Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai addressed Portugal’s National Day reception at the local Portuguese School yesterday evening, during which he praised the special administrative region’s Portuguese and Macanese communities as “important components of Macau’s multicultural society”.
Sam, who delivered his speech in Portuguese, pointed out that both communities “have played a significant and positive role in the city’s harmony, stability, and prosperous development”.
The chief executive also said that the local government “is committed to leveraging Macau’s unique strengths and expanding its role as a platform serving China and the [world’s nine] Portuguese-speaking countries”.
The reception, which was at the Macau Portuguese School, was also attended by Portugal’s Minister of Education, Science and Innovation Fernando Alexandre and the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Bian Lixin.
Customarily, the term “Macanese” denotes Macau’s community of mixed Portuguese and Asian descent, and their diaspora.
Sam also said that his recent official visit to Portugal “was intended to strengthen the longstanding friendship between the two sides and comprehensively deepen cooperation across a range of sectors”.
Sam also said that “Macau and Hengqin can serve as gateways for Portuguese enterprises and those from other Portuguese-speaking enterprises, as well as European enterprises, to enter the Chinese mainland and the broader Asian market”.
Sam pointed out that earlier yesterday afternoon, he and Alexandre witnessed the signing of the “Cooperation Agreement between Macao Polytechnic University and the University of Coimbra on the Development of a Joint Global Campus in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”. The chief executive said that the agreement was “of great importance to Macau-Portugal education collaboration”.
According to local statisticians, the Portuguese and Macanese communities are estimated to account for about 2.0 percent of Macau’s population.
Macau SAR Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai addresses Portugal’s National Day reception at the Macau Portuguese School yesterday afternoon. – Photo: GCS
