Cooperation | Forum enters new phase with Echo Chan as coordinator

The tenth regular meeting of the Supporting Office to the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macau) was held yesterday. Strategies to enhance cooperation between Macau, Lusophone countries and mainland China were discussed. The meeting took place with the new forum’s permanent secretariat coordinator, Ms Echo Chan, having only started her new post a little over a week ago. The Forum also heard contributions from some member countries encouraging work to nurture bilingual talents in participating countries, in order to strengthen commercial interactions and exchanges.
A review was also held of the “Action Plan for Economic and Commercial Cooperation,” which was raised in the fourth edition of the Forum’s ministerial meeting. According to a statement released after the meeting, the plan was “fully accomplished.”
Asked about the SAR government’s intention to allocate part of its fiscal reserve for investment in the USD1 billion Forum Macau Cooperation Fund, the Secretary General of the forum, Chang Hexi, told media that the government must initiate further communication with related departments.
Only USD125 million has been used since the fund’s launch in June 2013– an amount that fell short of expectations. According to the secretary head, the development fund between China and the Lusophone countries has so far approved two projects, with five other projects currently under review and more than 20 projects in reserve.
The Forum’s training center in the city has trained a total of 164 government officials and practitioners from Macau, mainland china and Portuguese-speaking countries over the past year. The classes covered a wide range of fields, ranging from tourism, event management and public administration, to medical and public hygiene.
The organization of six seminars, along with new projects related to training bilingual talents, are among the highlights of Forum Macau’s activities for 2015.