Lusofonia
Lusofonia refers to the ‘Lusophone space’ that spans across continents and diverse cultures around the world. Throughout history, populations and territories that have had extensive contact with the Portuguese language are collectively known as the ‘Lusophone world’. Portuguese was once a language used in Macao’s public administration and education and is still currently one of its official languages, making Macao part of Lusofonia.
There are nine countries in the world that are historically and culturally tied with the Portuguese language, including Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde (islands), Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. Regions connected to the Portuguese language include Goa, Daman, Diu and other places in India, Sri Lanka, Malacca, many islands in Indonesia, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Dutch Guiana.
The nine Lusofonia countries are located across four continents with a total population of over 265 million people, and Portuguese is one of the most widely used languages across the globe. Macao shares similarities in terms of language, culture, people-to-people ties, administration and legislation and has long established ties with Lusofonia countries in various fields, especially the Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. Being very familiar with the market of China and Portuguese-speaking countries, companies in Macao know that these Portuguese-speaking countries, which are now in the early stage of development, have abundant natural resources and inexpensive labour force and therefore promise plenty of business opportunities in many aspects, ranging from raw materials, basic infrastructure, factory investments, daily necessities, eco-friendly products to traditional Chinese medicines. For example, Angola possesses resources such as petroleum and diamonds; Mozambique boasts a trove of timber and marble resources that can be exported with no quota limitations. São Tomé and Príncipe is known for its maritime resources, and Cabo Verde (islands) for its tourism and maritime resources. The mobile telecommunication network services and deep cashew processing in Guinea-Bissau have good value for investment.
It is especially noteworthy that these countries are home to a variety of produce such as coffee, cacao, cashew nuts and loads of seafood, and the industry of processing these items is worthy of investment.