American firms have been increasingly aware of Macao's enormous business opportunities in the gaming industry, project- and tourism-related trade, said a senior US commercial diplomat in Hong Kong and Macao.

Chief Commercial Consul of the American Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macao Stewart J. Ballard said at the ongoing Macao International Trade and Investment fair Friday that America is Macao's biggest export destination, and Macao's inbound foreign direct investment from America is on the rise, which mainly flew to the gaming, hospitality, transport and communications sectors.

Ballard affirmed that more US export growth to Macao is likely as more US companies discover Macao as a re-export gateway to China's mainland.

He attributed the affirmation to the facts that Macao has clinched a closer economic partnership arrangement known as CEPA with China's mainland, and Macao participated in the "9+2" Pan-Pearl River Delta economic cooperation in the South China region earlier this year.

Projects linking to the coordinated regional development, such as the Macao-Zhuhai Cross-Border Industrial Park and the proposed Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge would make Macao a billion-dollar market, Ballard said.

He said Macao is an increasingly important Asian tourist destination, which attracted 11.9 million visitors in 2003. He noticed that Macao has become a hot destination for business tourists.

Co-sponsored by the Secretariat of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries Economic Cooperation Forum (Macao) and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, the Macao International Trade and Investment Fair, which convened over 1,300 government officials and business people from over 30 countries and regions, will last to Sunday.

Source: Xinhua