Inauguration Ceremony of the International Portuguese Training Centre for Conference Interpreting at Macao Polytechnic Institute
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal, the Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) officially opened the International Portuguese Training Centre for Conference Interpreting on December 5, 2019. Based on the long-term friendly cooperation with the Directorate General for Interpretation of the European Commission (DG-SCIC), the Centre will further consolidate Macao's role as a service platform for business cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, improve the training effectiveness of both local and overseas Portuguese-speaking talents, strengthen the cooperation between Macao and other regions in cultivation of Portuguese-speaking talents, and raise the quality of the related human resources. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, Gou Renmin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region, Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General of DG-SCIC of European Commission, Paul Cunha Alves, Consul-General of Portugal in Macao, and Marcus Im Sio Kei, President of MPI, presided over the opening ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, MPI President, Marcus Im Sio Kei, reviewed various activities and cooperation programs jointly organized by the Institute and DG SCIC, and regards DG SCIC as an important partner. In the past fifteen years, the two sides successfully held nine professional conference interpreting training courses together. The participants include teachers from various universities of Macao, the Mainland of China and Portugal, as well as the interpreters from the Ministries and local government departments. The professional translators of MSAR government and of international radio stations also benefited from the training. The program has successfully promoted the EU-MPI interpreting training model to the universities in mainland China and has been highly recognized by our counterparts, which has contributed significantly to the development of Portuguese interpreting in Macao, the Chinese Mainland and Asia. With the establishment of the Centre, MPI’s cooperation will be even closer with DG-SCIC, who will provide pedagogical assistance and internship support to the MA students in interpreting, and will continue to jointly hold summer training courses.
Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General of DG-SCIC of European Commission, congratulated MPI for its achievements in Portuguese teaching and training in recent years. She believes that for years, MPI has been a reliable and innovative partner of the European Union, and the cooperation and training between the two parties in conference interpreting are a successful example. The DG SCIC attaches great importance to the traditional friendly and cooperative relationship with MPI and is willing to continue to work with the Institute to cultivate high-quality interpreters, provide teaching support, and jointly promote and develop multilingual and multicultural policies. The establishment of the Centre and the launch of the Master program in conference interpreting are important steps for Macao to consolidate its ability in providing high-quality interpreting training. Moreover, it helps to build ties among the EU, Macao and the Chinese Mainland to promote people-to-people communication. The DG-SCIC is proud to see that MPI offers high-quality Master program that meets the highest EU standards.
Both sides expressed the hope that the establishment of the Centre will further strengthen their cooperation. Under the Central Government's Belt and Road Initiative, in the context of the construction of the Greater Bay Area, it will surely cultivate outstanding Portuguese teachers for Macao, Chinese Mainland and Asia and improve the level of teaching interpreting, which will in turn help Macao continue to play the role of the Platform and actively build a "Chinese-Portuguese bilingual talent training base".
