In the first seven months of this year about 200 people enrolled for courses in the Portuguese language put on in Macao by the International Lusophone Markets Business Association, or ACIML, the Macao Daily News reports.

The newspaper says the courses are meant to make qualified people in Macao proficient in Portuguese, so helping the city serve its purpose as a place where Chinese and lusophones can do business.

The ACIML, financial institutions in Macao and the public sector there work together to give instruction in Portuguese, including lessons in pronunciation, day-to-day conversation, grammar, reading and business writing, the report says.

It quotes a senior member of the ACIML board, Leong Wai Meng, as calling for an arrangement for teaching Portuguese online, so Macao people can use spare time the COVID-19 pandemic gives them to learn the language.

The ACIML has given over 2,000 people instruction in Portuguese since it put on its first course in the language in 2006, the Macao Daily News says.