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　Source : Government Information Bureau Macao and the European Union will continue to co-operate in many areas ranging from culture to education programmes, and in new areas from air service to creative industries and in combating human trafficking.迷你倉Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On said this today at the opening of 20th anniversary celebration of the EU-Macao Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which was also attended by the President of the European Commission, Mr Jos� Manuel Durao Barroso.Mr Chui said the Agreement, signed before the handover in 1992 and implemented in 1993, had fostered closer ties and provided co-operation in various fields ranging from trade to culture between Macao and the EU.After the handover, the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government has been working together with the EU in enhancing and further promoting bilateral co-operation. This resulted in the rapid growth in bilateral trade and collaboration initiatives, he said. This trade continued to record positive growth in the first three quarters of 2013, making the EU the second largest trading partner of Macao.On co-operation, the recent 18th Joint Committee Meeting held on 15 November would certainly attest to the ongoing fruitful co-operation between Europe and Macao.Mr Chui said the annual high-level dialogue on trade and co-operation under the Joint Committee framework would play an active role in further developing the long-standing sustainable strategic partnership between Macao and the EU.The EU president, who was in Macao for the day, said at the celebration that Europe’s relations with Macao was drawn on deep historic and cultural roots based on common values and a wide range of shared interests.He stressed that the EU strongly supported the “one country, two systems” principle and in particular the respect for human rights and individual freedom enshrined in the Basic Law, which should be enjoyed by the citizens.Since the signing of the Agreement, trade relations have been growing steadily and smoothly, with record volumes year after year, to 511 million Euros in 2012. For Macao, the EU is now the second largest source of imports after the Mainland and its fourth largest export market, Mr Durao Barroso said.He said the EU still needed to further strengthen this very productive relationship and fully exploit all the potentials for greater mutual investment, trade, co-operation and growth.He said it was without doubt that Macao is a key hub between Asia and Europe; Macao’s strong tourism industry has further pushed economic diversification. Alself storage this meant there was room to work even more closer together to better translate the common interest in common actions and successfully confront new challenges.Mr Durao Barroso said the bilateral comprehensive relationship also aims to foster mutual understanding, stimulate exchange of ideas, and strengthen links between peoples so that both sides would benefit from the respective cultural diversity.The bilateral co-operation on training of interpreters and translators and the EU Academic Programme would further promote educational and cultural exchanges for the younger generation, he said.On legal co-operation, both sides have worked together in this area ever since 2002, under two successive phases of the EU-Macao Legal Cooperation Programme. This programme has been successful in allowing a very concrete hands-on exchange of legal experience in areas of priority to the Macao Government. For this reason, the EU and Macao were keen to continue this co-operation in the years to come, said Mr Durao Barroso.During the celebration, Mr Chui and Mr Durao Barroso also witnessed their representatives sign the "Agreement between the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the European Union on certain aspects of air services”. This agreement, commonly referred to as the "Horizontal Agreement", is an international agreement negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of EU Member States, to bring all existing bilateral Air Services Agreements between EU Member States and a third party in line with the EU law.A set of commemorative stamps themed “20th Anniversary of the Macao-European Union Agreement for Trade and Co-operation” was also launched to celebrate the occasion.After the celebration, Mr Durao Barroso was scheduled to meet with Mr Chui at the Santa Sancha. He will also attend the Inauguration Ceremony of EU-Macao Chamber of Commerce based in Macao and the dinner reception jointly hosted by the EU Head of Office and Consul General of Portugal before departing in the evening.Official relations between Macao and the EU have been steadily built on the foundation of the Macao-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement signed in 1992. Under this agreement, Macao and the EU may co-operate in industry, investment, science and technology, energy, information, training and other areas. A Joint Committee established by both parties hold an annual meeting to review the implementation of the agreement and discuss its future development, with the venue alternating between Macao and Brussels.-- The End --迷利倉