Seventeen companies from Brazil and Portugal are in Macau looking for Chinese investors and partners by taking part in Macau International Start-up Week from 5-7 September, officials told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

After participating in the event, representatives of the 17 Portuguese-speaking companies have scheduled a tour through three of the cities that make up the Greater Bay Area, a world metropolis that China is creating in a region with a population of over 70 million and which also includes Macau and Hong Kong.

The managing director of Brazilian incubator and accelerator Start-up Rio told the news agency that “the main target is the Greater Bay market, and we intend to contact potential investors.”

There is also the aim of “trying, with the help of the local government, to bring Brazilian start-ups to this region of the Greater Bay through subsidiaries,” added Paulo Espanha, who was accompanied by officials of artificial intelligence companies CyberLabs and Previsiow and “Internet of Things” company Phygitall.

Nu-Rise’s chief operating officer, Joana Melo, said the priority was “to promote relationships with other companies and establish contacts with the Chinese market, ranging from investors, accelerators, incubators and manufacturers.”

Melo stressed that this is a strategic focus of the Portuguese company, which has developed a “digital system that works in real-time in the area of radiotherapy that helps doctors create more accurate and safer tools.”

Porto-based start-up Infraspeak also made a point of attending the event. This Portuguese start-up builds maintenance management software, said the head of the company’s international partnerships, José Vieira Marques.

The Government of Macau has repeated its willingness to help companies from Portuguese-speaking countries to invest in the region, especially after the presentation of the Greater Bay project development plan.

Then Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, reiterated last May that Macau will continue to support cooperation between Chinese and Portuguese-speaking companies and support start-ups interested in developing their business in Macau and the Greater Bay region.