Macau, China, Aug. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - China's science and technology minister said on Tuesday that Macau should attract more foreign researchers, a call that will target Portuguese-speaking countries, the head of a local university told Lusa.
During a visit to the Chinese semi-autonomous region, Yin Hejun pointed out that the goal for the four state reference laboratories in Macau was to "create a good environment to attract qualified staff".
In a speech, the minister defended the need to "take advantage of Macau's environment and advantages", namely the tradition of "cooperation with the outside world", to hire more "international talent".
Yin was speaking during a ceremony marking the restructuring of four laboratories dedicated to the areas of Chinese medicine, lunar and planetary science, microelectronics and the Internet of Things (communication between objects and devices).
The laboratories, based at the University of Macau and Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), have achieved "remarkable results", the leader of the local government said at the same ceremony.
Sam Hou Fai gave as examples "scientific research, the transformation of research results, the training of qualified staff and international cooperation".
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the dean of MUST told Lusa that the laboratory dedicated to Chinese medicine could benefit most from greater international cooperation, "especially with Portuguese-speaking countries".
"We have to strengthen collaboration first, and that has to start with mutual understanding and go through an increase in trade flows of products related to Chinese medicine," explained Joseph Lee Hun-wei.
But he emphasised that MUST's laboratory dedicated to lunar and planetary science "has already recruited a large number of very good scientists from Europe", including Portuguese astrobiologist Marta Filipa Simões.
In January, the new Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, O Lam, said she wanted to "turn Macau into a place where qualified personnel are concentrated in the world", citing the four reference laboratories of the Chinese state.
She said the goal was to "take full advantage of the unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures (...), making Macau an important gateway for exchange and mutual understanding between Chinese and Western civilisations".
In 2023, Macau approved several programmes to attract "highly qualified staff" and "advanced level professionals", including Nobel Prize winners, notably with tax benefits.
The various plans - which target sectors such as sustainable financial products and financial technology applications, artificial intelligence and robotics - have criteria that value knowledge of the Portuguese language.
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