The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Mr Augusto Santos Silva, meet the press after the latest meetingof the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee held in Lisbon.
Chief Executive Chui Sai On today (September 12) co-chaired with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, the fourth Macao-Portugal Joint Committee meeting in Lisbon. The meeting achieved constructive results, as both parties reached a consensus on strengthening cooperation in economics and trade, and language education. This morning, the Chief Executive started his first event of this official visit by co-chairing the fourth Macao-Portugal Joint Committee meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, at the Necessidades Palace. During the meeting, Chief Executive Chui Sai On said that Macao and Portugal have long had close cultural affinity and a friendly relationship. The Macao SAR Government attaches great importance to the development of Macao-Portugal relations, and officials of both governments consistently pay visits to one another. The Macao SAR Government and the Consulate-General of the Portuguese Republic in Macao maintain friendly communications and cooperation, while frequent exchanges and contacts between public and private sectors of both sides also help to strengthen and consolidate bilateral friendship and cooperation. He then introduced Macao’s recent social and economic development, and reviewed the cooperation between Macao and Portugal in recent years. According to the Chief Executive, under the Cooperation Framework Agreement between the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Portuguese Republic signed in 2001, recent cooperation between both parties has been consistent and efficiently implemented, in the forms of personnel exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, technology exchanges, professional consultancy and information sharing, setting a solid foundation for further cooperation. The most outstanding results were achieved in the areas of people-to-people exchanges, economics and trade, Portuguese language learning, and education. Following the signing of the Amendment of the Cooperation Framework Agreement in March 2014, the regular meeting of the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee has become an annual event instead of a biennial meeting. Looking forward, the Chief Executive believed that Macao and Portugal could in future focus on enhancing economics and trade and language education cooperation, and gradually expand the areas and scope of cooperation. Regarding economics and trade, both parties can make use of Macao’s advantages as a platform to continue promoting cooperation and exchanges between China and Portugal, and supporting and arranging for local and mainland China enterprises to participate in commercial and trade activities in Portugal. Meanwhile, Macao will also promote and assist Portuguese enterprises to understand and benefit from the favourable policies in free trade zones in mainland China, and seize the opportunities for developing businesses in the vast and rapid growing mainland China market. The MSAR Government will continue inviting Portuguese economics and trade departments and enterprises to participate in conventions and exhibitions in Macao. Chief Executive Chui Sai On said that promoting the Portuguese language is an important part of the Government’s overall policy objective. Students may choose to learn Portuguese while receiving tertiary or non-tertiary education, and there is a system for training professional bilingual personnel. The Government will further enhance training of talented Portuguese-speaking people to cater for local demands and the country's needs. He believed that Macao will become a better Portuguese language training centre in future. In supporting Macao’s five-year development plan, the Government intends to launch a training programme for Portuguese-speaking professionals, with scholarships and subsidies for university students to study finance, accounting, law, medicine and engineering in Portugal. After the meeting, Chief Executive Chui Sai On and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, held a joint press conference. The Chief Executive told the media that his visit to Portugal and participation in the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee meeting reflect the solid foundation of bilateral cooperation that has been established since 2001. He looked forward to enhanced cooperation and constructive results achieved through discussions in the committee. He said that, through the joint efforts of both parties, Macao and the Portuguese Republic have signed cooperation agreements on more than 120 projects, covering 33 fields and professions. He was satisfied with the overall fruitful results, and hoped to make further enhancements in bilateral cooperation. The meeting also focused on discussion of cooperation in education and economic areas. It was agreed to increase quotas for exchange students on both sides. The Chief Executive also expressed his gratitude for the Portuguese Republic’s support in developing Portuguese language education in Macao. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, welcomed Chief Executive Chui Sai On and his delegation to Portugal, and reaffirmed that the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee is the key element for Portugal’s success in cooperation with China and Macao. Mr Augusto Santos Silva also said that in October, the Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic will lead a delegation to Macao to attend the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries and the MIF. To him, Macao is for businessmen an important and excellent exchange platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries; whilst also serving as an important platform in the Greater China region for Portuguese language training and education. On cooperation in education, Mr Augusto Santos Silva said he was aware of an important part of Macao’s five-year development plan – popularising Portuguese as a teaching medium in Macao schools. The Portuguese government is duty-bound to offer appropriate support. He also said that training for Portuguese-speaking professionals should be enhanced. He hoped the foundations for technological development on both sides could help establish communications in future for strengthening cooperation in science and technology. Macao officials attending the fourth Macao-Portugal Joint Committee meeting were the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive's Office, O Lam; the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Victor Chan; the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Fung Sio Weng; and the Director of the Macao Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon, O Tin Lin. Portuguese officials attending the meeting included the Portuguese Secretary of Sate for International Affairs, Jorge Costa Oliveira; the Director General for Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Duarte Lopes; the Consul-General of the Portuguese Republic in Hong Kong and Macao, Vítor Paulo da Costa Sereno; the President of the Camoes Institute, Ana Paula Laborinho; the Secretary-General of Ministry of Environmental Protection, Alexandra Carvalho; the Directorate-General for Education, José Vítor Pedroso; and the Director-General of Higher Education, João Queiroz.