Macau is ready to help bailed-out Portugal overcome its severe economic crisis, Alexis Tam Chon Weng, chief-of-cabinet of the Macau chief executive’s office, said last week.
Tam, who also is the Macau government’s top spokesperson, made the remark during a TDM interview in Lisbon last week where he co-chaired the 2nd Macau-Portugal Joint Committee meeting.
According to The Macau Post Daily, Tam, who speaks Portuguese, told a TDM reporter in the Portuguese capital that Macau could be a “facilitator” to promote mainland Chinese investment in the debt-ridden country.
Tam, who headed the Macau delegation, also said that Macau was ready to organise investment promotion delegations from the mainland to pay fact-finding visits to Portugal, stressing that Macau could help Portugal attract investors from mainland China.
Tam, who acknowledged that Portugal was going through a “difficult phase” of its economic development, said that due to its status as a business-service hub for China and the Portuguese-speaking world, the local government was willing to offer its investment promotion services to Portugal as well.
According to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) on Friday, Macau and Portugal had inked five co-operation deals in Lisbon the previous day, covering education, environmental protection, consumer rights, and tourism.
Portugal pledged to assist Macau in the training of Portuguese-language teachers and consumer dispute arbitrators. Both sides also agreed to strengthen co-operation in cultural heritage preservation and the development of Macau’s culture and creative industries, according to the GCS statement.
The Portuguese delegation was headed by Rui Macieira, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry’s director-general for foreign policy.(macaunews)
