OPINION – Establishing a technology innovation incubation platform for Portuguese-Speaking Countries to enhance Macau’s role in international cooperation

Marco Wai and John Ku

Marco Wai, Member of the Policy Research Group of the Macau Youth Summit; Chief Representative, Hong Kong & Greater Bay Area, at 8 Hours Ahead

John Ku, Executive Deputy Director General of the Macau Youth Summit; Co-founder, Macau Startup Club

In April, the second China-Portugal foreign ministers’ strategic dialogue was held in Beijing, where Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized the importance of continuing to leverage Macau’s role as a bridge to advance China-Portugal relations.

Macau, as a vital link for market connectivity between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, should further expand the functions of the China-Portugal trade and business service platform.

(220922) — NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2022 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Joao Gomes Cravinho on the sidelines of the ongoing 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 21, 2022. (Photo by Liao Pan/Xinhua)

This would align with the policy directives outlined in the Government Work Report on deepening international exchanges and cooperation, while continuously enhancing the efficiency of regional economic collaboration. In recent years, the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) government has actively promoted technological innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly targeting young entrepreneurs. A prominent example is the “Brazil-Portugal Technology Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition,” organized by the Economic and Technological Development Bureau.

This initiative has grown into a flagship event, encompassing a wide range of incubation activities and successfully assisting numerous startup projects from Brazil and Portugal in entering the mainland Chinese market, thereby building a robust foundation over time. As a super connector between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, Macau has developed a series of professional intermediary services tailored to support Chinese and Portuguese technology innovation enterprises. These services cover areas such as legal support, accounting, business consulting, and translation. Supported by appropriate legal protections, policy incentives, linguistic capabilities, and a favorable cultural environment, Macau holds a competitive advantage in business exchanges that other regions struggle to replicate.

For startups in particular, Macau serves as an ideal platform for showcasing their technological products or solutions before entering new markets. For instance, in the medical and healthcare sector, the “Medical Connect Scheme” within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area allows medical technology companies from Brazil and Portugal to use Macau as their initial testing ground, followed by entry into the Chinese market through streamlined procedures.

Similarly, in the field of environmental technology, companies can conduct small-scale data testing in Macau before scaling up their applications by connecting with relevant industrial clusters in mainland China. By creating an incubation environment that incorporates a “stress test” component, Macau not only helps startups accumulate practical data but also aids in identifying mature, market-verified technologies, which is critical for their subsequent development paths.

Looking ahead, to further unlock Macau’s potential as a China-Portugal technology innovation incubation platform, we propose the following four recommendations:

1. Strengthen Promotion of Macau as a Testing and Demonstration Platform: Enhance efforts to position Macau as a hub for China-Portugal technology innovation, attracting eligible startups to use Macau—and potentially Hengqin—as gateways to expand into the Chinese mainland market.

2. Launch Cross-Border Incubation Programs: Facilitate initiatives that enable Chinese and Portuguese enterprises to establish innovation bases in each other’s territories, thereby expanding their market development opportunities.

3. Enhance Collaboration with Venture Capital Firms: Foster partnerships with venture capital entities to carefully select investment opportunities, focusing on enterprises at Series A funding stages and beyond, with the aim of creating successful commercialization cases.

4. Organize Annual Entrepreneurial Study Tours: Host yearly delegations inviting entrepreneurs from China and Portuguese-speaking countries to explore Macau’s technology innovation incubation environment, thereby progressively expanding the scope of services offered.

* The original article is published in Chinese, for any discrepancy, please refer to the original article.