The 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), also known as Forum Macao, will be held in Macao on 11 and 12 October 2016, at the Macao East Asian Games Dome.

The Macao SAR Government considers the Ministerial Conference of great importance in developing co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Since the end of 2015, the Government has been preparing for Macao to host this high-level meeting.

In order to guarantee the Ministerial Conference runs smoothly, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao has recruited approximately 50 employees from different public services to provide support for the event. In addition, a total of 155 students from, respectively, the University of Macau, Macao Polytechnic Institute and Macau University of Science and Technology, will provide support to the event on a voluntary basis.

The majority of these students are bilingual in Chinese and Portuguese, while other students have knowledge of English. The group of volunteers is composed mostly of students from Macao, but there are also some from Mainland China and Portuguese-speaking Countries; people that are in Macao under international student exchange programmes.

These students will provide support – including with logistics – to delegations that take part in the event.

The organisation is in the final stages of preparation for the Ministerial Conference. On September 24, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao held a session to introduce basic information about the Ministerial Conference; the respective roles of Forum Macao; and the position of the city of Macao as a service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries

The session helped civil servants and volunteers acquire the knowledge necessary to engage in preparatory work for this year’s Ministerial Conference and the knowledge to provide support to the delegations once they arrive.