António Ramos da Silva argued that the country should establish a consulate or honorary consulate, “given the strategic importance” of the two regions in the Greater Bay Area project.
This is a Beijing-led initiative to create a global metropolis that integrates Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong Province—a region with approximately 86 million inhabitants and an economy exceeding one billion euros.
The Timorese delegate to the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao) said the post should have a broader mission.
In a report addressed to the East Timorese government and sent to Lusa yesterday, Ramos da Silva highlighted the “new developments” in the Greater Bay Area in the commercial, cultural, and technological sectors.
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“The importance of the financial and logistics (Hong Kong), technology (Shenzhen), and tourism and cultural (Macau) hubs deserves greater attention from Timor-Leste,” the official argued.
Ramos da Silva also highlighted Macau’s connection to Portuguese-speaking markets and Hong Kong’s ties to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Timor-Leste formally joined in October.
ASEAN was founded in 1967 by Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines – which will assume the presidency in 2026 – and later joined by Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and Vietnam.
Hong Kong is ASEAN’s second-largest trading partner, with trade in goods at record levels, “tariff-free,” Ramos da Silva noted.
According to official data, bilateral trade between Hong Kong and the ASEAN economies reached $213.9 billion (€186.1 billion) in 2025, an increase of 29.4%.
Ramos da Silva also said that Timor-Leste should “enhance its cultural cooperation” with China, specifically by “establishing a presence in a first-rate cultural hub”: Macau, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.
In late 2025, Macau held a public consultation on the creation of an International Integrated Tourism and Culture Zone, while Hong Kong has been developing the West Kowloon Cultural District.
China established the Macao Special Administrative Region as a platform for strengthening economic and trade cooperation with Portuguese-speaking Countries in 2003 and, in that same year, created the Forum Macao.
In addition to China, the organization includes the members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP): Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, and, since 2022, Equatorial Guinea.
