Today, the second day of the 13th MIF, the “SMEs International Business Days” programme was launched with an official inauguration ceremony. The objective of the programme is to provide an arena for the SMEs to take advantage of participation in activities such as exhibition, business matching and purchase negotiations to develop wider networks of international markets and to create more favourable conditions for boosting operational capacity.
At the inauguration ceremony of the “SMEs International Business Days”, the officiating guests included Mr. Francis Tam, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Mr. Zhou Zhikui, Director of Economic Affairs Department of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao S.A.R. Government, Mr. Lee Peng Hong, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr. Hoi Sai Iun, President of the Board of Directors, Macao Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Robert Schuddeboom, Consul-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Hong Kong, Mr. Matthew Quigley, Commercial Specialist of China Business Information Center, U.S. Commercial Service.
The two-day “SMEs International Business Days”, beginning today, will hold a variety of feature activities at the “Macao SMEs Exhibition” and “Seminars & Presentation Area” to encourage the SMEs to participate in the different series of trade and economic activities to exploit new business opportunities.
After the inauguration ceremony of the “SMEs International Business Days”, the “Portuguese-speaking countries-Fujian-Macao Economic and Trade Seminar & Briefing on Fujian’s Industries and Products” was held during which high ranking government officials, representatives of trade and economic authorities from Portuguese-speaking countries, Fujian, Macao and other countries held a wide range of feature activities to showcase and promote their products, services or co-operation projects, and jointly promote mutual exchange and co-operation.
Also held this morning, the Conference on “Grasping Franchising Business Opportunities” was held, which consisted of two sessions: 1st session – “Investigation on the global development trend on the franchising development and how to select the right franchising co-operation partner”; and 2nd session – “Investigation on the development prospects for franchising co-operation in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan; Experiencing sharing”. According to Mr. Donald J. Dwyer, Jr., CFE, member of IFA’s International Committee and Director of International Development for the Dwyer Group, the franchise business model has emerged to be the trend for development all over the world. He suggested that Macao entrepreneurs should capitalize on their knowledge in certain products or services, adopt the master franchise model, make use of international brand name effects to open up new business opportunities, and introducing more advanced and proven management experience, and hence achieve the objective of starting up a new business.
The “Second Ceremony of Macau Businesswomen Association Supervisory Board” and “Second Macao Honor Board - Gourmet Cuisine Restaurant Awards Ceremony” was held also this afternoon. During the ceremony, the new supervisory board of the Association pledged for their appointment, followed by the award presentation to 20 local merchants with outstanding achievement.
In addition to the above activities, also held today were conferences including “Poland as a Gateway to the EU Market. How to Get Started in Europe”, “Inner Mongolia & Macao Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference”, “Seminar About Brazil”, “Connect World SMEs and Enhance Your Competitiveness at HKTDC World SME Expo and HKTDC Inno Design Tech Expo” and “Forum on Trade, Investment and Tourism China – Latin America and Macau’s Bridging Role”, “Lecture Series by Distinguished National and International Personage”, “China Investment and Dispute Resolution Forum”, “Business Promotion Seminar Chongqing China 2008”, and “How to obtain benefits through the usage of brand names”.
Beginning today, the four-day event will be opened to the public. Until now, the 13th MIF has registered a total of 10,108 visitors. A total of 406 sessions of purchase negotiations and business matching have been conducted, and 6 contracts signed.
For the third day, the programme includes “Meet the Buyers - An Introduction to the AmCham Macau SMEs Cooperative Program” and conference on U.S. economy and business environment, Conference on “International Fund Raising and Private Equity Opportunities”, “Seminar on EU Market Business Opportunities and Enterprise Co-operation”, and “Presentation on Business Opportunities of Romania”, and more.
