BritCham Macao celebrates its 20th Anniversary amid a chaotic UK summer

In a year that marked a decade since the Brexit decision, the arrival of a seventh prime minister over that period, and an unfortunate showing at this summer’s World Cup, the local contingent of UK expats still found itself in a festive mood yesterday evening as the British Chamber of Commerce in Macao (Britcham Macao) celebrated the organisation’s twentieth anniversary in the Special Administrative Region.

With the reception held at the iconic Macao Tower, the same venue where the chamber was formally chartered, the executive director of Britcham Macao’s management committee Saj Fernando took those in attendance on a walk down memory lane, measuring the past two decades in 700 hosted events and countless sub-committee meetings. But as nostalgia filled the room amid a carousel of photographs while the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends” played, much of the evening’s discussion focused firmly on the present, and more importantly, the future.

Following Fernando’s opening statement, the UK’s acting consul general in Hong Kong and Macao, Sarah Robinson, quantified the current state by highlighting the nearly £300 million (US$397 million) in trade flows between the UK and Macao last year, an annual increase of 9 percent, and underscoring a promising trajectory that “continues to move from strength to strength.” 

In comments sent to The Bay, the consul general emphasised that the chamber’s impact reached far beyond its commercial activity, pointing out the incalculable benefits of cultural and educational links that support local initiatives and open opportunities for young people to study in the United Kingdom, fostering reciprocal advantages for organisations like BritCham Macao to draw upon later. 

[See more: World Cup 2026 final: Messi’s last match, and everything else to know]

As that talent flourishes, BritCham is looking to expand its reach to those returning to Macao while the city itself further integrates into the Greater Bay Area (GBA), a development taking place while the board is actively linking regional industries with Macao’s future. Back in April, the group visited Jiangmen, marking its third GBA trip with the support of local policymakers. 

When discussing the decades ahead, the Britcham Macao chair Eileen Stow underscored the importance of fostering these relationships to inject new energy that can mutually benefit both Macao and the BritCham’s longevity by turning novel ideas into meaningful action. 

Macao has completely transformed over the past two decades, Stow shared on the sideline, gesturing to a signature of Stanley Ho who attended the chamber’s first assembly back in 2006 inside the grand hall.

“The GBA has been an exciting catalyst for the city, and I can still remember when it was facetiously referred to as ‘Go Back Asleep.’ That’s clearly no longer the case any more,” she added.