The Macao delegation at the Harbin International Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation.	Lee Pong-hong, president of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.	Macao enterprisers visit the famous Sophia Church in Harbin.

A Talk with Lee Pong-hong, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute

Lee Pong-hong was just 30 years old in September 1999 when he was appointed president of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. Eight years later he jokingly refers to himself as a “young veteran cadre.” Lee and a group of Macao’s enterprisers came to Harbin, Heilongjiang Province in June to attend this year’s International Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation. The 50-person delegation comprised experts in such fields as finance, urban construction and transportation. The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute took this opportunity to sign cooperation memorandums with the Harbin Fair.

Macao is famous for its gambling and entertainment industry. It is now extending economic activity by becoming a service platform for economic cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as other European nations.

China Today: What advantages does Macao have as regards acting as a service platform for economic cooperation?

Lee: Macao’s rapid development of tourism is at the foundation of our confidence in this venture. Macao is now noted for its infrastructure and advanced transport network.

It has also always been a communication bridge between China and the West. Europeans, most particularly Portuguese, came to govern Macao four to five centuries ago. Portuguese and Chinese are now the official languages in Macao. Many locals are fluent in both. Macao, therefore, has ties with European and Portuguese-speaking countries as well as with international Chinese enterprisers organizations.

Macao has implemented a “free port” and low tax-rate economic system, whereby the maximum enterprise tax payable is just 12 percent. The local trading policy has been assessed by the WTO as one of the most economically free and open regions in the world. These are all tremendous advantages.

China Today: Why build such a platform?

Lee: Macao’s limited land area inhibits its development. Compared to China’s interior, Macao is just a tiny plot. Greater cooperation with the mainland is the obvious course to maintaining its relatively high pace of development.

Macao’s service industry should take the mainland, as well as its 520,000 residents, into account. You may ask why we have waited until now to establish such a potentially fruitful cooperation. The reason is a lack of the resources necessary to participate in joint work. We can now offer assistance to interior and overseas enterprises by adapting our tactics.

China Today: What benefits will this service platform bring to interior and overseas enterprises?

Lee: Through Macao, interior enterprises will have the opportunity for more cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries. After initial contacts have been established, we will ensure the success of such cooperations by providing necessary information and expertise in the areas of law, accountancy, regulations and business environment. Macao has, in addition to linguistic advantages, those relating to its similarities in culture and law to Portuguese-speaking nations.

Conferences and exhibitions are an important way of promoting cooperation. One example is the Macao Trade and Investment Fair, which apart from holding exhibitions and trade talks also helps to establish partnerships between enterprises that are lodged on our immense database. This year we have built the biggest convention and exhibition center ever. Macao, at the same time, is a charming resort with an exhibition area of more than 100,000 sq m, no less than 3,000 hotel guest rooms, as well as a huge shopping mall. Macao is currently advancing on the basis of its completed convention and exhibition facilities.

China Today: How will Macao, as a platform, be influenced?

Lee: As Macao provides services to entrepreneurs, its local convention and exhibition and tourism sectors will also advance. Products may not actually be transported via Macao, but Maco can still develop through providing preliminary services.

China Today: What kind of enterprises does this platform serve?

Lee: We focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and private firms. The reason for this is that large state-owned enterprises have national foreign aid projects, while SME and private enterprises often miss out on the Africa “channel.” Macao, therefore, can exploit its advantages to the full through establishing connections with Portuguese-speaking countries.

The Macao Business Support Center is a branch of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. It provides offices to chambers of commerce and enterprises free of charge. When a firm considers its initial foreign investment, it may not be entirely clear about the local situation. Large enterprises can call on professional consultant institutions for help, but this course might be beyond the economic reach of an SME. This is why we offer them an office -- free of charge -- for four to six months, to get them off to a good start. The center has representatives of 50 to 60 enterprises, and it is also the site of more than 10 foreign chambers of commerce, including the Australian Trade Commission, the American Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce.

China Today: What level of cooperation has been achieved between Macao and the interior?

Lee: The Macao delegation has attended business and trade conferences in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Chongqing and Xi’an. The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute also has offices in Hangzhou and Jieyang. A third in Chengdu is under construction . We intend expanding to Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and also to set up an office in northeast China. Our aim is to publicize Macao and promote cooperation. We also warmly welcome all interior chambers of commerce and trade promotion institutions that may consider setting up offices in Macao. This year marks our first participation in the Harbin Fair. Macao’s enterprisers have started to cooperate with companies in Heilongjiang Province, the Yabuli Ski Resort being a successful example. The Association for the Promotion of Trade and Economic Cooperation Between Macao and Heilongjiang was established at the end of 2006 and draws many Macao enterprisers to Harbin. Although cooperation between Macao and the interior takes place mainly in the Pearl River Delta, we also value cooperation with Northeast China. Since the differences in economy and culture are complementary, Heilongjiang’s abundant resources, prosperous agriculture and forestry as well as various industries make it very attractive to Macao investors.

Macao has other advantages. For instance, certain interior pharmaceutical enterprises have set up branches in Macao, due to its reliable protection of intellectual property rights as well as close contact with other countries.

China Today: What changes in cooperation have taken place since Macao’s return to motherland?

Lee: Since returning, we have cooperated predominantly with Portuguese-speaking countries. The central government encourages cooperation with interior enterprises, as exemplified in the China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries Economic Cooperation Forum that was successfully held in Macao in 2003 and 2006. Macao’s enterprisers are eager to invest in the interior. These factors promote future fruitful cooperation.

China Today: What will you do to change Macao’s image?

Lee: Macao has always been synonymous with tourism and gambling. We want to impress on visitors that Macao is also a great place to do business. Our goal is to achieve pluralistic development on the basis of these two main industries, and change Macao’s image within five years.