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 6 May 2019.

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 Catarina Taborda; followed by the presentation of Certificates to participants who have successfully completed the Workshop.

In his speech, Rector Zhang stated that ‘the promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February 2019 has laid out a clear direction and facilitated Macau’s significant role as a base for exchange and cooperation where Chinese culture is the mainstream and diverse cultures coexist, which is a solid demonstration of Macau’s historical status and degree of internationalisation’.  Rector Zhang strongly believed that the Workshop would further contribute to Macau’s role as a service platform for commercial and trade cooperation, and its development into a ‘world-class tourism and leisure centre’, and therefore promoting the economic and trade cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries as well as the coexistence of diverse cultures.

Also attending the ceremony were Consul General of Angola in Macau, Ms Sofia Pegado da Silva; Consul General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong, Mr Paulo Cunha Alves; Deputy Director of Department of Policy Research of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macau SAR, Mr Jiang Xiaofan; Representative of the Consul General of Moçambique in Macau, Ms Celina Jacinto Mahoze Ncube; 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 Portuguese-speaking countries) of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Mr Rodrigo Brum; 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, Ms Francisca Reino; Coordinator of the Support Office (Macau SAR Government) of Forum Macau, Ms Teresa Mok; Pro-Rector of CityU, Professor Kuai Peng Ip; Dean of Faculty of Business cum Director of Open Institute of CityU, Prof. José Alves; Executive Associate Dean of Faculty of Tourism, Dr Gavin Chau; and Representatives of the PSCs from Forum Macau.

The Workshop took place in Macau from 23 April – 6 May 2019. The workshop brought together 31 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 trends in tourism industry in Macau and the Greater Bay Area, innovation in tourism, international tourism, and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and its opportunities for tourism; and visited a number of government departments in Macau. Also, the participants attended the 7^th Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo and representative of each PSCs delivered a presentation on their countries’ tourism products.