On 6 February 2026, MGM Macau, in collaboration with the Thailand Management Education Foundation (IMET Association), led a delegation of nearly 40 Thai business leaders to the Hengqin Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone for a focused business study visit. The delegation comprised senior executives and founders from Thailand's financial services, retail, technology, and professional services sectors, reflecting growing ASEAN interest in structurally integrated entry points into the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The visit was designed not as a ceremonial exchange, but as a working assessment of Hengqin's institutional design, industry alignment, and cross-border operability—factors increasingly central to foreign investment decisions in China.

Participating companies included Siam Commercial Bank, Central Retail, EM District, Accenture, and Google Thailand. Their sectoral focus closely mirrors Hengqin’s development priorities, particularly modern finance, cultural tourism and MICE, digital economy, and healthcare-related services.

During site visits to the Tianmu Qintai Hengqin Planning Exhibition Hall and Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel, delegates examined how Hengqin operates under the “one country, two systems” framework, with particular attention to regulatory coordination, urban planning, and international-facing service infrastructure. Several participants noted that Hengqin's policy architecture and operational clarity offer a concrete reference for ASEAN firms seeking scalable footholds in the GBA.

At an investment briefing session, Zhang Ge, Deputy Director of the Economic Development Bureau of the Hengqin Cooperation Zone, outlined the zone's core institutional advantages. These include the dual 15% tax regime, facilitation of cross-border capital flows, streamlined customs arrangements, and a full-lifecycle service framework tailored for international enterprises.

He emphasised that Hengqin's strategic value lies less in preferential policies alone, and more in its function as an operational bridge—linking the Chinese mainland, Macao, Portuguese-speaking markets, and Southeast Asia. This positioning is particularly relevant for industries requiring multi-jurisdictional coordination, such as cross-border finance, digital trade, and integrated tourism and health services.

In parallel, the China–Portuguese and Spanish-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Centre presented its platform capabilities, outlining practical pathways for Thai companies to use Hengqin as a base for three-way market connectivity between China, ASEAN, and Lusophone economies.

As a co-organiser of the delegation, MGM Macau highlighted its role beyond hospitality operations. According to its senior hotel business management, the group has increasingly positioned itself as a facilitator of international commercial linkages, aligned with Macao’s broader economic diversification strategy and its integration with neighbouring regions such as Hengqin.

From the Thai perspective, Thanapol Sirithanachai, President and Director of IMET MAX, noted that the visit provided Thai enterprises with a more nuanced understanding of Hengqin's regulatory environment and execution capacity, laying groundwork for longer-term partnerships within the GBA ecosystem.