‘GBA will strengthen Sino-Portuguese cooperation,’ Chui says

In an written interview with the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the Macau Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On said he believes that the new project aiming to bring together nine cities in the south China region plus the two SARs of Macau and Hong Kong, all together known as the Greater Bay Area (GBA), will strengthen Sino-Portuguese cooperation in several areas, including the training of Chinese-Portuguese bilingual staff.

“The participation of the Portuguese-speaking countries in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay [Area] and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative can serve to broaden the cooperation field in a way that the fruitful outcomes resulting from China’s opening to the world can be shared by all, while moving forward with development that provides mutual benefits,” said Chui.

The CE noted, once more, that Macau is one of the four main cities and territories that has highlighted responsibilities within the GBA plan. Macau’s role is reinforcing its duty to provide a services platform for commercial cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

On the one hand, Chui noted that China “supports the learning of the Portuguese language and the training of qualified bilingual staff.” The task is clearly defined and in general outlines of the GBA plan. “One of the main projects is defined as the construction of a base that guarantees training of bilingual staff in Chinese and Portuguese languages,” a base which would not only be a way of diversifying local economy, but also a useful asset for the MSAR itself.

The interview precedes Chui’s visit to Portugal, which starts tomorrow and runs until May 19.

During his tour of Portugal, the CE will lead a delegation from Macau and tour several cities, in addition to meeting with several of the most important Portuguese officials, including President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who was in Macau on May 1, and Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa.

Chui will also chair the sixth meeting of the Macau-Portugal Joint Commission with Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva.

In his interview, the CE said, “This visit of the MSAR delegation to Portugal aims at continuing, innovating and strengthening the friendly cooperation between the two sides, in order to achieve more fruitful results for cooperation, deeply boosting future development, contributing to mutual development and other partnerships.”  RM