To further enhance the international competitiveness and development vitality of Macao’s MICE industry, and to promote the internationalisation, professionalisation, digitalisation and green development of local MICE events, the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) has revised the “Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme” and the “Financial Support Programme for Participation in Exhibitions and Trade Fairs” and held a briefing session on 18 September 2025 on the optimised content.
Revised Programmes to Come into Force Next Week to Elevate the Core Competitiveness of Local MICE Industry
The revised “Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme” and “Financial Support Programme for Participation in Exhibitions and Trade Fairs” will officially come into force on 22 September 2025. The briefing session was attended by more than 80 representatives from units related to the MICE Bidding and Support Team and industry professionals who had applied for the subsidies.
During the event, Ms. Elaine Wong, IPIM Executive Director, highlighted the significance of MICE as one of the major industries in the Macao SAR Government’s “1+4” development strategy for appropriately diversified economy. In the future, IPIM will place greater emphasis on improving quality and efficiency of the MICE events, striving to attract more influential and high-quality internationally recognised MICE projects to Macao, and continuously enhance the core competitiveness of the local MICE industry. IPIM has revised these two Programmes after extensively soliciting industry opinions and evaluating actual operations, so as to better respond to industry demands and optimise administrative efficiency.
Driving the Quality Development of Macao’s MICE Industry in Alignment with Policy Objectives
According to an IPIM representative, the revisions mainly focus on simplifying and optimising the approval process and calculation methods. Following these revisions, the process has been digitalised and the indicators have been quantified, making it more convenient to calculate the estimated subsidies.
Among them, the “Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme” focuses more on attracting internationally recognised exhibitions and conferences that align with the “1+4” industrial development direction and the “One Fair, Two Venues” model, thus propelling the integrated development of key industries with the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and further enhancing the cross-border linkage of “MICE+ Investment Promotion” and “MICE + Tourism”. The “Financial Support Programme for Participation in Exhibitions and Trade Fairs” has combined the subsidies for two categories— “exhibition” and “publicity”—allowing up to six applications per year. It has further clarified the approval requirements and streamlined the application procedures. Applications for both Programmes are now fully digitalised via the “Business & Associations Platform”.
Revisions Welcomed for Enhancing Competitiveness and Regional Co-operation
The attendees responded positively to the revisions. In the view of some industry representatives, the newly revised Programmes have significantly improved the application convenience and the effectiveness of the subsidy assessment. Through clear quantitative indicators and incremental subsidy mechanisms, it will help to attract more high-quality exhibitions and conventions that align with policy objectives to Macao, thus further propelling the quality development of Macao’s MICE industry. Some participants welcomed the fixed-rate subsidy for the “One Fair, Two Venues” model, believing that it can effectively facilitate regional co-operation and attract more MICE projects and business travellers to Macao.
