“The meeting will be held in Mozambique next year,” announced Che Weng Keong, President of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM).
This year, the business meeting between China and Portuguese-speaking countries took place for the first time in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea’s capital, over three days at the end of July.
Equatorial Guinea officially joined the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau Forum) in April 2022.
In a statement from July, the IPIM reported that the event gathered “over 500 representatives from governments and the business sector” from China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
According to IPIM, the meeting included “around 40 business and trade representatives” from Mainland China, Macau, and the neighboring economic zone of Hengqin (Montanha Island).
The annual event has been held on a rotating basis in Portuguese-speaking countries since 2005 but was suspended for four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting returned in 2024, occurring in Macau and coinciding with the sixth ministerial conference of the Macau Forum, which included the signing of the organization’s action plan until 2027.
In a local parliamentary debate on the Governance Lines of Action in the Economy and Finance sector for 2026, Che Weng Keong also discussed the program to attract international companies to the region.
The Economic Development Plan to Support the Establishment of the First Shop in Macau was launched on November 1, with the first application phase running until the end of January 2026.
During the session, Che stated that “more than 500 companies (…), including brands from Portugal” have already contacted IPIM to learn more about the program, which provides support of up to one million patacas (over 108,000 euros).
The initiative was presented in Lisbon and Porto at the beginning of October by IPIM officials, followed by presentations in Madrid and Barcelona.
The Governance Lines of Action report sets a goal for 2026 to “create demonstration points that gather characteristic brands from Lusophone and Hispanic countries.”
Che Weng Keong advocated for the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Cooperation and Development Fund, stating that it “has encouraged [Chinese] companies to develop operations in those countries.”
The fund was established in 2013 by the China Development Bank and the Macau Industrial and Commercial Development Fund, with one billion dollars (868 million euros).
In a statement released on Sunday by the Macau Government, the fund signed its first agreement in October to finance a local company, aiming to expand into the Timor-Leste market.
