Ministerial Conference | New role: A platform for financial cooperation

Group photo

The final event of yesterday’s Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for the Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries was an entrepreneur conference focused on financial transactions between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
In the keynote speech during the morning session at the Macau Tower Convention Centre, President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) Jackson Chang highlighted the new role Macau has to play as a well-known platform.
“In the future, cooperation in financial matters will be an important component of the relationship between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries,” Chang said.
The IPIM president also recalled that in the past decade, the territory has developed several services related to transactions in the Chinese Yuan (RMB).
This history led him to remark that “Macau can assume the role of the clearing house for transactions made in RMB between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries”, an idea put forth during the first day of the Forum.
According to Chang, RMB transactions yielded turnover of RMB7.6 billion in 2015, which represented year-on-year growth of 15 percent.
These new financial services enable companies from the Portuguese-speaking countries to invest in Chinese territory, including Macau, through a Cooperation Fund. In addition, trade is expected to improve due to the creation of the “Three Centers” that will support small- and medium-sized enterprises, food product distribution, and the Exhibition and Convention sector.
Speaking about the agreement that officially launched the China-Portuguese-Speaking Countries’ Federation of Entrepreneurs – the signing of which also took place during the morning session – Chang said, “I trust that this initiative will further reinforce the mutual cooperation and exchanges, and bring new business opportunities.”
The region’s unique status was eloquently expressed in the speech of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil, Marcos Pereira. He highlighted the ease of access to legal consultancy services in both Portuguese and Chinese languages, remarking on the region’s capabilities as a “meeting point”.
“I have no knowledge of another place in the world where we can petition to the judiciary authorities in Portuguese or Chinese, like here in Macau,” said Pereira adding that “this city represents the intersection between west and east being characterized like a synthesis of values and ideals.”
The Brazilian official also remarked that with this new path drawn by the Forum, the previous situation of “misrepresentation [of Brazil] in the international commerce” would be replaced by the current “clear signs that we will actively and decisively search for new markets.”
He explained that this change would be accomplished by promoting a significant decrease in regulations and bureaucracy, which are requirements of Brazilian international commerce.
During the session, the Minister of Economy from Portugal, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, recalled the success of several measures implemented by the Portuguese government in the last few years, namely the “gold visas” that grant non-European Union residents a point of access to the country via investment.
He also mentioned the partnerships between the Portuguese electric company (EDP) and the Chinese company China Three Gorges Corporation, adding that the country will focus on the tourism sector going forward. In June 2017, a new direct air route between Beijing and Lisbon will open, linking Shanghai and Portugal in a development that is expected to influence international commerce.
The Portuguese government reaffirmed its interest in the field of startups and new technologies, with Cabral highlighting the “Web Summit” that will take place at Lisbon this November and in the coming three years.
The minister added that the “global scale event will count approximately 5,000 participants from across the world.”
The President of the Portugal’s Global Trade Investment Agency (AICEP), Miguel Frasquilho, also highlighted Macau’s ability to train “quality talent” in its well-known Portuguese universities.
In his speech, Frasquilho focused on the need to establish partnerships at different levels, and announced that the new Portuguese Consulate in Guangzhou will have an office from AICEP (like Macau) to provide proximity support to entrepreneurs and potential investors.
Another major moment in the extensive session was the signing of several agreements, specifically the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the official establishment of the China-Portuguese-Speaking Countries Federation of Entrepreneurs.

Jackson Chang