Secretary for Technological Development and Innovation Guilherme Coutinho Calheiros of Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation said during his working visit to Macau this week he hoped that through the Forum Macao mechanism and Macau’s role as a platform for economic and trade relations between China and the world’s Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs), Brazil and China could further strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, technological innovation, and culture, the Chinese-language Macao Daily News reported yesterday.
Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Sun Xiangyang of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the Brazilian delegation headed by Coutinho Calheiros visited the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao on Wednesday.
According to the newspaper report, Coutinho Calheiros said during the visit that the Brazilian government attaches great importance to Forum Macao and will continue to strongly support the work of the Permanent Secretariat. The purpose of this visit was to gain in-depth understanding of Macau’s role as a platform for economic and trade relations between his country and China, and also to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Brazil and the MSAR.
When welcoming the delegation, Forum Macao Secretary-General Ji Xianzheng said he hoped that Brazil will strengthen its participation in the forum’s various activities, and also take advantage of the advantages of Macau as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries to expand economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with provinces and cities in mainland China, especially in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), which consists of nine cities in Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Ji briefed Coutinho Calheiros on the work of the Permanent Secretariat and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Forum Macao, emphasizing that the forum is committed to providing a strong tool to bilateral cooperation in various fields between China and Brazil.
The delegations also visited the public University of Macau (UM) and the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) on Wednesday, the report noted.
While UM Rector Song Yonghua (aka Yonghua Song) introduced the history and development of the university, Vice-Rector Rui Paulo da Silva Martins pointed out that the tertiary education institution is a member of the Association of Portuguese-speaking Universities and that it is actively conducting academic exchanges with universities in Portuguese-speaking countries.
According to the vice-rector, UM maintains close cooperation with Brazilian universities such as the University of São Paulo, Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and the State University of Campinas in academic affairs, scientific research, and student exchanges.
Martins also underlined, according to the report, that the Academic Library Alliance between the Macau Special Administrative Region and Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as the China-Portuguese Speaking Countries Ocean Research Alliance are tools that a coordinating exchanges and cooperation between Chinese universities and universities in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries. Martins pledged that UM will continue to deepen and broaden its cooperation with Brazilian universities to jointly promote the development of higher education.
Afterwards, the delegation also visited the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI (SKL-AMSV) on the UM campus. Members of the delegation praised the university for its talent cultivation and scientific research innovation, said the report, which quoted Coutinho Calheiros as saying that he will continue to encourage Brazilian universities to strengthen cooperation with UM to promote mutual academic and scientific research development.
The delegation also visited the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences at the Macau University of Science and Technology.
The report noted that Coutinho Calheiros said he hoped that the two sides could have more in-depth exchanges and cooperation in the quality research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), adding that he also hoped to expand the space for cooperation and jointly promote human understanding of deep space exploration.
MUST President Joseph Lee Hun Wei (aka Hun Wei Lee) told the Brazilian delegation that he attaches great importance to international cooperation and exchanges, hoping that this visit could promote cooperation projects between MUST and Brazil.
Lee pointed out that MUST has always regarded Portuguese-speaking countries as important partners. He also stressed that Portuguese-speaking countries have rich natural resources and technological potential, as well as unique advantages in many fields. Therefore, establishing a cooperative relationship with them will not only help MUST to make breakthroughs in scientific research, it could also promote the scientific and technological development of Portuguese-speaking countries, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and make greater contributions to global scientific and technological progress and development, Lee was quoted as saying by the report.
Coutinho Calheiros paid a courtesy call on Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng on Tuesday during which both agreed to strengthen technological and scientific exchanges and cooperation between the two sides such as in the development of “big health”. The meeting was also attended by Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa who told reporters that the local government’s “1+4” development strategy was creating “unprecedented” opportunities for win-win cooperation between Macau and Portugueses-speaking countries.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre) poses with Brazilian Secretary for Technological Development and Innovation Guilherme Coutinho Calheiros (fifth from left), Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa (fifth from right), Foreign Ministry Deputy Commissioner Sun Xiangyang (fourth from left) and other senior officials at Government Headquarters on Tuesday. – Photo: GCS
