The FMCC Breakfast Talk Rendez-Vous- Small Market, Smart Strategy: Macau’s Financial Future?

With Hong Kong already one of the world’s leading financial centres, does Macau really need to build another one,  or should it create something more focused, sharper, and different?

This talk will explore why Macau’s opportunity is not to copy Hong Kong, but to find the gaps Hong Kong does not fill. From start-up financing and links with Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries to niche financial products and new technologies, Macau may have more room to manoeuvre than many assume.

Professor Esperança will share how smaller economies can use focus, speed, and international links to build financial centres that are small in size, but relevant in influence, with lessons from places such as Luxembourg and Dubai.

Speaker's Bio
Professor. José Paulo Afonso Esperança

Prof. Esperança is the Director of International Relations and Professor of Finance at City University of Macau.

He was formerly Professor and Dean of ISCTE Business School, as well as Pro-Rector for International Relations and Entrepreneurship at ISCTE-IUL. He also served as Vice President of Portugal’s Foundation for Science and Technology. In 2005, he co-founded AUDAX-ISCTE, a centre focused on entrepreneurship and family business, which he chaired until 2015.

In 2010, he co-founded BGI – Building Global Innovators, a programme supporting technology-based entrepreneurship and new ventures linked to research partnerships with institutions including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UT Austin, and Portuguese engineering universities.

• Date: 9:00 am - 10:30 am, Wednesday, 27 May 2026

• Venue: Baccara Ballroom, 6th floor, Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16

• Price: 2026 FMCC Members join for free*
  Guests/Non-members join @MOP200
  *Western breakfast included

RSVP before 4 p.m. on 25 May

Special thanks to Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16 for co-sponsoring this event.