On May 13, two Deputy Secretaries-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Mr Ding Tian and Mr Rodrigo Brum, took part in the third edition of the Portuguese Language and Culture Day of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries. The day was held in Beijing by the embassies to China of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

About 300 guests attended the activities. They included: Ambassadors to China of Portuguese-speaking Countries; diplomats; representatives of Chinese government ministries and commissions; and business people; as well as academics, professors and students from, respectively, Macao SAR and Mainland China higher-education institutions.

Those delivering speeches included: the Ambassador of Cabo Verde, Ms Tânia Romualdo, who gave her address on behalf of that portion of the diplomatic corps in Beijing representing Portuguese-speaking Countries; and Deputy Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Mr Ding.

Mr Ding said the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao had already held in Macao since 2008, a total of 10 editions of the “Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries”. These activities had been effective in promoting cultural exchanges and cooperation, and boosting economic and trade relations between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. In addition, the Permanent Secretariat had been supporting the training of staff bilingual in Chinese and Portuguese. Such training had included the hosting of a “Workshop on Teaching and Training of Bilingual Professionals for China and Portuguese-speaking Countries,” with the aim of increasing the pool of talented bilingual people, in order to boost Macao’s role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Mr Ding stressed that cultural exchange played a crucial role in developing economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. He vowed to continue optimising the role of Forum Macao and of Macao as a platform in order to enhance cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.

In her speech, Ambassador Romualdo shared thoughts on Portuguese-speaking Countries’ desire to strengthen and deepen cooperation with China.

A number of cultural groups from Portuguese-speaking Countries took part in activities held during this third edition of the Portuguese Language and Culture Day of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries. Such groups presented a number of high-quality performances, and got the students attending the event dacing and singing. The event as a whole played an active role in promoting the development of cultural exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.