The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, today met with Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Business Promotion, and Minister of Digital Economy of the Republic of Cabo Verde, Mr Olavo Correia. The meeting was to exchange views on issues including economic matters, tourism, education, traditional Chinese medicine, and financial-sector development of Macao and Cabo Verde, as well as friendly cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
During the meeting held at the Government Headquarters, Mr Ho expressed his welcome to the Cabo Verde delegation led by the Vice Prime Minister, on the occasion of its visit to Macao to attend the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) and relevant events.
Mr Ho also talked about the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government unswerving effort to accelerate Macao’s appropriate economic diversification, with a focus on promoting four major industries, i.e., “Big Health”; modern financial services; high and new technology; and convention and exhibition, sports, and the commercial and trade industries. In this regard, Mr Ho hoped pragmatically to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Macao and Cabo Verde, for further reciprocal development.
The MSAR Government was committed to develop a traditional Chinese medicine industry and the “Big Health” industry on a larger scale. Macao welcomed more people from Cabo Verde to gain better understanding and to explore cooperation opportunities for jointly developing relevant industries.
Macao offered rich and diversified tourism and convention and exhibition facilities, and good tourist-reception capabilities. Macao would welcome hosting a greater number of tourists from Cabo Verde. The two sides could also deepen exchanges and learn from each other’s experiences in the tourism business, with a view to promote healthy and sustainable development. In terms of tertiary education, the MSAR Government supported and encouraged students from Cabo Verde to study in Macao, so to deepen people-to-people exchange.
Vice Prime Minister Correia thanked the MSAR Government for its contribution to promoting friendly and cooperative relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
He said that Macao’s economy had been developing rapidly and its society was stable and harmonious. Cabo Verde had many things to learn from Macao, including: enhancing the quality of its tourism workforce and its competitiveness in the tourism sector; building an international financial service platform; and promoting the high-quality development of a traditional Chinese medicine industry and a Big Health industry.
In addition, the two sides could also strengthen exchanges and cooperation in areas such as education and convention and exhibition business. Further efforts would be made to encourage students from Cabo Verde to study in Macao, and actively to engage Cabo Verde businesses to participate in exhibitions held in Macao. By using Macao’s platform role, Cabo Verde’s distinctive products would be further promoted, fostering exchanges in economic and trade matters between Cabo Verde, Macao, mainland China, and the rest of the world.
Mr Correia emphasised that Macao’s role as a platform for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries was of great importance. Building upon this solid foundation, he hoped that the cooperation between Cabo Verde and Macao would deepen and broaden in the future.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy of Cabo Verde, Mr Alexandre Monteiro, and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Cabo Verde, Mr Paulo Rocha.
