A group of thirty Portuguese entrepreneurs visited Chongqing, the fastest growing city in the world, seeking to establish partnerships with Chinese local government officials and businesses.
Led by the Portugal-China Young Entrepreneurs Association – AJEPC, the mission aimed to establish partnerships for exporting Portuguese products and services to Chongqing and to create investment opportunities in Portugal and in Portuguese-speaking countries.
The Chongqing city already harbors more than 32 million inhabitants and is an example of the rapid evolution of a new China that being known as more open to the outside. To prove this, Chinese officials has declared the Chongqing district part of “free trade” zone, with conditions only comparable to Hong Kong, and is actively pursuing the construction of international zones, such as the future “German City”, in which European entrepreneurs can have their businesses located.
During the duration of the 4-day visit, Portuguese entrepreneurs met with representatives of the Jiangbei district government and the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Commerce to establish partnerships for importing Portuguese products as well as to create investment opportunities in Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking countries.
The Portuguese delegation was well received by senior officials such as the President of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Jackson Cheung, the Deputy Director of Chongqing Municipalities in Jiangbei District, Li Qian, as well as other official leaders of the region.
The “1st Portuguese Carnival”, an open day fair of Portuguese products and services took place in the center of the city of Chongqing. The organization of this event was carried out by the RONE Group, a conglomerate of companies dealing in the areas such as real estate development, commercial management, property management, building materials, trade, health care and other industries.
Several business matching meetings also took place during between Portuguese and Chinese entrepreneurs. These meetings were facilitated by the RONE Group, with the constant presence of its chairman Lin Zen Guan and with the support of official members of the Chongqing government and members of the IPIM – Trade and Investment Promotion Institute of Macau. These contacts included, among others, the visit to the new Jiangbei District Financial Center and the group headquarters.
As a result of these meetings, several export opportunities were identified such as frozen Portuguese products, particularly frozen seafood and portuguese wines.
Also represented were groups of technology and services companies such as the MediaPro Group, represented by the entrepreneur Nuno Machado of Getset, as well as the Media Invest Group represented by its CEO, Miguel Cordeiro.
Miguel Cordeiro pointed out “the importance of these missions in the promotion of Portuguese products and services and of our own country in one of the main zones of world growth, as is the case of Chongqing.” Referring also that there is a gigantic market that is still under-exploited, and other countries, such as Germany, are already doing it. In our case, the area of technology and new media, the market is still unexploited. The advantage of being the first ones can be a unique opportunity for Portugal and its entrepreneurs.”
Alberto Carvalho Neto, President of the Portugal-China Young Entrepreneurs Association – AJEPC, extended the invitation to a future delegation from Chongqing to visit the International Business and Trade Forum – China Countries of Portuguese and Spanish Language (FIN), which runs from 21 to 23 June, at Exponor, in Oporto. The Fair, which is organized by AJEPC, is aimed at promoting of Portuguese products and services and the connection between Portuguese and Chinese entrepreneurs.
