Macau, China, Oct. 14, 2023 (Lusa) - Macau wants to take advantage of China's visa exemption policy, which comes into force on Tuesday, to invite Portuguese businesspeople and mayors to participate in activities in mainland China a leader told Lusa on Monday.
On 30 September, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would extend the visa exemption policy to Portuguese nationals, thus adding Portugal to a list that already included 16 other European countries.
The measure, which allows Portuguese nationals to stay in China for a maximum of 15 days for tourism, business, or transit, comes into force on 15 October and runs until 31 December 2025.
"In conjunction with this policy, we will be inviting Portuguese exhibitors at the Macau International Fair to take part in activities in mainland China," said the president of the region's Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) today.
Vincent U U Sang also said that "leaders from some Portuguese cities" will participate in the 29th edition of MIF, which will run from Wednesday to Saturday.
The fair will have 183 exhibitors from the nine Portuguese-speaking countries, confirmed the leader, who acknowledged a reduction compared to last year, which attracted around 260 Portuguese-speaking exhibitors.
Even so, the president of IPIM defended the fact that the MIF organisers "managed to achieve their objectives" by setting up the Exhibition Zone Alluding to the Markets of Portuguese-Langauge Countries, with more than 200 stands.
"Lusophone companies and exhibitors are very important elements for MIF," said Vincent U.
The Portuguese-speaking exhibitors present cover industries such as technology, agricultural machinery and products, finance, cross-border e-commerce, logistics and cargo, cultural and creative products, and food and drink.
At a press conference today, MIF coordinator Alan Ho Hoi Ming revealed that the Angola China Chamber of Commerce and the Portuguese Young Farmers Association will attend this year's edition.
In 2023, MIF took place at the same time as the inaugural edition of the China-Portuguese Speaking Countries Economic and Trade Exhibition (C-PLPEX), an event formerly known as PLPEX and organised in parallel with the Macau International Trade Fair.
C-PLPEX will not take place this year and will return in 2025, but Vincent U has not confirmed whether the event will become biennial.
"We still have to discuss it with the other organisers. If we have good results [in 2025], we'll evaluate," said the IPIM president.
Vincent U emphasised that the four days of MIF will include 16 activities related to Portuguese-speaking countries. They highlighted some new events, such as a session to promote trade and investment between China and Angola.
VQ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
