The 6^th Meeting of Steering Committee of IIICF was held on the first day (10 June) of the 16^th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum & Exhibition (IIICF). Attendees included Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government Tai Kin Ip, and Director of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce Fan Shijie. They affirmed the successful organisation of IIICF, which, with the support of the Steering Committee, has continuously expanded its influence and received high acclaim from guests and the international infrastructure industry. Forward-looking recommendations were also proposed for IIICF’s future development to enhance internal and external connectivity and to achieve a greater impact on the international stage.

Leveraging IIICF as a platform to enhance connectivity and co-operation

Secretary Tai Kin Ip emphasised that IIICF’s technological content continues to grow. While the meetings and forums are increasingly specialised and elevating their quality, the event is actively playing the role of “driving exhibitions through conferences”, providing a platform for showcasing and promoting intelligent infrastructure equipment. The scale of the event continues to expand, with several new technologies and products being launched this year. This not only consolidates its position as a co-operation platform for infrastructure projects in “Belt and Road” countries and regions, but also provides new impetus for Macao to better integrate with and serve the country’s overall development strategy. It assists the local convention and exhibition industry in upgrading quality and fosters appropriately diversified economic development. Three key recommendations were made for IIICF’s future development: first, to implement the outcomes of the Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) and deepen co-operation on infrastructure projects; second, to leverage the synergies of the China-CELAC Forum to expand international co-operation; and third, to seize new opportunities arising from the “Macao + Hengqin” development to promote interconnectivity of projects.

Serving national development needs to improve Macao’s international competitiveness and empower diversified industrial development

Director Fan Shijie stated that IIICF is currently one of the largest annual international forums held in the Hong Kong and Macao regions, with attendance of the highest number of ministerial-level officials. It has attracted over 30,000 participants worldwide, facilitating international infrastructure project agreements worth over US$100 billion. Given that “Belt and Road” co-operation has now entered a new phase of high-quality development, opening a new chapter in the second golden decade, IIICF should play a more active role as an important platform for Macao’s pro-active engagement in the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI). He made three recommendations: first, to facilitate Macao’s development of functional BRI platform to better serve the country’s overall development; second, to help Macao continuously deepen external co-operation and boost international competitiveness; and third, to enrich Macao’s convention and exhibition industry ecosystem and advance appropriate economic diversification.

Furthermore, representatives of the organisers of the 16^th IIICF –Chairman of the China International Contractors Association Fang Qiuchen, and President of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute of the Macao Special Administrative Region Vincent U – reported on the preparations for this year’s event.

Other participants in the meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), and the Economic and Technological Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government.