Hosted by the Macao SAR Government and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and organized by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation between Guangdong and Macau (hereinafter referred to as the “Industrial Park”), the 2017 Traditional Medicine International Cooperation Forum (Macau China) opened on 27 Sep at The Parisian Macao. At the opening ceremony, the Guests of Honor, including Chui Sai On, Chief Executive of Macao SAR, and Ho Hau Wah, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, jointly opened the Forum and the inauguration ceremony of the Public Service Platform of the Industrial Park.

In addition, Leong Vai Tac, Secretary of Economy and Finance of Macao SAR, issued a letter of appointment to the Chief Advisor of the Committee of Experts and Advisors of the Industrial Park, and Wang Guoqiang, Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, conferred the “Public Service Platform of Traditional Chinese Medicine Products Overseas Registration (Hengqin)” upon the Industrial Park. The Industrial Park has also signed project cooperation agreements and settlement agreements with 13 domestic and overseas industry bodies, key enterprises and scientific research institutions.

A gathering of distinguished guests, a magnificent event to be shared

A total of 15 guests of honour attended the opening ceremony of this Forum, including Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wang Guoqiang; Vice Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of State Council, Huang Liuquan; Vice Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Yao Jian; Commissioner of the Commissioner’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao SAR, Wang Dong; former Deputy Minister of Health of Mozambique and President of Maputo Central Hospital, Mouzinho Saíde; Vice Governor of the People’s Government of Sichuan Province, Yang Xingping; Secretary of Economy and Finance from the Macao SAR Government, Leong Vai Tac; Director of the Department of Drug and Cosmetics Registration and representative of the China Food and Drug Administration, Wang Lifeng; former Director of the China Food and Drug Administration, representative of the Commission of Experts and Advisors of the Industrial Park, Shao Mingli; former Chairman of the Herbal Medicine Committee of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, Chairman of the Herbal Medicine Committee of the German Pharmacopoeia, Gerhard Franz; Vice Chairman of the European Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ramòn Maria Calduch; member of the CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor of Zhuhai Municipal, Zhu Qingqiao; and the Advisor of the Secretary Office for Economy and Finance from the Macao SAR Government and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Guangdong – Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd., Lu Hong.

The two-day “Traditional Medicine International Cooperation Forum (Macau China)” themed “Inheritance, Innovation and Internationalization” has attracted around 600 guests from the Macao SAR, Mainland China, the EU, ASEAN, and Portuguese-speaking countries, including authorities from regulatory agencies, experts and scholars from research and development institutions, and senior business directors. The participating guests will discuss policies, technologies, marketing strategies and more, that are closely relevant to the topics of “traditional medicine, healthcare industry, and international cooperation”. These discussions are aimed to combine the "Belt and Road Initiative" and Macao’s international orientation of “One Centre and One Platform”, fully utilizing the Industrial Park as a platform of “the gateway to the world of the traditional Chinese medicine industry and its culture within the Belt and Road Initiative”, to enhance international cooperation of the traditional medicine industry.

Officiated by numerous VIPs and guests, the 2017 TMIF (Macao China) was officially opened and the Public Service Platform of the Industrial Park was officially inaugurated

At the opening ceremony, Director Wang Guoqiang, Secretary Leong Vai Tac and Director Wang Lifeng delivered their speeches, respectively, and all recognised the Industrial Park as an important carrier and platform for the Macao SAR Government to promote traditional Chinese medicine. Through sparing no effort to build a professional public service platform, introducing competitive resources and expanding the international market with the strategy of “promotion of medicine through medical service”, the Industrial Park not only comprehensively supports the existing Macau enterprises to enter into the Industrial Park, but also actively creates competitive conditions to attract quality projects at home and abroad. The competitive conditions of the Industrial Park continue to accumulate and provide the base and conditions for the sustainable development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry in Maca.

Afterwards, the guests of honour jointly started the opening ceremony of the Forum and the inauguration ceremony of the public service platform of the Industrial Park. Chairman Lu Hong introduced in detail, through video presentation, the situations of the public service platform which was concluded and put into use this September, allowing the guests to have a better understanding of the functions and operational conditions of the seven projects, including the Headquarters Area, Test and Certification Building, GMP Pilot Test Building, and so on.

Fruitful Results through Signing Contracts and Establishing Partnerships

Leong Vai Tac, the Secretary of Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR, and Lu Hong, President of the Industrial Park, respectively presented the Letter of Appointments to Professor Gerhard Franz and Lu Yubo as Chief Advisors to the Expert Advisory Committee of the Industrial Park

Witnessed by all the guests of honour, the Industrial Park also held the opening and signing ceremony for appointment of experts and advisors, launching of key projects and settlement of enterprises into the Park. Secretary Leong Vai Tac and Chairman Lu Hong awarded former Chairman of the Herbal Medicine Committee of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, Chairman of the Herbal Medicine Committee of the German Pharmacopoeia, Professor Gerhard Franz, and Honorary President of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM, Lu Yubo, letters of appointment as Chief Advisor of the Committee of Experts and Advisors, respectively. Currently, the Committee of Experts and Advisors has gathered 15 industry authorities at home and abroad, who will jointly provide important technical support and policy instructions for the progress of the projects in the Industrial Park.

Wang Guoqiang, Director of State Adminstration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, awarded the “Public Service Platform for Overseas Registration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Hengqin) Plaque to the Industrial Park, which was accepted by President Lu Hong

In addition, the Industrial Park held the award and settlement ceremony for the “Public Service Platform of Traditional Chinese Medicine Products Overseas Registration (Hengqin)” of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Industrial Park also signed project cooperation agreements and settlement agreements with 13 esteemed enterprises, industry associations and scientific research institutions, including Intertek Group plc., National Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine and Bionic Medicine of Peking University, National Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality Study of University of Macau, European Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM, Chengdu University of TCM, Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Lisbon, Increase (Hengqin) Medicine Research Institution, among others. The cooperation and the settlement of several key projects show the initial achievement of the project gathering work of the Industrial Park through establishing a competitive platform.

Experts Gathering for Negotiations of Cooperation

The keynote presentation of the Forum invited 16 experts and scholars from China, the United States, Mozambique, German, Singapore, the Netherlands, to deliver speeches on three special topics: international development environment and cooperation, current situations and policy trend of internationalization, TCM technical innovation and industry upgrade, policy discussion, market, and technical problems encountered during the development of TCM, in order to promote communication and mutual trust within the international TCM industry and create a favourable international cooperation environment for the internationalization and modernization of TCM.

On 28 Sep, the Industrial Park will hold two roundtable and one investment and financing forum. At the roundtable forum themed on standardized development of TCM industry & species cultivation, modern design of traditional medicine & the choice of international cooperation development route, the experts attending the Forum from all over the world will be invited to have discussions and communicate. At the investment and financing forum themed on investment environment analysis and investment strategy of TCM enterprises and the overseas M&A of TCM enterprises, senior executives of investment institutions will be invited to share their experiences. Also, project roadshows will be held at the Forum, to be commented on by the industry experts and senior executives of investment institutions on site, providing cooperation opportunities for both sides of the investment and financing projects.

A total of 7 individual projects, consisting of (from right) the Scientific Research HQ Building, GMP Pilot Test Building and R&D Test and Certification Building, are officially inaugurated and fully operational, completing Phase I of the Public Service Platform of the Industrial Park

The Forum has received generous support from the following government agencies, industry associations, and scientific research institutions: Macao Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macao Health Bureau, Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Macao Economic Services, Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macau), China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products, University of Macau and Macau University of Science and Technology, among others, ensuring the success of this Forum.