RESTRUCTURING at Macau’s trade body for attracting overseas investment, including conferences and exhibitions, has seen a merger between IPIM and the government secretariat that deals with economic co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The Commerce Investment and Promotion Unit began operating on July 1, with Instituto de Promoção do Comércio e do Investimento as its Portuguese title, but the new institute will still go by the initials IPIM.
IPIM’s main duties of attracting investment into Macau will remain alongside its role in supporting companies seeking new markets and promoting the region as a business events destination.
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The newly merged bodies will continue work that the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) has been carrying out since it was established in 2004.
A board of directors led by former banker Vincent U – who was made IPIM president in March 2023 – will include executive directors Sam Lei, Wong Yee Lam and Leong Wa Fong, among others. The board will lead the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute’s three department and eight divisions.
In February, Macau Business reported IPIM as saying the decision to restructure was to “ensure that work can be developed in a constant and more efficient manner”.
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In addition to Macau’s role as a business events and leisure destination in the Greater Bay Area, China is keen to enhance the former Portuguese enclave’s ties with Lusophone countries such as Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste.
IPIM’s public service counters, official websites, email addresses and social media platforms, and phone numbers remain the same as with contact details for the permanent secretariat, according to an official statement.
