A delegation led by Paulo Cunha Alves, Consul General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong, and Bernie Leong, President of Board of Directors of the Macau Delegation of the Portugal-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCILC-Macau) recently paid a visit to Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macau SAR, in order to exchange views on the economic and trade ties between China and Portugal amid the epidemic, the development of Greater Bay Area and post-epidemic economic recovery.   

Consul General Paulo Cunha Alves thanked the Secretary for taking the time to receive the delegates and called it an auspicious visit. CCILC was founded in 1978 to promote the economic and trade exchanges between China and Portugal. Although COVID-19 has dealt a heavy blow to the local economy, the epidemic situation has been brought under control in the city. He is optimistic that all ports between Macau and Mainland China will be reopened in September, which will stimulate economic development in Macau and Hengqin, as well as attract overseas investors and technologies from various industries such as finance and healthcare, thus creating headroom and injecting vitality into the city’s long-term development.

Secretary Lei Wai Nong welcomed CCILC’s visit, saying that the SAR Government’s efforts in the epidemic prevention and control showcased the leadership of Macau Chief Executive and the solidarity of Macau residents. The launch of relief measures helped Macau economy recover in an orderly manner, allowing the city to re-open its economic door as soon as possible. He also expressed gratitude to the financial sector for their support of anti-epidemic loans during the epidemic and helping the enterprises. He hoped to strengthen exchanges with different chambers of commerce in the future to exchange views on and provide support for industry development.

Lei stated that when visiting Beijing earlier, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng led the Macau government delegation to visit various central government departments and commissions to discuss on Guangdong-Macau (Hengqin) intensive cooperation zone and exchange views with each other. He added that Portugal is a major bridge connecting Macau with countries in European Union, Americas and Africa. He hoped that Portugal and Macau will continue to maintain cooperation and contact, and prepare for the future diversified development, cooperation and business connections.

Bernie Leong, President of Board of Directors of CCILC-Macau, thanked Secretary Lei Wai Nong, Consul General Paulo Cunha Alves and Vice Consul Maria Carolina Lousinha for setting the stage for the visit and their recognition of CCILC-Macau’s work all along. 2020 is a tough year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and uncertainties surrounding the US-China relations, while Portugal has proven to be a firm and reliable friend of China. As a member of the industrial and commercial industries, CCILC-Macau will set aside more resources to actively play its role. The chamber will continue to serve as a platform in the future, especially for the Greater Bay Area development as mentioned by the Secretary. The CCILC-Macau will strengthen cooperation with the SAR Government, conduct in-depth discussion with its members and make deployment as early as possible.

Founded in 1978 in Portugal, CCILC is a nonprofit organization tasked with promoting economic and trade ties between China and Portugal. CCILC is dedicated to building a communication platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portugal, and helping Portuguese enterprises develop in China. Macau has been a hub facilitating the communication between China and Portugal. In light of the increasing exchanges between China and Portugal, CCILC-Macau was established in 1992. 

Macau government officials received the delegation included Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macau SAR; Ku Mei Leng, Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance; Lau Wai Meng, President of Executive Council of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM); Casimiro de Jesus Pinto, Advisor to Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance and Deputy Secretary-General at the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao); Chan Tze Wai, Acting Director of the Economic Services Bureau and Antonio Lei, Senior Manager of IPIM’s Lusophone Markets Economic and Trade Promotion Department.

Other attendees on the visit included Paulo Cunha Alves, Consul General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong; Maria Carolina Lousinha, Vice-Consul for the Economic and Commercial Affairs in Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong; Bernie Leong, President of Board of Directors of CCILC-Macau; Rui Pedro Cunha, Carlos Álvares and Chunyan Cai, Vice-Presidents of Board of General Assembly; Frederico Rato, Secretary of Board of General Assembly, as well as Artur Santos, Filipe Cunha Santos, Constantino Mousinho and Li Jie, Board of Directors Members.