1st C-PLPEX gives new drive to Sino-Portuguese economic and trade co-operation

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The 4-day 1st C-PLPEX (19 to 22 of October) also featured a number of activities such as food exchanges with Portuguese-speaking countries, pairing sessions, and competitions to promote the charm of Portuguese-speaking countries’ food products, and to deepen Macau’s function as a “Food Products Distribution Center for Portuguese-Speaking Countries” through the exhibition platform, deepening the role of Macau as a platform for Sino-Portuguese trade and economic cooperation.

Building a Procurement Platform to Connect with Business Opportunities in Sino-Portuguese Trade

IlhaPeixe, a first-time exhibitor from Portugal, provides processing and wholesaling of seafood raised in the country’s waters. At the business matching session – “Business Opportunities in Food Products from Portuguese-Speaking Countries” – Mirandolina Freitas, the quality control manager of the company, said that the main purpose of the exhibition was to learn about the needs of customers in the Asian market and the products they are interested in.

According to Freitas, it was mostly Macau customers who showed interest in the company’s products, but mainland China companies also made several inquiries. “Although it is too early to say what would be the result of the negotiations, the most important thing is that we have broken our geographical limitations and brought our products to Macau to participate in the exhibition while gaining a rich experience and results in the process.

She believes that, as a representative of a Portuguese-speaking country, being able to come to Macau to participate in the exhibition is very important for the first communication and exchange with potential customers, instead of just understanding each other’s needs remotely. At the same time, she considered that the exhibition is definitely facilitating the development of business and trade between Portuguese-speaking countries and China.

300 Enterprises from China and Portuguese-speaking Countries

260 Portuguese Speaking Countries Exhibitors

142 Business matching sessions

Duan Yanhui, General Manager of Shanghai Huanchao Catering Management Company Limited, who participated in C-PLPEX as a buyer, said that she learned for the first time that there were such good agricultural products from Portugal. “The most rewarding is that I have found the ingredients I want.  I hope that Macao can help us, as a Sino-Portuguese platform, to bring Portuguese food directly to our tables,” she said.

Selection of quality products from Portuguese-speaking countries to increase their visibility

1st C-PLPEX co-organized the “G100×1st C-PLPEX The Most Promising Portuguese-speaking Countries Wine and Spirits Awards” and the “Portuguese-Speaking Countries Coffee Bean Award Ceremony” in collaboration with renowned wine and spirits selection organisations in China and the China Coffee Association Beijing.

This cooperation intended to help Portuguese-speaking countries develop the Chinese market through influential industry competitions and to extend the effectiveness of the MICE platform.

A total of 34 wine, spirits, and coffee suppliers or agents from Portuguese-speaking countries and Macau participated in the two awards with 58 products.

Casa Angola Internacional was one of the award-winning wine distributors, receiving the ‘Excellence’ and ‘Selection’ awards for its Porto Branco and Porto Tawny Borrelho wines, respectively. Rui Pedro Moreira, the company’s chief executive, noted that the number of exhibitors and buyers at this year’s fair was much higher than in previous years, and the company could directly approach companies for cooperation.

“Our Portuguese products have been exhibited in Macau for the last 20 years and this gives potential Chinese buyers the confidence that they are working with a reliable company with quality products. This is a very important first step. With this step, it will be much easier to enter the mainland market. Macau has always been the best way for us to enter the Chinese market.”

Cafeeiro Limitada, a coffee trading company from Brazil, was awarded the “Portuguese-Speaking Countries Coffee Bean Award Ceremony” for its Coffee Bean Category “Catimor”. Leonardo Venturini Filho, director of the company, said that it was his first time in Asia and that exhibiting in Macau provided great opportunities for his products to enter the mainland market while praising the organisers for “bringing the best exhibitors and quality buyers”.

“On the first day of the show, we had already talked to almost 10 buyers, and the results were far beyond our expectations. The demand for coffee here is huge, and I’m very excited about the potential for price increases”.

160 enterprise representatives, exhibitors, and buyers from the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking countries, Hong Kong, Macau, and Hengqin participated in the “One Convention, Two Places” programme.

Taking advantage of MICE to explore opportunities for cooperation with Macao and Hengqin industries

 In order to promote the new Macau-Hengqin development model of “Macau Platform + International Resources + Hengqin Space + Sharing of Achievements”, C-PLPEX organised a delegation of more than 40 Portuguese-speaking enterprises from Portuguese-speaking countries to visit the Hengqin In-depth Cooperation Zone during the exhibition period, to learn more about Hengqin’s investment and business environment, and to link up the channels of economic and trade development of Portuguese-speaking enterprises in the Cooperation Zone.

Representatives of enterprises from Brazil commented that the “One Expo, Two Locations” arrangement has enabled them to recognize the preferential policies of the cooperation zone, which provides more possibilities for Brazilian enterprises to connect with the Chinese market and expand their business.

The three exhibitions organised a series of four “One Convention, Two Places” events for Macau and Hengqin, with themes ranging from China-Portuguese business opportunities, Hong Kong-Hengqin-Macao MICE exchanges, Macau and Hengqin business and trade, and branding cooperation.

Record number of exhibitors from Portuguese-speaking countries

The 1st C-PLPEX, together with the 28th Macau International Trade and Investment Fair (28th MIF) and the 20th Macau International Franchise Exhibition (2023 MFE), was held concurrently and concluded successfully on 22 October.

The three fairs attracted a total of 1,200 exhibitors, of which about 430 were Macao exhibitors, 770 from 14 countries and regions, including Mainland China, nine Portuguese-speaking countries, Thailand, Japan, etc., as well as more than 2,000 buyers from all over the world.

Among them, 1st C-PLPEX was upgraded on the basis of the Products and Services from Portuguese Speaking Countries Expo (PLPEX), with an expanded show scale and the highest number of Brazilian exhibitors, brands, and delegations in the history of the event.

1st C-PLPEX featured seven exhibition areas:

– ‘China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries Image Pavilion’,

– ‘Exhibition Area for Trade Promotion Institutes, Chambers of Commerce and Associations’,

– ‘Chinese Provinces and Cities Trade and Investment Pavilions Exhibition Area’,

– ‘Enterprises from Portuguese-Speaking Countries Exhibition Area,

– ‘Exhibition Area for Portuguese-Speaking Countries Products’,

– ‘Exhibition Area for Cross-border E-commerce’, and the ‘Remote Exhibition Area’.