The Macau government has announced that a new trade fair, scheduled for October 2026, will help companies from Portuguese-speaking countries explore business opportunities in the neighboring Hengqin Special Economic Zone (Mountain Island).
According to Lusa, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) said it will bring exhibitors from Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking markets to events in Hengqin, “helping them identify a wide range of business opportunities.”
On March 4, IPIM announced that it will organize the Portuguese-Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (PLPEX) from October 21 to 24 this year, replacing the usual event that brought together companies from China and Portuguese-speaking markets.
IPIM explained that PLPEX will take place “simultaneously and at the same venue” as the Macau International Fair (MIF), to “maintain and highlight the Portuguese-speaking elements.” This is because the China-Portuguese-Speaking Countries Economic and Trade Exhibition (C-PLPEX), which was held in October 2025 in parallel with the MIF, will not take place this year.
IPIM emphasized that this Sino-Portuguese-speaking trade fair, whose first edition took place in 2023, was “initially conceived to be held every two years.” However, in October 2024, the then-president of IPIM did not confirm whether the event would become biennial. “We still need to discuss this with the other organizers. If we have good results [in 2025], we will evaluate it,” said Vincent U U Sang.
The new trade fair will include exhibition spaces for “quality products and services” from Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries, as well as matchmaking sessions “to promote business cooperation,” IPIM emphasized.
The tender specifications for the coordination of PLPEX stipulate that the fair will occupy an area of 6,000 square meters, with approximately 200 exhibitor booths “in line with Macau’s positioning as a Sino-Lusophone platform.”
The fair aims to attract at least 200 exhibitors, with 10% to be local companies, 10% from Spain, and 80% from Portuguese-speaking markets, “with mandatory participation from companies in all nine Portuguese-speaking countries.”
The agricultural sector must account for at least 30% of all exhibitors, cross-border e-commerce for 20%, and the blue economy, linked to the sea, for at least 10%, according to the specifications.
The organizer of PLPEX must also launch a campaign to promote the fair in Portugal and Spain.
In 2003, China established the Macao Special Administrative Region as a platform for strengthening economic and trade cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries, and in the same year, it created the Macao Forum.
In addition to China, the organization includes members of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP): Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, and, since 2022, Equatorial Guinea.
The current leader of the Macao Government, Sam Hou Fai, who took office in December 2024, also identified the promotion of financial and commercial services between China and Portuguese-speaking countries as a priority.
Hengqin, historically known as Mountain Island, is an island located south of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, adjacent to Macau.
