The 13^th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF), which is jointly organised by the China International Contractors Association and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), is going to take place from 28 to 29 September at The Venetian Macao Cotai Expo.

More than 1,300 political, business and academic leading figures in the infrastructure field from all over the world have been invited to the Forum, including vice-ministerial level officials, and representatives from central government-owned enterprises and the top 250 international contractors. Serving as a matching platform where participants from Mainland China, countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative” route and Macao can have in-depth exchanges, the Forum aims to work together with them to facilitate co-operation in international infrastructure industry.

2 Keynote forums and 8 parallel forums held both online and offline

The theme of this year’s IIICF is “Co-building Infrastructure of High Standard, Sustainability and Benefit to People’s Livelihoods”. It will focus on post-pandemic international co-operation in infrastructure and development concepts that are high standard, sustainable, and can improve people’s lives. In addition, 14 associations in the construction and financial sectors in Macao and other relevant government departments will join forces with IPIM to help organise the Forum, which can encourage active participation from local infrastructure-related sectors.

The Forum will be held mainly in offline mode and supplemented by online activities. Live steaming of videos and images will also be available to enhance the interaction between online and offline participants. The two-day IIICF will include 2 keynote forums and 8 parallel forums, which will focus on building green and low-carbon infrastructure through co-operation, building a green industry chain, developing Macao into a green and smart city, as well as allowing in-depth exchanges and discussions on trending topics and advances in the industry such as an innovative multi-party investment and financing co-operation mechanism.

Extending “China and Portuguese-speaking countries” topics and promoting the development of SMEs

One of the parallel forums of this year’s IIICF will focus on “strengthening China-PSCs collaboration in infrastructure, supporting the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)”. Professionals from Mainland China and Macao to give keynote speeches, and engage participating enterprises and organisations to discuss how to co-operate in the future. By motivating SMEs from Portuguese-speaking countries to be innovative, exploring opportunities arising from intelligent green and low-carbon projects and integrated infrastructure projects, the event aims to open more paths for SMEs’ post-pandemic recovery and market expansion.

Deepening China-Latin America and Caribbean States co-operation

In addition, the Ministry of Commerce of China will hold “The 8^th China-Latin America Infrastructure Co-operation Forum” concurrently, where representatives from China and Latin American countries will focus on promoting green co-operation between the two sides in the fields of transport, electricity, public health, new energy, and new infrastructure, so as to further deepen the partnership between China and Latin America in infrastructure.

“Industries + MICE” mode to actively promote the advantages of Macao as a MICE destination

To promote the advantages of Macao’s MICE environment and attract more enterprises to hold exhibitions and conferences in Macao, IPIM is going to hold online and offline events both before and after IIICF. The events serve to promote Macao as an ideal MICE destination to large-scale infrastructure and industry chain enterprises in Mainland China, attract MICE organisers to hold business events in Macao, build a platform for the MICE industry to link up with other industries, and thus strengthen the synergy of different industries.

The 13^th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum is the first MICE event organised by IPIM after Macao entered the normalised pandemic prevention and control phase. To protect the health and safety of participants in the Forum, the organisers will strictly implement anti-pandemic measures based on the Health Bureau’s guidelines on pandemic prevention and control as well as the suggestions by international MICE organisations, including temperature checks and venue disinfection.

IIICF has been held in Macao for 10 consecutive years since 2012. Last year, 31 parallel forums and thematic events were held during the Forum. In addition, 203 business sessions were organised and 11 co-operation project agreements were signed. For more information about this year’s IIICF, please visit: http://www.iiicf.org/.