Macau's Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) recently led an entrepreneur delegation to Timor-Leste for the first Dili International Trade Expo 2025, facilitating eight cooperation projects and nearly 140 business matching sessions, according to a Thursday statement from the institute.
Held from August 28 to September 1 at the Dili Convention Centre, the expo was hosted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Timor-Leste (MTCI) under the theme “Make It and Brand It,” which featured 250 booths from governments, enterprises, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the statement said, adding that the opening ceremony was attended by Timor-Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, Deputy Prime Minister Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, and Minister of Trade and Industry Filipus Nino Pereira, alongside leaders from various countries and regions.
Dili is the capital of the half-island nation of Timor-Leste.
The statement noted that IPIM set up the 25-square-metre “China-PSCs Platform @ Macao” Pavilion, which aimed to showcase Macau’s role as a platform between the Chinese mainland and Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs) and highlighting the business environment of Macau and Hengqin. The pavilion drew interest from more than 100 international companies, the statement said, as delegates from the mainland and Macau, spanning industries such as food procurement, finance, tourism, and construction, engaged in in-depth exchanges and attended side events, while IPIM also hosted a session for 80 East Timorese entrepreneurs.
IPIM Executive Director Sam Lei Chou Sam emphasised Macau’s expanding role as a China-PSCs platform, noting Hengqin’s integration with Macau to promote economic diversification and inviting East Timorese enterprises to join October’s “Second C-PLPEX” in Macau, the statement noted.
The delegation further visited the Chinese Embassy in East Timor, the TradeInvest Timor-Leste, and local associations, the statement noted, while IPIM underscored its commitment to expanding targeted overseas connections, including planned visits to Angola, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, and Portugal, to enhance Macau’s capacity as the China-PSCs platform.
Timor-Leste is East Timor’s official Portuguese name.
This undated handout photo, released by IPIM on Thursday, shows a signing ceremony for co-operation projects at Timor-Leste’s Dili International Trade Expo 2025 in the half-island nation’s capital.
