The Macau government’s Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and its Hong Kong counterpart Invest Hong Kong jointly held a presentation session in Macau yesterday briefing Macau businesspeople about the neighbouring city’s latest business prospects and opportunities, where Invest Hong Kong officials said that the city can provide “low cost, low risk” solutions aiming to make it easier for those from Macau to launch their businesses there.
Invest Hong Kong, officially known as InvestHK for short, is a public entity of the Hong Kong government tasked with drawing and attracting investments to the city. The Chinese name of the agency is “投資推廣署”, which, literally translated, means investment promotion department.
During yesterday’s session, InvestHK officials presented alternative business models offered in Hong Kong aiming to enable prospective businesspeople to start their businesses there at a lower cost, thereby reducing risk, such as “shop-in-shop” as well as “shared-use kitchen” for food and beverage (F&B) companies. The session also briefed participants about the Hong Kong government’s different subsidies provided to eligible business start-ups.
According to DeepSeek, “shop-in-shop” is a retail business model where a brand or merchant sets up an independent small store, counter or space within a larger retail shop or shopping mall. This model is often used for brand promotion, product display, or providing specific services. For example, a cosmetics brand may have a counter within a department store, or a coffee brand may open a small café inside a bookstore.
“Shared-use kitchen”, according to DeepSeek, is a business model where multiple food and beverage (F&B) businesses share a single kitchen facility to prepare, cook, and package their products. This model is particularly popular among start-ups, small businesses, and delivery-focused operations, offering various benefits such as lower start-up cost, operational flexibility, and reduced overheads.
Yesterday’s session was held at the Services Platform Complex for Commercial and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (aka Forum Macao Complex).
‘Close connections’
Delivering a speech during yesterday’s session, IPIM President Vincent U U Sang underlined the close business connections between the two cities for many years, stressing that IPIM and InvestHK have been maintaining long-term cooperation.
U said that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides were still engaging in cooperation, such as a visit to Shanghai jointly paid by IPIM and InvestHK officials in collaboration with officials from the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province in 2021 jointly promoting business opportunities available in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
U underlined that the session aimed to further boost investment cooperation between the two cities, enabling Macau businesspeople to gain a better understanding of Hong Kong’s latest business prospects and opportunities.
Two InvestHK officials spoke to reporters before yesterday’s session, Head of Consumer Products Angelica Leung Yiu-wen, and Head of Tourism and Hospitality Sindy Wong Sze-man.
‘Shop-in-shop’
Leung said that while certain Macau companies may consider business operation costs in Hong Kong very high, different new business models are available in Hong Kong for businesspeople from Macau to make good use of with the aim of helping them lower their start-up cost, such as the “shop-in-shop” model.
Leung said that the session aimed to enable Macau businesspeople to “update” their understanding of Hong Kong’s business prospects and opportunities, adding that InvestHK will continue its operation with IPIM, encouraging more Macau companies to launch and run their businesses in Hong Kong.
Leung said that InvestHK’s services can help businesses from Macau understand different “shop-in-shop” options available in Hong Kong. For example, according to Leung, InvestHK can match Macau businesspeople with shopping malls or department stores in Hong Kong where they can first just rent a display cabinet or a counter without having to rent a shop unit, thereby providing a lower start-up cost because of which they can first explore business opportunities and launch businesses with a lower risk in Hong Kong.
‘Shared-use kitchen’
Wong said that while certain F&B companies may consider business costs in Hong Kong to be high, alternative business models are now available to them such as the “shared-use kitchen” model.
Wong noted that, for instance, a large central kitchen run by a company is divided into different spaces, or units, each of which is equipped with various facilities such as fridges and cooking hobs. F&B business start-ups can rent a unit without having to apply for a licence because the central kitchen as a whole has already been issued with a food-processing licence because of which they can quickly start their business at a lower cost, providing higher flexibility for F&B companies to explore business prospects.
Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) President Vincent U U Sang delivers a speech during yesterday’s session at the Forum Macao Complex. – Photo: Tony Wong
Invest Hong Kong Head of Consumer Products Angelica Leung Yiu-wen (left) and Head of Tourism and Hospitality Sindy Wong Sze-man speak to reporters at the Forum Macao Complex yesterday. – Photo combo: Tony Wong
