As a member of the SAR Government’s mission to Europe, the Macao Entrepreneur Delegation and representatives of the Hengqin Co-operation Zone had a series of business exchange activities in Portugal, including a cocktail reception held by the Macao SAR Government, the “Macao-Portugal Investment and Tourism Promotion Conference”, tours to investment projects made by Macao enterprises in Portugal, trade promotion organisations, as well as visits to industrial and commercial associations in Portugal. The delegation met with a number of big health and technology companies, as well as enterprises in the four key industries, to explore business opportunities by leveraging on the Macao-Hengqin advantages, in a bid to enhance the appropriate diversified development of Macao’s economy. Representatives of chamber of commerce and enterprisers in Portugal said that they would visit Macao, Hengqin and other cities in the Greater Bay Area in this year. Representative of a Macao company in Hengqin said that an intent of business collaboration was reached with a Chinese merchant in Portugal during the trip.

The Mission Helps Enterprises Explore Co-operation Possibilities with Meaningful Activities

Some of the delegates reported: “The promotion conference, meeting with local enterprises and field inspections, as well as different interactive activities enabled enterprises from both places to have better understanding of each other, implying more opportunities for collaborations in the future.” “The field inspections were really useful as we could visit some of the projects of very competitive enterprises, which provoked us to think of even more possibilities of the Co-operation Zone. These visits also allowed us to learn from other companies’ experience.” “It was a packed schedule and we visited 13 different entities. We found that there are actually good opportunities in ‘tourism+’ collaboration between the Macao-Hengqin area and Portugal. I believe this visit is just a beginning and more Portuguese companies will visit the Co-operation Zone in person with the help of Macao’s China-Portuguese-speaking countries platform. 

Golden Chances to Expand Businesses in China

Some of the Portuguese enterprisers welcomed the delegation: “It’s good that the delegation has members from the official departments and the private sector in the same industries.” “We are interested in the new development pattern and future prospect of Macao and Hengqin. I believe there will be more and more chances for co-operation between Mainland China, Portugal and Macao.”

The Macao Entrepreneur Delegation has more than 40 members, including representatives of Macao enterprises, officials and companies from the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin, involving areas such as pharmacy, finance, technology, convention and exhibition, trade, tourism, transportation, architecture, e-commerce, logistics and professional services. The delegation left for Lisbon and Porto in Portugal on 16 April and returned to Macao on 24 April.