Banco Nacional Ultramarino (Macau) has signed a cooperation agreement with its parent company, Portuguese state bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), through the network of the two banks to collect and share market information about China and the Portuguese-speaking countries, the bank said in a statement.

The cooperation agreement was signed on 21 June, as part of the “Meeting for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries – Lisbon 2018,” organised by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and Forum Macau, which brought together 400 participants in the Portuguese capital and led to 80 contact exchanges and the signing of 24 protocols and memoranda.

“The signing of this protocol symbolises the beginning of a broader and deeper cooperation relationship between the two banks,” the statement said, adding that CGD and BNU global networks will create an information and communication platform to share market information about China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

Both CGD and BNU concluded that a closer business relationship will support the Macau government in creating the economic and trade platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries and have said that it is a mutually beneficial partnership for the customers of both banks.

The statement noted that no bank in Macau knows the Portuguese-speaking countries like the BNU and stresses that by connecting to these countries through the CGD network, “it is in a unique position to promote bilateral trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries and to support Chinese investors and companies from those countries interested in entering the Chinese market.”

Caixa Geral de Depósitos is present in 23 countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas, including seven Portuguese-speaking countries, and is the market leader in five.

BNU (Macau), which is part of the Portuguese state group, is one of the two issuing banks of Macau. It is also present in Zhuhai-Hengqin and Shanghai, providing a strong platform to link China with the Portuguese-speaking countries.