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 Commercial Law for the Portuguese Speaking Countries (Portuguese: Colóquio sobre Direito Comercial para os Países de Língua Portuguesa) was held at Vista at MGM Macau on 18 December 2017.

The Ceremony began with speeches by Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Ms Xu Yingzhen; Vice-Rector of CityU, Professor Kong Fan Qing; and Representative of the Workshop, Mr Joaquim Morais; followed by the presentation of Certificates to participants who have successfully completed the Workshop.

In her speech, Vice-Rector Kong said: ‘With the significant support from the Central Government and Macau SAR Government, the development of “One Platform, Three Centres” has achieved remarkable results. The economic and trade cooperation between China and the PSCs has been further expanded and deepened in recent years, which made the importance of commercial law to trans-regional trade development become evident’.

Also attending the ceremony were Deputy Director General of the Trade Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macau SAR, Mr Wang Jiabao; Counsellor of the Embassy of Moçambique in the Macao SAR, Mr Francisco Domingos Manhisa; 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; Pro-Rector of CityU, Professor Kuai Peng Ip ; 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; and Representatives of the PSCs from Forum Macau.

The Workshop took place in Macau and Qingdao from 5 – 18 December 2017. The workshop brought together 28 government officials, business executives, government consultants, jurists, and legal advisors from the PSCs, including Brasil, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Moçambique, Portugal, and São Tomé e Príncipe.

During the visit to Qingdao, the participants attended a networking session for production capacity cooperation between Qingdao and the PSCs, and visited Dentons Law Firm, Haier Group, and Euro-Asian Economic and Commercial Park. In Macau, the participants attended a series of lectures related to the Belt and Road Initiative, commercial law of Lusophone countries, the protection of trademark and patent, and the advantages of Macau’s platform role; and visited a number of government departments and associations, including Rui Cunha Foundation, Association of Macau Lawyers, Monetary Authority of Macau, Centre for Legal and Judicial Training, and Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. The participants also had the opportunity to attend the “5^th Congress of Lusophone Countries Law” co-organised by City University of Macau and Institute of Portuguese Language Law, and “Macau International Legal Symposium on Promoting Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Lusophone Countries” organised by UNCITRAL.