Carmen Wu, CEO Assistant at Quinta da Marmeleira, took part on July 15, 2025, in a commemorative session organized by the Association for the Promotion of Development of Guangzhou Nansha, Guangdong, and Macau, held in the city of Nansha.
During her speech, Carmen Wu highlighted three main challenges faced by companies from Portuguese-speaking countries: language and cultural barriers, differences in legal systems and market competition.
According to the representative of the Business Confederation of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CE-CPLP) in China, companies from Lusophone countries seeking to enter the Greater Bay Area require support from local institutions. She also called for the use of platforms such as the Macau Promotion Association to offer more targeted “soft connectivity” services for Lusophone enterprises, including facilitation of market entry, legal support, and centralized administrative assistance such as business registration, tax compliance, and qualification certification.
The CEO Assistant of Quinta da Marmeleira also emphasized the role of associations in providing linguistic and cultural training, as well as daily operational cooperation, in order to effectively lower the entry threshold and operational costs for Lusophone businesses in the Greater Bay Area.
The session focused on strengthening the “Nansha Platform + Macau Channel” initiative, injecting new momentum into the joint development of the “China-Portugal Center”.
In April, the new government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) proposed transforming Macau into a major hub for China’s high-level opening to the world. The plan aims to boost cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as to promote exchanges and collaboration with Spanish-speaking nations in finance, culture, and tourism.
At the same time, Macau plans to strengthen its connections with Hengqin and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area to offer “one-stop, multi-destination” tourism packages. This strategy includes taking advantage of the country’s relaxed and optimized transit visa exemption policy, enhancing the region’s tourism brand, and attracting international tourists to all the cities within the area.
