The sixth ministerial meeting of Forum Macau, which had been scheduled for 2019, will be delayed until 2020, according to diplomatic sources linked to the institution.
Forum Macau, which has been active for 15 years, meets every three years in Macau to set out plans of action.
According to Macauhub news the source said that the fact that the Macau Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, is due to end his term of office in 2019, so almost at the time of the Macau Forum meeting, and this is the main reason for postponing the meeting.
The possibility of postponing the 6th ministerial meeting of the Forum had already been raised by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Leong Vai Tac, during a meeting with the Macau press.
The Chinese authorities also plan for the ministerial meeting to be held at the new Trade Cooperation Services Complex between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, which is under construction in the Lake Nam Van area, and should be concluded at the end of 2019.
The future complex, which will cost about 693 million patacas (US$87 million), besides being the headquarters of the institution will house the Portuguese-speaking Countries’ Food Products Exhibition Centre, the Business Service Centre between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as Training and Information centres, and a Pavilion on Economic, Commercial and Cultural Relations between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries.
The China-Portuguese Speaking Countries Cooperation and Development Fund, which is currently installed in the Business Support Centre, attached to the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), will also be located in the same complex.
With an area of 14,200 square metres, the complex was designed by architect Carlos Marreiros, with the engineering project drawn up by José Silveirinha and Jorge Lipari Pinto.
The Macau Forum, created by China with the support of the Portuguese-speaking countries, includes representatives from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste (East Timor), and its Secretary-General Xu Yingzhen, was appointed by China’s Ministry of Commerce.
