The Government of Macau stated that the personal data protection agreements signed with Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe will strengthen the development of the digital economy. The Macau Personal Data Protection Bureau (DSPDP) announced the signing of protocols with the National Data Protection Commission of Cape Verde (CNPD) and the National Personal Data Protection Agency of São Tomé and Príncipe.
In a statement released Wednesday night, the DSPDP said that the cooperation agreements will boost “the regulated and robust development of the transnational digital economy.”
The regulator added that the memoranda of understanding “reflect a vision based on international cooperation as an indispensable instrument to face global and emerging challenges of the digital economy.”
The agreements will also improve “the cooperation chain between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in the areas of data security and personal privacy protection,” the DSPDP added. The protocols provide for awareness-raising projects and training programs, the sharing of best practices and experiences in regulation and inspection, as well as the development of joint studies, according to the statement.
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The DSPDP revealed that the agreements were signed on June 1, during visits to Macau by delegations from the regulatory bodies of Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. The delegations also visited the neighboring region of Hong Kong and held talks with an association and businesses operating within the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity sectors in Guangdong province.
In early April, the DSPDP joined the Lusophone Personal Data Protection Network (RLPD), which until then was composed of personal data protection authorities from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The presidency of the RLPD, created in 2024, is currently held by the Brazilian National Data Protection Authority, with the Permanent Secretariat assigned to the Portuguese National Data Protection Commission. At the time, the DSPDP defended the potential for “mutual learning and reciprocal benefits” in areas such as “cross-border data flows.”
In a speech delivered in 2024, the director of the DSPDP, Yang Chongwei, stated that “the data element is becoming increasingly important in the cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking nations.”
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“With the popularization of technology, especially artificial intelligence, and the development of the digital economy,” personal data “will become a new indispensable element,” the regulator added.
Yang stressed that China and the European Union “attach increasing importance to the use of data and data trade” and are accelerating the construction of regulatory regimes. A delegation led by the president of the CNPD, Faustino Varela Monteiro, had previously visited Macau in 2017, where he met with Yang Chongwei to discuss bilateral alignment.
