Chinese businessman Charles Shi is a heavy coffee drinker, typically downing six to eight espressos per day. His big appetite for the caffeinated pick-me-up led him to set up a coffee processing plant in Macau last year. The 68-year-old’s home grown brand, Café Diliy, is presently distributed in Macau only, but he plans to expand to Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area later. With the help of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), which helps foreign investors set up businesses in the enclave, his Charlestrong Coffee Factory started to process organic coffee beans grown in East Timor in May this year. “I noticed the high quality coffee in [East Timor] when I visited there. I grabbed the opportunities as producers there have not found a market,” said Shi, the chairman of Charlestrong Coffee. “My coffee is mainly targeted at tourists. It is a unique Macau souvenir.” Shi, who comes from Heilongjiang’s capital city, Harbin, is looking for another, much larger, industrial space to expand his coffee production capacity. Existing annual production at his 7,000 square-foot factory is about 300 tonnes, but he wants somewhere of 50,000 to 60,000 sq ft that can handle maximum production of 5,000 tonnes per year using larger roasting machines. The total investment in the venture would be about 30 million patacas (US$3.76 million), he said. Shi’s main business is engaged in infrastructure developments in another Portuguese speaking country – Mozambique in Africa. Having lived in Macau for seven years now, Shi will gain full residency this month. He hopes to expand his coffee empire to Hong Kong and other cities in the bay area, the cluster of 11 cities home to 70 million people in southern China to which Macau and Hong Kong belong. Café Diliy supplies drip-bag coffee, espresso coffee capsules and coffee beans. The company has already entered into an agreement to supply its coffee to MGM China, which operates resorts and casinos in Macau . He also plans to sell it in duty free shops. In an email interview with the Post , the IPIM said it has received a number of “intentions to invest in Macau and enquiries about the relevant administrative procedures.” They include “establishing factories to manufacture face masks and disinfection products, setting up food and beverage plants or catering establishments, and founding companies in Macau,” it said. It reflects the fact investors and enterprises still have confidence in Macau’s business environment and also shows there is room for the development of new business forms after the pandemic , it said. Last year, the IPIM launched free commercial registration services for Macau enterprises interested in investing in the bay area. The current service area covers Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. For example, the IPIM helped one Macau investor through the whole process of setting up a medical equipment manufacturing and sales business, from the initial consultation to finally getting the required licence. It helps investors by saving them the time and the costs it would involve to visit the relevant mainland Chinese departments to complete all the formalities.