Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng met with the visiting Portuguese Minister of Economy Pedro Reis on Saturday ahead of the sixth ministerial conference of the Forum Macau, which will be held between Sunday and Tuesday in the SAR.

Ho expressed hopes that Portuguese companies would reinforce their investment in Macau and continue to expand their businesses, also in the In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, namely the big health industry. The Chief Executive highlighted Portugal’s solid foundations in the area of biomedicine and noted that relevant companies can take advantage of Macau and Hengqin as a starting point to enter Mainland China’s huge market.

Pedro Reis, who is on his first overseas visit since he took office in early April in Portugal’s new cabinet led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, said he had great expectations for this Ministerial Conference.

He added that Portugal is very interested in the development of Macau’s modern finance industry and will encourage more Portuguese companies to expand their businesses in Macau. Reis noted that tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) are important industries in Portugal, expressing hopes that Lisbon will be able to co-organize, in the future, with Macau and Mainland China, large projects of conventions and exhibitions, and thus jointly promote cultural exchange and economic development.

“We expect a consolidation of the Forum’s agenda, which is truly relevant. There’s plenty of room to expand cooperation in business, culture, natural resources, infrastructure, and investment,” he told the media on the sidelines of a reception held on Saturday at the Macau Military Club.

Fonte: MNA