Matchmaking Macau Food Businesses

The 2016 First Quarter Local SMEs [Small and medium-sized enterprises] Procurement Partnership Programme for Food and Beverages was held in the Grand Ballroom of Wynn Macau. Some 106 local businessmen were seeking business matching opportunities in the Food & Beverages category. Organised by Wynn Resorts S.A. in partnership with the Macau Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and supported by the Secretariat for Economy and Finance, it was attended by the Advisor to the Office for the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr. Lam Hou, and the Vice-President of the Board of Directors of MCC, Mr. Chui Yuk Lam. In her speech, Executive Director of Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. Linda Chen underlined how the MSAR Government’s recent initiatives seek to simplify bureaucracy and improve the SMEs’ business environment. “Local SMEs play an important goal in supporting the diversification of Macau’s economy. We also hope to face all challenges and create a new way of working through our long-standing quality and innovative spirit,” said Ms. Chen. Searching for the food entrepreneurs During the session, the heads of the Food Department at Wynn Macau presented attending SMEs with an introduction to basic operations, food safety standards and procurement procedures, and organised a follow-up discussion. The Bank of China (Macau), Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (Macau) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) were also present to provide business information to SMEs, and face-to-face networking sessions were provided to businessmen during the afternoon, including a chance to speak with representatives from Wynn Macau. “We believe that buyers would have a deeper understanding of the suppliers’ offers following the product introduction session hosted by the organisers, which in turn creates more business opportunities for both parties,” said Mr. Chui Yuk Lam, stressing how the MCC hopes that by partnering with large corporations SMEs could “improve and strengthen themselves”, while supporting the creation of new companies. One of the invited local entrepreneurs was Rui Alves, a Portuguese national who’s been a Macau resident for 15 years and nine years ago created Nata Ltd., a Portuguese-style egg tart bakery. “The network sessions are very useful to have a face-to-face with possible contractors with Wynn to showcase our products,” said Alves, mentioning the Macau Government support for SMEs has been very helpful to his company, such as the Support Plan for SME’s in Macau, which provides 70 per cent of solicited bank credit to a maximum of MOP$3.5 million (US$125,100), excluding interest and other credit fees. Kickstarting Macau’s businesses The Wynn and MCC partnership focuses on three major types of local businesses: small and micro enterprises, ‘Made in Macau’ companies, and companies created by young Macau entrepreneurs, with 36 different projects planned to be launched, said the project statement. “The next Partnership Programmes will focus on the Hotel and Service sectors, Facilities and Others,” Ms. Chen told Business Daily, adding briefly that the opening of the new Wynn Palace Cotai is on schedule for the end of July or the beginning of August. The event also showcased the five finalists from the procurement Platform Mobile App Design Competition, a part of the SMEs Procurement Partnership programme launched in January this year as a collaboration between Wynn Resorts S.A. and the MCC, with the support of Macau and Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM). The competition has the ultimate goal of finding a platform that would allow local SMEs to access business opportunities by larger corporations, fostering the growth of the local technology industry, and encouraging creativity among local enterprises, according to the Wynn statement.