Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) Executive Director Carlos Cid Álvares has said the Macao bank can help companies in Portuguese-speaking countries penetrate the market in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Macauhub reports.

The news website quotes Mr Álvares as saying: “The rationale behind Macau’s financial diversification is to provide local companies and those setting up in the territory with more financing instruments that enable them to expand to the Greater Bay Area and connect this market with Portuguese-speaking markets.”

Mr Álvares said BNU financing instruments could help attract companies in Portuguese-speaking countries to Macao, so helping the city function as a place where China and the lusophone world can do business.

The report says BNU now offers financial leasing services to the Macau government and to private enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises.

“The aim is to diversify the financial offering, so that companies can have more instruments at their disposal, enabling them to grow not just in Macau but toward other external markets, particularly the Greater Bay Area and the Portuguese language countries,” Macauhub quotes Mr Álvares as saying.