The Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao has been actively encouraging students from Macao, Mainland China, and from the Portuguese-speaking Countries respectively, to take part in its activities, including opportunities to act in volunteer roles. Forum Macao’s goal in this respect is to collaborate with the Macao SAR Government in the nurturing of a new generation of professionals that is bilingual in Chinese and Portuguese. This is in order further to support – and strengthen – Macao’s role as a platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

Through taking part in internships and volunteer work, students can improve their proficiency in either Portuguese or Chinese. They can also deepen their knowledge of Macao’s unique competitive advantages, and of the city’s role as a platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

Earlier this year, the Support Office to the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao signed a cooperation and exchange agreement with Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI). One of the first outcomes of the agreement was an internship scheme at Forum Macao, for students enrolled on MPI’s Master of Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpreting programme.

The internship scheme took place from May to July. Students had opportunities to take part in Chinese-Portuguese translation and interpreting work at the Support Office. They also took part in exchanges with Representatives of the Portuguese-speaking Countries at the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao.

The internship scheme allowed students to improve their skills related to Chinese-Portuguese translation and interpreting, and to advance their knowledge about each of the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

On the last day of the internship programme (July 21), the Coordinator of the Support Office, Ms Teresa Mok, presented an internship certificate to each of the students that completed a total of 225 hours of internship work at Forum Macao.

Ms Mok praised the students for their performance and hard work. She encouraged them to continue to strengthen their skills, in order to contribute to advancing Macao’s platform role. Ms Mok added that the Support Office would continue to cooperate with MPI to provide additional internship opportunities to students enrolled on Chinese-Portuguese translation programmes, diversifying the range of educational opportunities available to them, and facilitating the development of Macao as a Training Centre for Chinese-Portuguese Bilingual Professionals.