Co-organised by Training Centre of Forum Macau (Centro de Formação do Fórum de Macau) and City University of Macau (CityU), the Closing Ceremony of Workshop on Tourism and the MICE Industry for the Portuguese Speaking Countries (Portuguese: Colóquio sobre Turismo, Convenções e Exposições para os Países de Língua Portuguesa) was held at the Grand Ballroom at Hotel Grand Lisboa on 27 October 2017.

The Ceremony began with speeches by Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Ms Xu Yingzhen; Rector of CityU, Professor Shuguang Zhang; and Representative of the Workshop, Mr Osvaldo José Lunda António; followed by the presentation of Certificates to participants who have successfully completed the Workshop.

In his speech, Rector Zhang said: ‘The remarkable development of “One Platform, Three Centres” and the Belt and Road Initiative has significantly strengthened the economic and trade cooperation between China and the PSCs, and furthered enhanced Macau’s role as a service platform”. Rector Zhang highly believed that the Workshop contributed to promoting Macau as a world tourism and leisure centre as well as strengthening the cooperation on tourism, conventions and exhibitions between China and the PSCs.

Also attending the ceremony were Deputy Director General of the Economic Affairs Department and Head of the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macau SAR, Ms Chen Xing; Consul General of Angola in Macau, Ms Sofia Pegado da Silva; Consul General of Moçambique in Macau, Mr Rafael Custodio Marques; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the People’s Republic of China) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Mr Ding Tian; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by the PSCs) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Mr Rodrigo Brum; Deputy Secretary-General (appointed by Macau SAR Government) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Ms Echo Chan; Coordinator of the Executive Office of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Mr Hu Huajun; Coordinator of the Liaison Office of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Mr Danilo Henriques; Coordinator of the Support Office of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Ms Teresa Mok; Representatives of the PSCs from Forum Macau; Pro-Rector of CityU, Professor Kuai Peng Ip; Director of Open Institute of CityU cum Secretary General of the Council of CityU, Mr Robert Chan; and Director of Department of Portuguese Language and Culture of Portuguese-speaking Countries of CityU, Dr Rui Rocha.

The Workshop took place in Macau from 16 – 29 October 2017. The workshop brought together 30 government officials, business executives, academics, government consultants, industry representatives and senior tourism officers from the PSCs, including Angola, Brasil, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Moçambique, Portugal, São Tomé e Príncipe and Timor-Leste.

During this workshop, the participants attended a series of lectures related to the Belt and Road Initiative, the development of Macau as a world tourism and leisure centre, the contribution of tourism and the MICE industry to the relations and cooperation between Macau and the PSCs; and visited a number of government departments, associations and companies in Macau. Also, the participants attended the “22^nd Macau International Trade and Investment Fair” and “2017 Portuguese-Speaking-Countries Products and Services Exhibition (PLPEX)” on 19 – 20 October 2017.