The Portugal-China Small and Medium Enterprises Chamber of Commerce can help promote international trade with northeastern Brazil and foreign investment there, the head of the chamber, Chow Y Ping, has said.

Mr Chow said so at a meeting online with representatives of the governments of the nine Brazilian states belonging to the Consórcio Nordeste group, according to a written statement issued by the chamber on Tuesday.

The meeting, held the day before, was the first occasion for discussion of cooperation by the chamber and the northeastern states, the chamber says.

Such cooperation could play a big part in many aspects of the development of the area, particularly the growth of SMEs there, the statement by the chamber quotes Piauí Secretary of State for Tourism, Carina Câmara, as saying.

In January a Macao newspaper, Ponto Final, reported that the chamber counted 89 enterprises or entrepreneurs among its members, some of them in Macao, mainland China or Hong Kong; and that the chamber had 14 branches in China, including its Macao branch.