Dili, December 3^rd , 2018: His Excellency Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, received a visit of the Secretary-General of the Macau Forum, Xu Yingzhen, on Monday, in Palácio do Governo, in Dili.

At this meeting, the Head of Government began by welcoming the Secretary-General of the Macau Forum. The Prime Minister then provided some information on the country’s internal political situation and also took the opportunity to explain Timor-Leste’s economic development goals, which the VIII Constitutional Government enshrined in the program for the five years of governance.

The Secretary-General of the Macau Forum, Xu Yingzhen, said that she hoped that cooperation could be improved through the Macau Forum, as a platform for bilateral cooperation between Portuguese-speaking countries and China. She added that she hopes that Timor-Leste will be able to take advantage of this platform to intensify cooperation in the areas of ​​economy and commerce, thus developing its economy through the Macau Forum.

The Macau Forum was established in 2003 by the Chinese Government, as a multilateral mechanism for intergovernmental cooperation, and includes the CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tomé e Príncipe and Timor-Leste). The purpose of the Macau Forum is to consolidate economic exchange and trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and use Macao as a liaison platform. END