The Closing Ceremony for the ‘Workshop on Training for SMEs from Portuguese-speaking Countries’ took place on April 28, at the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), also known as Forum Macao.

The Workshop was organised by the Training Centre of Forum Macao. It was presented in co-operation with the City University of Macau.

Guests joining the Closing Ceremony included: the Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Mr Chang Hexi; the Head of the Trade Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Ms Gong Youying; the Deputy Coordinator of the Policy Research Office of the Office of the Commissioner of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Macao SAR, Mr Li Yang; the Consul-General of Angola in Macao SAR, Ms Sofia Pegado da Silva; the Consul-General of Mozambique in Macao SAR, Mr Rafael Custódio Marques; the Honorary Consul of Guinea-Bissau in Macao SAR, Mr John Lo; the Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by Portuguese-speaking Countries) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Mr Vicente de Jesus Manuel; the Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the Macao SAR Government) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Ms Cristina Morais; the Rector of the City University of Macau, Professor Zhang Shuguang; the Co-ordinator of the Executive Office of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Ms Zhang Jie; the Co-ordinator of the Liaison Office of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao and Representative of Guinea-Bissau at the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Mr Malam Becker Camará; the Workshop’s Leader on a rotational basis, Mr Rafael de Andrade e Silva Campelo; and the Representatives of Portuguese-speaking Countries in Forum Macao.

Mr Jesus Manuel, Professor Zhang and Mr Andrade e Silva Campelo delivered speeches during the Closing Ceremony.

The Workshop was the Training Centre of Forum Macao’s first such event for 2016. A total of 24 participants joined the activity. They represented trade associations and companies from Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor.

The Workshop was delivered in Macao from April 15 to 28.

Several lectures, visits and exchange sessions relating to Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) were held during the period of the Workshop.

Participants also visited Jiangmen and Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province. In addition, they took part in the “Dynamic Macao Business and Trade Fair – Jiangmen, Guangdong”.

The main goals of the Workshop were: to deepen Macao’s role as an SME Services Platform for Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries; to strengthen business exchanges between China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries; and further to improve the knowledge of participants regarding SME management-related topics.