The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, cordially shakes hands with the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Mr José Manuel Albares Bueno, during a meeting in Madrid, Spain.
The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, met with Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Mr José Manuel Albares Bueno, in Madrid, Spain. The meeting laid a solid foundation for enhancing future exchanges and cooperation between Macao and Spain in areas such as trade and investment, culture, and science and technology innovation. Both sides agreed to maintain dialogue and advance mutual collaboration.
The meeting was held on Wednesday (22 April) in the morning local time. Mr Sam arrived in Madrid in the afternoon on Tuesday (21 April), after a four-day visit to Lisbon, Portugal.
During the Wednesday meeting, Mr Sam noted that in recent years, China and Spain have enjoyed frequent high-level exchanges, with the King of Spain and Spain’s Prime Minister both having visited China, reflecting the deepening and substantive progress of the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership.
As a Special Administrative Region of China, Macao has, since its return to the motherland, undertaken external engagement responsibilities, said Mr Sam. Leveraging the strengths of the “One country, two systems” principle, Macao has continued to play a unique role as a platform for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. This included successfully hosting multiple Ministerial Meetings of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), as well as last year’s Forum of Presidents of Supreme Courts of Portuguese-speaking Countries. Through a series of international events, Macao has effectively supported China’s external cooperation.
China’s President Mr Xi Jinping and the Central Government have clearly expressed support for Macao to become an important bridgehead for China’s opening-up, Mr Sam noted. The ongoing visit by members of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government, accompanied by representatives from the business sector, is a key step in fulfilling the central authorities’ mandate to Macao to expand the city’s international engagement.
Macao looked forward to taking Spain as a starting point to extend Macao’s role as a China-Portuguese-speaking countries’ platform into the Spanish-speaking world. This involved expanding practical cooperation with Spain in trade, cultural tourism, and technological innovation, while jointly promoting deeper and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and other Spanish-speaking nations, Mr Sam stated. He expressed hope that Spain would support Macao in becoming an important platform for enhanced cooperation between China and Spanish-speaking countries across economic, cultural, and tourism fields.
Minister Albares welcomed the Chief Executive and his delegation to Spain, stating that this visit presented a significant opportunity to deepen friendly relations between China and Spain. Through the Chief Executive’s briefing, he gained a clearer understanding of how Macao can serve as a vital connecting point for sustained exchanges and cooperation between China, Spain, and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The Minister noted that Spain maintains close ties and frequent interactions with Portugal and Brazil, and welcomed Macao’s active participation in these networks to explore jointly new areas of collaboration.
Looking forward, Spain is ready to further strengthen economic, trade, and tourism cooperation with Macao, and hopes to take part in future international economic and trade events held in Macao, thereby enhancing Spain’s global engagement and influence, said Mr Albares. He also anticipated there would be increased high-level visits and practical exchanges between the two sides. Meanwhile, Spain expressed support for the MSAR Government’s efforts to promote the learning of Spanish language in Macao, with a view to nurturing a greater number of Chinese-Spanish bilingual talents.
Also present at the meeting were: the Chinese Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, Mr Yao Jing; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Chan Kak; the Director of the Macao Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon, Ms Lúcia Abrantes dos Santos; and Spain’s State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs, Mr Diego Martínez Belío.
