The closing ceremony and certificate presentation for the “Workshop on Commercial Law for Portuguese-speaking Countries” was held at MGM Hotel on December 18, 2017. The workshop was hosted by the Training Centre of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), and administered by the City University of Macau.

Several officials attended the closing ceremony, including: the Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Ms Xu Yingzhen; the Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Wang Jiabao; Counsellor of the Consulate-General of Mozambique in the Macao SAR, Mr Francisco Domingos Manhisa; the Vice Rector of the City University of Macau, Professor Kong Fan Qing; and the Representatives of the Portuguese-speaking Countries in Forum Macao.

Forum Macao’s Ms Xu, City University’s Prof. Kong, and Mr Joaquim Morais – the latter acting on a rotational basis as the head of the workshop – each delivered a speech during the event.

This was the fifth workshop hosted by the Training Centre of Forum Macao this year. The programme was held in Macao, running from December 5 to 18. Close to 30 participants took part in the workshop, namely representatives from various sectors from Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tome and Príncipe.

With regional economic cooperation constantly expanding, economic and trade ties between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries have become closer, making Commercial Law very important for regional trade development. The workshop aimed at offering an educational and exchange platform for the participants.

The workshop’s programme featured visits to the facilities of: the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao; the Judicial Affairs Bureau; the Monetary Authority of Macao; the Legal and Judicial Training Centre; the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute; C&C Macau Lawyers and Rui Cunha Foundation.

They also joined talks on several topics, including: the opportunities and challenges under the “Belt and Road” initiative; Macao’s role as a cooperation platform on commercial law; International Commercial Law and Finance; Commercial Law in China; Macau’s positioning as an economic and trade dispute arbitrage centre; and trademark copyright protection.

In addition, the participants went to Qingdao to visit Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd., the Eurasian Economic and Trade Industrial Park in Jiazhou and joined the “Meeting on Production Capacity Cooperation between Qingdao and Portuguese-speaking Countries,” where they were able to exchange views with local business people.

The workshop sought to broaden the knowledge of participants from the Portuguese-speaking Countries on the efforts made by Mainland China and Macao to promote regional economic cooperation with Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as allow business people from Mainland China and Macao to get to know the market and business environment of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

Furthermore, using Macau’s role as a platform, the workshop boosted exchanges on commercial law between Portuguese-speaking Countries, Mainland China and Macao, in order to promote further the trade ties.