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The Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries has been successfully organised for five editions, since October 2003. For the past 15 years, the Macao SAR Government has been actively co-ordinating its efforts to achieve the objectives identified in the respective Strategic Plans approved in each Ministerial Conference, in order to strengthen Macao’s advantages in terms of language, culture and information exchange, and to act as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
Xu Ying Zhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), also known as Forum Macao, stated in an interview with Macao Image that since the launch of Forum Macao 15 years ago, China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries have been actively carrying out mutually beneficial co-operation. With the vigorous support from the Macao SAR Government, Forum Macao has become an important platform that enhances joint business opportunities, resource integration and exchange of information, while the two parties create opportunities through Macao based on the latter’s role as a Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
“Forum Macao successfully hosted five editions of the Ministerial Conference. In an effort to promote the implementation of plans and measures that were announced during the conference, the Central Government has formed a special follow-up action committee consisting of ministries and commissions from various sectors, including economy and trade, agriculture, culture, medicine and health, and human resources. This committee is responsible for the implementation of initiatives across respective fields,” Ms Xu told Macao Image.
“By implementing these plans and measures, we promote the continuous economic and trade development between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries,” she added.
Ms Xu said that in 2003, when Forum Macao was established, the import and export trade between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries amounted to US$11 billion. In 2017, the figure rose more than tenfold to US$117.6 billion. Through this impressive growth, China has become the largest trading partner of the Portuguese-speaking Countries. In terms of investment, China directly injected US$56 million into Portuguese-speaking Countries in 2003, and has increased by 100 times to US$5.699 billion in 2016.
The influence of Forum Macao also continues to grow. Ms Xu said that a number of provinces and cities across Mainland China such as Jiangsu, Hunan, Tianjin and Qingdao, as well as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, have all built collaborative relations with Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao. More and more enterprises from Mainland China, Macao and the Portuguese-speaking Countries are taking part in various economic and trade promotion and exchange activities organised by Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, including meetings on industrial capacity co-operation and trade fairs.
Forum Macao has organised a number of activities to mark its 15th anniversary
“We believe that the future development of Forum Macao should be actively integrated into the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, which include the advantages of Forum Macao and the co‑operation and development attached to such initiatives.” Xu Ying Zhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese‑speaking Countries (Macao)
Macao’s role as a platform
At the 5th Ministerial Conference, in 2016, China announced 18 measures aimed at enhancing the economic and social development of Portuguese-speaking Countries and promoting co-operation. Various new policies related to the construction of the Macao Platform have been announced, including: the establishment of a financial services platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, the formation of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Federation of Entrepreneurs, with a secretariat based in Macao; the establishment of a Chinese-Portuguese bilingual talent training base in Macao. Policies also include the establishment of a Centre for Cultural Exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries and the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre for young entrepreneurs in China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries. Moreover, one of the measures was the plan to build the Complex of Commerce and Trade Co-operation Platform for China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, in a bid to provide substantial support for both parties in fields ranging from trade, investment, conventions and exhibitions, to culture.
According to Ding Tian, Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao (appointed by the People’s Republic of China), the series of measures is an indication of China’s focus on Forum Macao and the construction of the Macao Platform, with a significant emphasis on the co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Currently, the Macao SAR Government is proactively implementing relevant measures, of which the majority have attained substantial progress, he noted.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao (appointed by the Macao SAR), Glória Batalha Ung, reiterated that the Macao Chinese and Portuguese Entrepreneurs Union Association was established in May 2018, which would be the city’s representative body at the Steering Committee of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Federation of Entrepreneurs.
“We are now working closely to co-ordinate the collection of relevant documents, aiming to assist with the organisation’s registration in Macao. The objective is to strengthen the connection, exchange and co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in a way which is closer to the needs of enterprises and the market,” said the official.
Ms Ung, who is also a Executive Director of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), said her roles help to better integrate the resources of Forum Macao and IPIM, as well as to enhance communication and to provide more support for the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao through the organisation of economic and trade exchange activities.
She also expressed that her goal is to promote collaboration of industry capacity and finance, as well as to foster economic and trade relations between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. IPIM will continue to host the International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF), to organise trade delegations of finance and other industries from Mainland China and Macao to Portuguese-speaking Countries. Meanwhile, IPIM will continue to organise and participate in trade fairs and other business exchange activities in Mainland China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries. These events include: the Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF), the Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF), and the Portuguese-speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (PLPEX), the Entrepreneurs Meeting for Commercial and Economic Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries which is held annually on a rotational basis among the Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as trade activities in Mainland China and overseas. Similarly, the annual working plan of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao also includes visits to Mainland China, collaboration with different provinces and cities in organising seminars and symposiums, as well as investment promotion activities of Portuguese-speaking Countries jointly organised with IPIM.
Trade between Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in 2017 (US$ mln)
Rodrigo Manuel Ferreira Brum, Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese‑speaking Countries (Macao)
Ding Tian, Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese‑speaking Countries (Macao)
Glória Batalha Ung, Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese‑speaking Countries (Macao)
Seizing opportunities
Rodrigo Manuel Ferreira Brum, Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao (representing the Portuguese-speaking Countries), said he expects enterprises from Portuguese-speaking Countries to seize business opportunities due to the increasingly close ties between cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area). Forum Macao, he stated, would be able to help in such endeavours.
“Forum Macao makes these opportunities known and boosts connection between companies and institutions, which can then be the basis of business decisions to be made by entrepreneurs and investors, thus eliminating delays in market research and exploration,” Mr Ferreira Brum told Macao Image. He added that enterprises and investors could take advantage of Macao’s role as a platform, particularly with the city’s highly efficient and transparent finance system.
In her comments to Macao Image, Ms Ung said that IPIM’s Guangzhou Representative Office helps strengthen the services to cities of the Greater Bay Area by providing further support – such as referrals, contact and liaison, as well as administrative assistance – to enterprises who plan to invest in Macao or Portuguese-speaking Countries.
While discussing the efforts on constructing a financial services platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, Ms Ung mentioned about the two co-operation protocols that IPIM signed with ICBC and Bank of China respectively in March and June this year, aiming to jointly implement the construction of the asset exchange platform for Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as the development of featured financial services. The Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao will strive to promote the implementation of these financial projects and the establishment of a financial services platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
Striving for perfection
With respect to the optimisation of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Ms Xu said that in order to improve the effectiveness of the body’s promotional and marketing efforts, apart from scheduled future visits to provinces and cities in Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, Forum Macao is also leveraging its interaction with media across Mainland China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries, and with students through visits to campuses, to expand its promotional channels.
Ms Xu also mentioned that, in an effort to strengthen communication and information exchange with departments responsible for the Forum Macao affairs and trade promotion organisations of the Portuguese-speaking Countries, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao modified its annual outbound visit plan to include all the Portuguese-speaking Countries, compared with visiting only some of them in the past.
In addition, the course subjects for participants attending the Workshops for Portuguese-speaking Countries are mainly arranged according to the economic development needs of related countries, and in accordance with participants’ requirements. Forum Macao will pay more attention to organising training in the form of classroom discussion and field visits, while it is also considering to further enhance the professionalism together with the focus of these courses, so that the training model is enriched and participants will have a more in-depth understanding about the development of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries economic and trade co-operation, as well as the Macao platform.
“We believe that the future development of Forum Macao should be actively integrated into the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, which include the advantages of Forum Macao and the co-operation and development attached to such initiatives,” stated Ms Xu.
She concluded: “At the same time, we should continue to build the Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries; on one hand we can achieve further development through such co-operation, and on the other, Macao will benefit from the diversification of its economy through the construction of the city as a Platform.”
