The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) organised a delegation of 18 Macao entrepreneurs from the food and beverage sector to participate in the “APAS SHOW 2024”, in São Paulo, Brazil, from 11 to 17 May, the largest supermarket industry exhibition in South America, in order to explore new sources of Brazilian food and beverages. During the event, 140 business matching sessions were facilitated.
During the trip, IPIM held a Macao-Hengqin investment environment exchange activity, to where more than 70 representatives of local Brazilian economic and trade institutions, chambers of commerce and corporates were invited. This was the first time to promote Macao-Hengqin investment advantages in Brazil. And the delegation also visited local trade promotion agencies and chambers of commerce to further explore co-operation opportunities for enterprises in mainland China, Brazil and Macao.
Making Good Use of the “PSCs Food Product Distribution Centre” to Conduct Business Matching between Macao and Brazilian Companies
The “APAS SHOW 2024” is hosted by the São Paulo Supermarket Association (Associação Paulista de Supermercados) and is one of the largest supermarket industry exhibitions in the region, bringing together about 850 exhibitors from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Spain and other countries and regions. During the event, a number of business matching sessions and negotiations were conducted between the delegation members and the exhibition organisers and business representatives from industries such as meat, propolis and nuts. This is a platform for Macao enterprises to effectively identify potential suppliers and introduce more products from the Portuguese-speaking countries, including Brazil, and to accelerate the construction of the “Portuguese-Speaking Countries Food Distribution Centre”.
Some of the representatives from this Macao delegation reported that they had reached co-operation intention through this event, expecting to import Brazilian meats, coffee and nuts products to Macao and even the mainland Chinese market. Some of the delegates considered this professional huge event a good occasion to learn first-hand about the Brazilian food and consumption market
The first Macao-Hengqin investment environment promotion activity in Brazil attracted over 70 representatives from Brazilian companies
In order to promote the new pattern of the synergistic development between Macao and Hengqin to Brazilian businessmen and showcase the exhibition, and the investment environment under the “Macao Platform + International Resources + Hengqin Space”, IPIM held a Macao-Hengqin investment environment promotion exchange, wherein Consul General Yu Peng of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in São Paulo, IPIM Executive Director Sam Lei, and representative of the São Paulo Office of the the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) Gustavo Sperandio Fernandes delivered speeches. Attendees of the event included General Manager of China (Brazil) Investment Development and Trade Centre Pan Faming, International Trade Advisor of Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) Márcio Guerra de Carvalho, and President of Brazilian Association of Export Processing Zones Helson Braga Cavalcante.
Consul General Yu Peng of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in São Paulo stated in his speech that over the past half-century since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil, political relation and mutual trust have deepened, with personnel exchange getting increasingly close and numerous highlights occurring in economic and trade co-operation. Macao has a long history of exchanges with Brazil. The city not only occupies an important position in China's high-level opening-up to the outside world, but also serves as a crucial bridge for China's communication and co-operation with Portuguese-speaking countries. The closed-customs operation of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin will greatly intensify Macao's collaboration with the mainland in production and supply chain, providing new opportunities for the global society, including Brazil, to share the fruits of China's modernisation. It is hoped that Macao and Brazil, with their complementary advantages and close co-operation, will achieve more mutually beneficial and win-win results, making greater contributions to the next "Golden Fifty Years" of China-Brazil relations.
According to IPIM Executive Director Sam Lei, the “Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries” is one of the major steps of Macao’s positioning strategy. Last month, the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) was successfully held in Macao, which not only clarified the key areas and co-operation methods for China-PSCs economic and trade co-operation, but also strengthened China-Brazil co-operation in the field of economic and trade development. He sincerely invited Brazilian investors and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the “China-PSC Business Compass” service and other facilitating measures provided by IPIM to learn about the advantages of Macao and Hengqin, to find partners, and to implement investment projects.
The exchange session attracted more than 70 Brazilian business representatives, from fields such as retail and wholesale, export, food and beverage, e-commerce and cultural tourism and MICE, to explore co-operation opportunities with the Macao entrepreneurs on site. According to the representatives of Brazilian companies, they were aware of the Macao-Hengqin synergistic development for the first time and they believed that it would have great potential for the regional development. In the future, they would like to conduct field inspection of the Macao-Hengqin business environments, participate in Macao conventions and exhibitions, and use MICE events and the Macao China-PSCs platform to explore the potential of Mainland China’s consumer market for their products.
Strengthening ties with Brazilian economic and trade institutions and chambers of commerce on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil
In addition, the delegation visited Zhuhai Gree Electric Enterprise’s office in São Paulo, Brazilian trade promotion agencies such as the China Trade Centre, ApexBrasil, and Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) to learn about local cutting-edge investment trends and business advantages. During the trip, the delegation also met with, representative of South-East Region Office of ApexBrasil Gustavo Sperandio Fernandes, and General Director of Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) Nelson Hervey Costa to exchange views on the service advantages of Macao’s China-PSC platform and opportunities in Macao-Hengqin co-operation. According to some of the delegates, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil, manifesting the great significance of this trip, which allowed them to meet with Brazilian trade organisations, chambers of commerce and enterprises that have rich resources and broad service network, connecting the delegation to the correspondent product sources in Brazil. The Macao delegation looked forward to joining the exhibition with their own products in a bid to open the huge Brazilian market with exhibitions as their starting point
