President of the Universidade Católica received by the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region
On 9 October, the President of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Isabel Capeloa Gil, was received in audience by the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Ho Iat Seng.
The strengthening of the long-standing relationship of co-operation between UCP and the Macau region was the central theme of the meeting, where the main areas of collaboration were addressed, such as the promotion of scientific and academic research, the teaching of the Portuguese language and the training of qualified staff.
The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Macau government, was attended by the Rector of the University of São José, Stephen Morgan, and the Vice-Rector Álvaro Barbosa, an institution created by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and the Diocese of Macau in 1996.
In this audience, the President of UCP said that "the Universidade Católica hopes to continue to deepen cooperation with the Macao SAR through academic exchanges with higher education institutions, reinforcing cooperation in the training of professional disciplines, an example of which is the launch of a training programme for qualified staff in Biotechnology with the Universidade de São José".
The head of the Macao SAR government proposed strengthening the cooperation of the Universidade Católica with Macau in the field of science and research, highlighting the work that the Macao SAR government has been carrying out in the "Strategy for the development of appropriate diversification", with a focus on the Big Health and Biotechnology industries.
The visit of the President of UCP to the Macau Special Administrative Region was also marked by a meeting with the Alumni Association of the Universidade Católica in Macau.
It is important to note that the connection between Católica and Macau is long-standing and was strengthened with the creation of the Institute of Asian Studies at the Universidade Católica, founded, according to Isabel Capeloa Gil, "to reinforce and recognise the work and the very fruitful connection that UCP has had with the territory of Macau since the 1970s", particularly "to develop and deepen the study of Portugal's projection and relationship with other parts of the world, especially Asia."
This cooperation is also evidenced by the protocol signed this year between UCP and the Macao SAR's Directorate of Education and Youth Development Services, for the training and development of qualified staff in Portuguese.