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 MICE Management 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 MGM Macau on 26 October 2018. 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, Ms Lourdes Domingos; followed by the presentation of Certificates to participants who have successfully completed the Workshop.

In his speech, Rector Zhang said: ‘Both China and the Portuguese-speaking countries are rich in tourism resources, the promotion of exchanges and cooperation in the fields of tourism and MICE has become of paramount importance’. Rector Zhang highly believes that the Workshop has contributed to strengthening the exchanges of experience and effectively promoting cooperation 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 Li Huaying; Consul General of Angola in Macau, Ms Sofia Pegado da Silva; Consul General of Moçambique in Macau, Mr Rafael Custodio Marques; Representative of the Consul General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong, Ms Maria João Bonifácio; Representatives of the PSCs from Forum Macau; Pro-Rector of CityU, Professor Kuai Peng Ip; and Dean of Faculty of Business cum Director of Open Institute of CityU, Prof. José Alves.

The Workshop took place in Macau from 15 – 26 October 2018. The workshop brought together 32 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 cooperation in tourism and MICE between China and relevant countries, the contribution of tourism and MICE industry to the development of relations between China and the PSCs, the advantages of Macau’s platform role for the promotion of cooperation between China and the PSCs, the Construction of Macau as a World Centre for Tourism and Leisure, and the integration of Macau and China; and visited a number of government departments, associations and companies in Macau. Also, the participants attended the 10th Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, the 23rd Macau International Trade and Investment Fair, and the 2018 Portuguese-Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (PLPEX).