The new Portuguese Ambassador to Beijing, Mr José Augusto Duarte, visited on April 30 the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao). He was joined by the Consul General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong, Mr Vítor Sereno.

Mr Duarte was received by the Secretary-General Ms Xu Yingzhen; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the People’s Republic of China) Mr Ding Tian; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the Portuguese-speaking Countries) Mr Rodrigo Brum; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the Macao SAR) Ms Echo Chan; and Deputy Secretary-General-designate Ms Glória Batalha Ung.

The Representative of Portugal on the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, Ms Maria João Bonifácio, also took part in the event.

Ms Xu welcomed Mr Duarte and gave him a brief presentation on the activities carried out by the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, namely in relation to trade and investment promotion, education and culture. She also talked about the activities scheduled to mark the15th anniversary of the establishment of Forum Macao. Ms Xu additionally stressed her pursuit of the goal of strengthening the cooperation of Portugal and the other Portuguese-speaking Countries, with Mainland China and Macao.

Mr Duarte thanked Ms Xu for her warm welcome and said the Portuguese Government, and he personally, attached great importance to Forum Macao, and would continue to support the work carried out by the Permanent Secretariat. The Portuguese Ambassador added he hoped all parties could continue to take advantage of the multilateral cooperation mechanism offered by Forum Macao and Macao’s role as a cooperation platform, in order further to boost economic, trade and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

During the meeting, the parties also exchanged views on the development of Forum Macao.