The Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Economic Development Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin conducted visits to ten listed and private enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s cities on 16, 17 and 19 July, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Zhongshan, as well as the Co-operation Zone in Hengqin. The joint promotion delegation drew attention to the business advantages of Macao and Hengqin, especially the Prior Technical Meetings mechanism launched by IPIM in co-operation with five relevant government departments of the Co-operation Zone. They also give answers on-site to questions regarding project implementation in technical and administrative aspects. The visits were conducted with the hope that these enterprises can take the advantages of Macao’s and Hengqin’s favourable policies and launch businesses in these two regions to develop their international market.

The delegation visited enterprises in some of the key sectors, such as traditional Chinese medicine big health, high technology, cultural and creative industries, large cross-sectorial business, investment and daily necessities. According to some of the enterprises, deeper understanding of Macao’s business environment made them more optimistic about Macao’s market, and they will accelerate their project implementation in the city. Some enterprises expressed their interests in investing and operating businesses in Macao and Hengqin, and also that they planned to expand their business to Portuguese-speaking countries, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States through the Macao-Hengqin platform.

Macao-Hengqin Joint Investment Promotion to Attract Highly Competitive Enterprises

In line with the “Policy Guidelines in Economic and Fiscal Sector for Fiscal Year 2024”, in order to implement the Macao-Hengqin joint investment promotion, IPIM and the Economic Development Bureau of the Co-operation Zone aimed to promote the business environment, advantages and favourable policies in Macao and Hengqin through this visit. In view of the enterprises’ international layout and business development, they shared the information on Macao-Hengqin business incorporation process and the market information, highlighting the impact of the “Macao-Hengqin Joint Investment Promotion”. Through the investment promotion for the “1+4” priority enterprises, it is hoped to attract them to launch businesses in these two regions.

The ten listed and private enterprises visited by the Macao-Hengqin investment promotion delegation this time all considered that the business environment in these two regions attractive and the policies were favourable for their future development. Some enterprises said that currently they were adapting the new norm of the international business environment, and they had been considering re-arranging their international business. After communicating with the Macao-Hengqin investment promotion delegation this time, they believed that Macao-Hengqin could be a very good starting point for them to expand their international business. And they would consider investing and running businesses in Macao and Hengqin. At the same time, they planned to use Macao-Hengqin platform to explore the Greater Bay Area and international markets such as Portuguese-speaking countries, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States.

IPIM’s New Chapter to Refine Investment Promotion Strategy

The Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute commenced operation on 1 July 2024. It has been implementing work related to “pro-active investment promotion, attracting investment through exhibitions, collaborative investment promotion” by attracting businesses and investment, assisting enterprises in expanding markets, fostering the development of convention and exhibition industry, enhancing the economic exchange and co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and supporting the Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking (Macao). In the future, IPIM will deepen the implementation of “collaborative investment promotion”, and take the initiative to visit more GBA cities, discover more quality projects and resources and optimising investment promotion strategies and business environment.