Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Li Hongzhong, will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a speech at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), the latter a body known as Forum Macao

The Ministerial Conference is to take place from 21 to 23 April. The official delegations from the Portuguese-speaking countries participating in the main activities of the Ministerial Conference will be led by the following officials: Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Business Promotion, and Minister of Digital Economy of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr Olavo Correia; Vice President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, Mr Abnildo do Nascimento D'Oliveira; Vice Prime Minister, Minister Coordinator for Economic Affairs, and Minister of Tourism and Environment of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Mr Francisco Kalbuadi Lay; Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Republic of Angola, Mr Rui Miguêns de Oliveira; Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Integration of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Mr Soares Sambú; Minister of Economy of the Portuguese Republic, Mr Pedro Reis; Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Micro and Small Business of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Mr Francisco Tadeu Barbosa de Alencar; Vice Minister of Trade, Industry, and Business Promotion of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Mr Jerónimo Carlos Osa Osa Nzang; and Vice Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Republic of Mozambique, Ms Ludovina Bernardo.

The opening ceremony will be held in the morning of 22 April. Mr Li and the ministerial representatives of Portuguese-speaking countries will each deliver a speech at the opening ceremony. Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Wang Wentao, will officiate at the opening ceremony. The Ministerial Conference itself, will start in the afternoon of that day. It is expected to outline the development vision and direction for cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries for the period up to 2027, furthering Macao’s role as a commercial and trade service cooperation platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. The Strategic Plan for Economic and Trade Co-operation (2024-2027) will be signed.

The Entrepreneur Conference between China and Portuguese-speaking countries will be held in the morning of 23 April. Respectively delivering a speech will be: Vice Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, Ms Guo Tingting; the Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao, Mr Lei Wai Nong; Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Mr Zhang Shaogang; and representatives of the Portuguese-speaking countries. The conference will be chaired by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr U U Sang.

Forum Macao was founded in Macao in October 2003. It resulted from an initiative by China’s Central Government (Ministry of Commerce), with collaboration from the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government. Forum Macao involves nine Portuguese-speaking countries, namely Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.

Since the establishment of Forum Macao, there have been five Ministerial Conferences and an Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting, all of them held in Macao. The meetings have advanced intergovernmental cooperation in a number of areas between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. The areas include: trade and investment; production capacity; development cooperation; human resources; medical and health matters; and education and cultural affairs. These efforts have helped further Macao’s role as a commercial and trade service cooperation platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries, while bringing about greater opportunities for Macao’s appropriate economic diversification.