Shi Youqi, President of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and his attendant delegation accompanied by Im Sio Kei, President of the Macao Polytechnic Institute, recently visited Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government. The two parties exchanged concerns on strengthening cooperation between the higher institutes of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and promoting the “Greater Bay Area Portuguese Language Education Alliance”, “Bay Area Campus Program” and other cooperation projects in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Ao Ieong U welcomed the visit of Shi Youqi and his attendant dignitaries, saying that the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and the Macao Polytechnic Institute have achieved fruitful results in the fields of Portuguese language learning and scientific research over the years, and were looking forward to further deepening cooperation on the existing basis and opening up programs like summer camps for students in the Bay Area. The new cooperation project welcomes more Bay Area students to come to Macao for exchange and study.  Ao Ieong U said that the Macao SAR Government attaches great importance to higher education, and hopes to further explore modes of mutual grant and recognition of degrees with the Bay Area and other mainland higher institutes, deepen joint courses, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with higher institutes in the Bay Area, and strive to promote education in the Bay Area and cooperation to a new level.

Shi Youqi thanked the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture for the reception and introduced the key academic affairs administration work of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Shi Youqi said that with projects on the “Bay Area Campus Program”, “Greater Bay Area Portuguese Language Education Alliance”, “China-Portuguese-English Machine Translation Laboratory” and so on, the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and the Macao Polytechnic Institute are jointly implementing the cooperation between higher institutes in the Bay Area and embodying “the needs of the country, the direction of the Bay Area, and the capabilities of higher institutes”, and have been recognized and supported by the Ministry of Education; they are looking forward to the further realization of more cooperation projects with the strong support of the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao.

Im Sio Kei, President of the Macao Polytechnic Institute, thanked the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture for supporting the cooperation between the two higher education institutions. Over the years, the friendly cooperation between the two higher education institutions in Chinese-Portuguese language learning has successfully attracted students from Portuguese-speaking countries to learn about the Bay Area through participation in the exchange and learning programs in the Greater Bay Area, thereby promoting district development and construction, and radiating Macao’s Portuguese language teaching advantages to Guangdong and Hong Kong; the two higher education institutions are looking forward to continuing to develop more cooperative projects to attract outstanding academic staff and students from all over the world to Macao and the Greater Bay Area.

Participants also included Ho Ioc San, Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Lam Wan Nei, Advisor to the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ke Xiaohua, Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Chen Yunliang, Dean of the School of Law, and Zhang Yunfeng, Director of the Centre for Portuguese Studies of Macao Polytechnic Institute.