Belt and Road | Portas: Macau could be ‘dynamic platform’ to foster China’s interests

Paulo Portas

The former deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Paulo Portas said that Macau “could and should be a dynamic platform in China’s internationalization.” Portas was one of yesterday’s speakers at the opening of the International Conference on Belt and Road and Macau’s Development, where he praised China and its achievements, while criticizing the new direction taken by the Trump administration in the US.

Portas accused the US administration of being contrary to the interests of world development and of choosing the path of protectionism. He spoke as one of the first keynote speeches of the conference. Portas, who is currently the chairman of the International Strategic Council of Mota-Engil (Construction) Company for Latin America and Africa stated; “The fall of the Berlin wall was the end of the relations characterized by the ideological blocks.” 

“We live in a world where interests prevail over dogma and that is why the Chinese president stands for free  a market and free trade when at the same time the new American flag seems to be protectionist,” he added.

Portas also praised former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who summarized his achievements by deeming Deng “one of the most extraordinary statesmen of modern era that led China through reforms and opened China to the five continents.”

The former Portuguese deputy Prime Minister also noted that economy is based in technology and not just in production, citing the examples of Uber, AirBnb, Skype, Alibaba and WeChat, suggesting that the companies with successful growth are not necessarily the ones that “produce anything tangible.”

Remarking on the shift of power from the West to the East, Portas remarked, “Europeans were educated under the idea that the world is a western one and it’s largely Eurocentric,” adding, “Americans were also educated in another certitude which is – We are the leaders of a polarized world. The stronger superpower when the world had two. The sole superpower that lasts after the fall of the second.” According to him, it is not easy for the current generation of Americans to understand that a global world is a multipolar world. He noted also that such a perspective of the world, which is shared by many Europeans, is outdated because “the world we know now is more and more Eastern. China specifically, and Asia generally, served the new world, the globalized world and the            
e-economic new world better than any other region and country on the planet.”

Commenting on the potential of China and Asia, Portas provided some examples: “Seven of the 10 major airports in the world are in Asia. Nine out of the 10 largest ports are also in Asia and in the top 10 tech companies of the world, six are American but four are already Chinese.” He noted that Chinese investment in Europe in the last 20 years has grown over twentyfold.

Addressing an attentive audience, Portas said that “China has become the first [number 1] world economy if we consider the GDP adjusted by power of purchase being also the world leading economy in the export of goods,” highlighting that regarding the construction sector, “China has produced in 10 years more concrete that US did in the past century.”

As for challenges, the largest issues mentioned were demographic and ageing problems as well as “environment risks, the transition from rural to urban societies and the transition from state-owned enterprises to private-owned businesses.”

The problems that China has been addressing are being solved, “proving that those who thought China was not prepared to invent and innovate were wrong.”

In a further criticism of the policy drafted by the American administration, Portas said “and those who don’t understand that protectionism is a path to poverty and a setback in human progress are not only wrong but also dangerous.”

In Portas’ opinion, the golden rule to success is “to be prepared for the unexpected” and the best way to achieve this is by assuming a “flexible attitude.” He says a flexible attitude will allow faster adaptation to a rapidly changing global landscape. He continued, remarking that he is certain the world faces “global problems” that need to be addressed by “global-scale governance.” To him, another certainty is that, “the more trade we have the more peaceful a world we are able to guarantee. Trade brings trust, not war!” and further, “Africa and Latin America, namely the [Portuguese-speaking] countries will be decisive in solving questions of the future such as energy supply and food security.” He continued his comments by saying that a result of these facts is the need for “Macau in the heart of the new Silk Road. Connecting minds and matching needs,” remarking that the region can also be in the “heart [center] for peace and good business.”

In another keynote address, by the Chairman of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council, former deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Surakiart Sathirathai highlighted the great importance of Macau as a “historical city that has been one of the maritime hubs for China’s economic projection […] since ancient times.” He continued to say that the role adds to Macau’s other responsibilities as a maritime hub role, a business and a tourism hub role.

Sathirathai also remarking on the importance of the initiative, noting that “ultimately the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative will improve trade in countries covering two-thirds of the world’s population,” serving also as “China’s gateway to the rest of the world and, hopefully, it will push the countries of the region to squeeze out enough growth to escape the middle-income trap.”

CE expresses hope that conference ‘brings solid benefits’ to the world

In his opening speech at the International Conference on the Belt and Road and Macau’s Development, Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On expressed his hope that the accomplishment of such a conference can “contribute with opinions and suggestions to the construction of the ‘Belt and Road’ in a way that this great project can bring solid benefits to the people of the world.”

In a speech where the CE frequently paraphrased Chinese leaders Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping, Chui noted the words of Xi when opening the forum, “Belt and Road for International Cooperation” saying that such words “enriched the content of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.

Chui said: “In theory or in practice [the Conference] has the purpose to think about the path and the strategy for cooperation in the construction of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ giving a new sense to this modern road that aims to explore new international cooperation models, as well as to draft new paths to world peace and to the world’s development and prosperity.” He also commended that fact that this task had been assumed by the central government, describing it as a sign of China’s sense of responsibility.