The Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, met with Cabo Verde's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Business Development and Digital Economy Olavo Correia at the Central Government Headquarters today (23 October) to exchange views on topics such as promoting the economic, tourism, education, traditional Chinese medicine and financial development of Macao and Cabo Verde, as well as the friendship and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The Chief Executive first welcomed the Cape Verdean Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Correa 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 related activities. He said that the Macao SAR Government is unswervingly accelerating the moderate diversification of Macao's economy, focusing on the four major industries of health, modern finance, high and new technology, convention and exhibition, commerce and trade, and culture and sports.
The Chief Executive pointed out that the HKSAR Government is committed to the development of the Chinese medicine and health industries, and welcomes Cape Verde to send staff to Macao for a deeper understanding and to explore the direction of co-operation and joint development of related industries. It is believed that Macao, with its rich and diverse tourism and MICE facilities, will attract more Cape Verde visitors to Macao, deepen cooperation and exchanges in the field of tourism, learn from each other's successful experiences, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the tourism industry of the two places. In terms of higher education, the HKSAR Government encourages and supports Cape Verdean students to study in Macao, with a view to enhancing people-to-people exchanges between the two places.
Vice Prime Minister Correa thanked the Macao SAR Government for its contribution to promoting friendly and cooperative relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the warm hospitality he received during his visit to Macao. He said that Macao's rapid economic development and social stability and harmony are a model for Cape Verde to learn from, including its successful experience in improving the quality of tourism personnel and tourism competitiveness, building an international financial service platform, and promoting the high-quality development of the Chinese medicine and health industry.
He pointed out that Cape Verde and Macao can continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of education and training, conference and exhibition, and hope that more Cape Verde students will come to Macao to study in the future to promote cultural exchanges between the two places; at the same time, actively organize Cape Verdean enterprises to participate in the convention and exhibition activities held in Macao, and use Macao's international platform to widely promote the country's characteristic products to the outside world, and promote economic and trade exchanges between Cape Verde and Macao, Chinese mainland and more countries and regions around the world. He stressed that Macao's role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries plays an important role, and on this good foundation, he is confident that the cooperation between Cabo Verde and Macao will be deeper and broader in the future.
Cabo Verde's Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy, Alexandre Monteiro, and the Minister of the Interior, Paulo Rocha, participated in the meeting.