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Functions and activities

The Association was founded in 1965 in the name of “Macau Exporters Association” with about 20 founder members and members are registered by names of companies in Macau. In order to adapt the development of the Macau economy and to strengthen the promotion of the import and export trade, The Association has been renamed to “Macau Importers and Exporters Association” in 1990, and in 2003, accept the abroad importers & exporters as our members, and the membership has since grown to about 300. With Macau’s main exporters and importers as members, The Association has the highest representation in the import and export field and has become one of the five most influential economic bodies in Macau.

Here are the brief introduction of the objectives, functions and services of The Association:

1. Objectives
The main objectives of The Association are to promote, to develop, to protect the interest of Macau export and import trading, to unite all commercials in the same field and to create competitiveness. The Association aims to contribute to the members and to the society with all the necessary services and legal activities, in order to attend to the objectives of The Association.

2. To Protect and To Secure Legal Rights
Even though the developments of export and import trading in Macau have faced numerous internal and external problems, The Association has tiredlessly contributed the greatest efforts to solve these problems and securing the legal rights for the members. Individual member of The Association has also been invited by the Government to participate in numerous international trade negotiations, such as the bilateral Agreements for Macau Textile Export with the European Union, the United States of America and the northern European countries.

3. Participating in Legislation and Social Affairs
For years, individual representative of The Association has participated actively in the Macau Legislative Assembly, the Macau Consultative Council, the Macau Economic Council, the Macau Permanent Social Council, the Macau Statistic Consultative Council, the Consumers’ Arbitration Committee of the Macau Consumers Council, etc., besides our President is nominated as member of the Executive Council, by his Excellency, the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region, such participations and nomination have made it possible to directly voice the members’ views and legal concerns to the government.

4. A Bridge with the Authorities
The Association has constantly kept an eye on the government economic policies by maintaining close contacts with the relative government departments for the best interests of the members. Together with the Macau Industrial Association, The Association has been able to assist members for applying for non-resident labour and to persuade the government to relax the scheme for offshore manufacturing process due to insufficient local labour. The Association has also been keen in organising seminars and meetings to correspond with any new laws and regulations regarding the commercial or industrial field.

5. Export and Import Activities
The Association regularly organizes delegations to overseas for the purpose of creating dialogue, exchanging information, promoting bilateral trade and gaining recognition. Besides organising its own delegations, The Association also, encourages members to participate in delegations organized by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. Activities include sales and exhibitions of both local and foreign products and attracting import opportunities, all of which aid in fully developing Macau trade internationally.

6. Visiting Delegates
The Association frequently attends to visiting delegates both from China and abroad in order to build friendly relations, exchange information and develop trade.

7. Co-operating Agreements
In the recent years The Association has signed co-operating agreements to maintain relations with overseas societies. They are:
- Jiamusi City General Chamber of Commerce
- Huhhot City General Chamber of commerce, Inner Mongolia
- Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce
- Nan Hai General Chamber of Commerce
- Shunde General Chamber of Commerce
- Shenzhen General Chamber of Commerce
- Brazil Portuguese Chamber of Commerce
- China Council For the Promotion of International Trade, Guangzhou Sub Council
- Association of Private Enterprises of Mocambique
- Superior Council of Chamber of Commerce of Cape Verde
- China Small Commodities City Group Co., Ltd.
- China Council For the Promotion of International Trade Canton Sub Council
- Guangzhou City Genral Chamber of Commerce
- The Associação Empresarial de Portugal
- Inner Mongolia Federation of Industry & Commerce
- Zhejiang Federation of Industry & Commerce
- Zhejiang Subcouncil China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
- China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
- Zhejiang Private (Non-governmental) Enterprise Association
- Chinese National Federation of Industries

8. Providing Consultation Services
The Association offers members assistance to solve problems related to laws and regulations of Macau industries, commerce, employment and procedures of export and import documentation as well as foreign investment. Copies of Macau bilateral agreements for textiles with various countries or economic bodies and details concerning quotas for textile export are available to members.

9. Business Visa
Both the USA Consulate General and the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong have assigned The Association under referral arrangement, to apply business visas for the managing personnel of members to visit their countries, for business purpose.

10. Providing Commercial Information
Monthly newsletters are provided to members with commercial information and business enquiries from all over the world. Statistical data and economic information from local authority as well as from overseas, including magazines, literatures and compact dics gathered, from USA, Canada, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil etc., are available to the members for reference and reading.

11. Providing Promoting Services
Besides being in the position to promote the members’ products either import or export through the contacts of international trade bodies, regularly up-dated members’ directory is also provided free-of -charge to local and overseas interested parties.

12. Providing Translation Services
Translation is also one of the many services that The Association provides to members.

13. Recreational Activities
To create opportunities to meet in a relaxing atmosphere, the Committee for Recreational Activities of the Association regularly organises tours, outings and gatherings for all members.

14. Donations and Contributions
The Association is always lending a helping hand whenever there are necessities, for donations locally or to mainland China in cases of disasters. The Association has also been a core supporter for various charities and contributor to various social welfare programs.