meeting” has been established to help companies make good preparations before the investment. In addition, the cross-departmental mechanism of the “Investment Committee” has been optimised. And the “Prior Technical Meeting 2.0” was established in 2022 to co-ordinate relevant departments to give priority to the projects of four major industries. At present, the “Investment Committee” is composed of representatives from 13 departments and institutions, which has basically covered all “1+4” industry-related departments, and has assured the capacities to promote the implementation of key projects in the “1+4” industries. In recent years, IPIM has made great efforts in strengthening the two-way linkage between exhibitions and investment promotion, giving full play to the “Industry + MICE” pattern. In the MICE activities hosted/co-ordinated by IPIM, the services oriented in “pre-event positioning, throughout-event follow-up and post-event tracking” for the investors have been offered to convert exhibition visitors into investors.
Macao-Hengqin Jointly Facilitated 51 Commercial Registrations
Since the establishment of the management committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin in September 2021, IPIM has maintained a close co-operation with the economic and trade departments of the Co-operation Zone. In addition, IPIM launched the “Cross-border Commercial Registration Services of the Co-operation Zone” in November 2021 to assist Macao investors in handling commercial registrations in the Co-operation Zone. From the launch of the services to 7 March 2024, a total of 51 Macao investors’ commercial registrations in the Co-operation Zone have been handled. At the same time, IPIM has also received 51 investment projects recommended by the Co-operation Zone and has assisted 25 of them in setting up companies in Macao.
In order to further optimise and implement the Macao-Hengqin joint investment promotion mechanism, a new “Prior Technical Meeting” mechanism will be established in 2024 by IPIM, in co-ordination with relevant departments of the Co-operation Zone, to provide guidance on the license applications and to speed up the application process for projects to be established in the Co-operation Zone. IPIM is currently co-ordinating with relevant departments of the Co-operation Zone to promote the orderly implementation of this mechanism.
