The Macau Chief Executive, Chui Sai On said Saturday in Macau that there was a vast potential for cooperation that needed to be explored with Portugal.

The Chief executive noted, on receiving the Portuguese Minister of State and for Foreign Affairs, Paulo Portas that his first official visit after taking office had been to Portugal.

Saying that the visit had yielded good results for both sides based on existing cooperation mechanisms and, in line with the Framework Cooperation agreement between the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People’s Republic of China and the Portuguese Republic, the Macau Chief Executive noted the agreement reached to carry out regular meetings.

The Chief executive recognised that, as well as economic cooperation, cooperation could be increased in the areas of education, culture, particularly language teaching, and pledged that the MSAR government would continue to preserve the Portuguese culture, language and customs, as well as the co-existence of Chinese-Portuguese characteristics in Macau, as well as the wellbeing of the Portuguese community.

Portas noted the importance Portugal gave to its relations with Macau and the territory’s role in relations between Portugal and China and thanked the MSAR’s efforts in preserving Portuguese education and culture. He added that the two sides should continue to boost cooperation in the education and cultural sectors

He said he believed that Portuguese characteristics contributed to Macau’s development of its role as a trade and services platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. (macauhub)