The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, met with the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration of Guinea-Bissau Soares Sambú at the Central Government Headquarters today (24 October) to exchange views on issues such as municipal construction and youth training.
The Chief Executive first thanked Minister Sambu for leading the delegation of Guinea-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) 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 when Forum Macao was founded in Macao in 2003, there were seven Portuguese-speaking countries participating, which has now increased to nine, covering all countries in the world where Portuguese is the official language. Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries also increased from US$11 billion in 2003 to US$220.9 billion in 2023, a testament to the remarkable results achieved by Forum Macao since its establishment.
The Chief Executive pointed out that every year, young Guinean-Bissaus youths come to Macao for study and training through the platform set up by the Forum, and over the years, the SAR Government has also supported Guinea-Bissau's talent cultivation work through relevant policies. He agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Macao and Guinea-Bissau in municipal management and related construction, and said that the Macao SAR Government has considerable experience in municipal management and will continue to provide support to Guinea-Bissau to the best of its ability to help the local government continue to improve its urban environment.
Minister Sambu said that the Guinea-Bissau delegation had been warmly received by the organizers of the Forum and the Macao SAR Government during its visit to Macao, and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for this. He pointed out that Forum Macao has become one of the most important platforms for economic and trade co-operation in the world since its establishment more than 20 years ago, and that the Guinean-Bissau delegation is very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the 6th Ministerial Conference and will seize the opportunities brought by the conference to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Macao, Chinese mainland and other Portuguese-speaking countries in various fields.
Briefing on Guinea-Bissau, he pointed out that promoting further economic and social development is an important task of the Guinea-Bissau government, and in this regard, it is crucial to step up efforts to promote personnel training, education and tax facilitation. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Macao SAR Government for its support and assistance to Guinea-Bissau youths studying in Macao over the years, and hoped that the two places would continue to strengthen educational cooperation, such as facilitating the establishment of a liaison mechanism between tertiary institutions of the two sides to jointly carry out training programmes for scientific research, so as to help Guinea-Bissau enhance its scientific research capabilities.
经济财政司司长李伟农、几比国土管理与地方权力部部长费尔南多・迪亚斯(Fernando Dias)、自然资源与能源部部部�部郻 ��奥兰多・门德斯・维埃格斯(Orlando Mendes Viegas)、几比驻华大使安东尼奥・塞里福・恩巴罗(António Serifo Embaló)等参加了会面。