Portugal’s Institute of Traditional Medicine announced on Wednesday it has opened a company with the same name in Macau, further to promote co-operation, Macao’s Portuguese language newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau reported.

The institute’s director of operations, Frederico Carvalho, argued it would be “a strategic error” not to take advantage of the role of Macao as a platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

He explained – as quoted by the newspaper – that the new company would focus on training, including instruction of spa professionals, as there is demand for such skills in Macao’s developing hotel industry.

The firm, he added, also aims to promote trade in traditional medicine products for export to China, and for Chinese medicine producers seeking export markets in Europe and elsewhere.

Mr Carvalho also said the Institute had signed an agreement with the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao. The parties plan to launch an international traditional medicine co-operation centre.

Mr Carvalho visited Macau to take part in the “International Traditional Medicine Co-operation Forum 2015 – Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao”, held on Tuesday.

Mozambique also signed an agreement with the Industrial Park to further co-operation in this field, said Felizbela Gaspar, director of the Mozambican Ministry of Health’s Institute of Traditional Medicine.

Ms Gaspar explained – as quoted by the newspaper – the goals included promoting the processing and export of local medicinal herbs. Another target was to consider the viability of some of Mozambique’s land being used by China to harvest certain medicinal plants.

“Macao can also provide some support in terms of medical material and specialised machinery. We also talked about opening labs to process medicinal species, which can be supported through funding from China and Macao”, Ms Gaspar said.