Macao ASEAN International Chamber of Commerce — Strengthening Business Ties between Enterprises from ASEAN Countries, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan
Programmes arranged by ASEAN+1 (ASEAN plus China) and ASEAN+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea) and related summits, in particular the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone Project, have attracted attention from the business community in Macao. They have worked with international businesspeople, enterprises and organisations operating in ASEAN countries, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to set up a Macao Asean International Chamber of Commerce (MAICC). This non-governmental and not for profit organisation was officially established in Macao on 8 August 2009. In the regional co-operation strategy of Macao SAR government, its role is to bring ASEAN, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan closer in economic and trade exchange co-operation.
The 10 members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have had close economic and diplomatic ties with China over the years. China has been working to promote the construction of China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, the main objective being to develop ASEAN into a competitive base to attract foreign capital, remove tariff and non-tariff barriers between member countries, liberalise regional trade and expand mutually beneficial trade among members and regional trade as a whole as well as building internal markets. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area will be the fi rst trans-national FTA ever set up by China. It will not only become the largest FTA in the world with 1.9 billion people, but will also generate close to US$ 6 trillion in GDP and US$ 4.5 trillion in trade.
MIF Acts as a Platform to Tap into ASEAN Business Opportunities
The 14th MIF in 2009 was the largest and most infl uential in its history with the most countries and regions attending. Macao Asean International Chamber of Commerce attended the Fair for the fi rst time and set up an ASEAN Pavilion. Consul-Generals, business consuls and business delegations from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were present. Information on investment policies, business opportunities and tourism products from the 10 ASEAN nations was presented in the Pavilion so that business communities would understand business opportunities and market situation through MIF’s platform.
Ms. Amber J. Li, Chair of MAICC mentioned that having an ASEAN Pavilion at MIF was the fi rst measure taken by the Chamber to promote ASEAN only two months after its setup. This initiative got the support of IPIM and ASEAN nations, Consulates in Hong Kong and Macao and was the result of the joint effort of Macao Asean International Chamber of Commerce and economic organisations in ASEAN. Committed to building an economic and trade co-operation platform. Macao SAR government is strengthening regional co-operation through its policy of befriending neighbours and integrating with overseas economies and supporting and encouraging local chambers of commerce and entrepreneurs to expand their markets and look for business opportunities. “MIF has become a very good platform and bridge. MAICC had a Pavilion there this year in the hope of attracting the attention of investors to ASEAN and organising delegations to visit ASEAN nations to talk about business cooperation of mutual benefi t and reciprocity.” Ms. Li mentioned.
Ms. Li indicated that since the Chamber’s inception, entrepreneurs and leaders of chambers of commerce from Mainland China, Taiwan and Macao have visited them, asking them to organise delegations to ASEAN nations so that they are able to see for themselves the investment environment in ASEAN. She pointed out the long-time relationship between Macao and ASEAN is mainly due to the fact that some Macao residents were ethnic Chinese from ASEAN countries and that they still kept close economic and trade contact with their “roots ”. With the favourable policies of the SAR government and the unique advantages of Macao as an economic and trade platform, Macao Asean International Chamber of Commerce will have an important role to play in promoting co-operation and dialogue between Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in a wide range of areas.
MAICC was set up at an important time as Asian countries and regions, especially China and ASEAN, are taking off economically, so it will witness and contribute to the integration of China and ASEAN into the global economy