UPDATE SESSION: (From left) Hazlinda shows Matrade Sarawak’s director Trra Banau Gilbert Taylor a working paper on Hong Kong and Macau at an event, organised by Matrade, here.
KUCHING: China’s special administrative region (SAR) Macau is interested in further increasing its bilateral trade relations with Malaysia on the back of its strength in tourism as well as hospitality segments.
With a population of slightly over half a million people and an area size smaller than Melaka, Macau has been the country’s trading partner for quite some time, but it has always been overshadowed by another Chinese SAR, Hong Kong in terms of trade volume.
Throughout January to June this year, total trade value between Malaysia and Macau reached US$21.06 million, with total trade for last year amounted to US$31.91 million. These figures were dwarfed by total trade value registered between Malaysia and Hong Kong of US$5.19 billion during the first six-month of this year, and US$14 billion last year.
“Nevertheless, it is now fast catching up,” said former Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation’s (Matrade) assistant trade commissioner of Hong Kong, Hazlinda Anwar to The Borneo Post when met at a Matrade-organised event here recently.
“At first, Macau is very much focused in the manufacturing of textile, but now its main source of income is generated from the gaming and entertainment industry,” she added.
As of August, casino revenues in Macau recorded an increase of 47 per cent, or a total of US$21.7 billion, making it five times the size of Las Vegas, Nevada in the US.
Hazlinda also noted that with the arrival of tourists into Macau had been increasing substantially every year, it had consequently created a high demand for the hotel as well as food and beverage industries in the small country.
“This is a number of very high potential areas that Malaysian companies as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can tap into. Notably, Macau can also be the gateway to the larger markets of China via Zhuhai, as well as to other Portuguese-speaking markets, due to it being one of Macau’s widely spoken language. These are a few factors that could attract many investors to do business in Macau.”
Towards its aim to further diversify its economy other than the core gaming and entertainment sectors, Hazlinda said prospective areas for Malaysian companies would include, amongst others, the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market, halal food and beverage industry as well as green technology solutions.
“Both Macau and Hong Kong practise open market policy, where everyone from around the world can do business there. For halal food, it can be a very large market as tourists who come to Macau are also comprising a large number of Middle Eastern travellers, who will want to seek halal food there.
“On green technology, Macau – as with Hong Kong – has been plagued with chronic pollution problems. Now, they are becoming more environmentally aware. This can be a potential market niche for eco-focused Malaysian companies and SMEs,” stressed Hazlinda.