of rmb business to cater to the needs of the market. besides, the real time gross settlement system of macao has interface capabilities with the mainland and will surely facilitate cross border clearing for the rmb. the role of macao as a trade platform between the mainland and portuguese speaking countries 8 ) on a more international perspective, macao has been exploiting its special geographical and historical conditions in performing its liaison platform function for economic cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries, namely angola, brazil, cape verde, east timor, guinea - bissau, mozambique, portugal and sao tome e principe. they have a total population of more than 200 million and endowed with abundant natural resources and energy potentials. in the 12th five - year - plan, it is stipulated that macao will have strong support in the development of a service platform for the economic cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries, whereby appropriate economic diversification of macao can be promoted. recently, there is an increasing rise in economic activities between china and lusophone countries. trade volume with the 8 lusophone countries amounted to usd128. 8 billion in 2012, which was a 10. 1 % increase year - on - year. there is a great demand in the market for related financial services. macao can fully embody its platform function by providing solid financial support services for trade. 5 9 ) some portuguese speaking countries would like to share macao ’ s experience in managing rmb business as well as the experience in dealing with investment in the currency. to this end, recently, the central bank of mozambique, under the terms of the “ memorandum of understanding ” with the monetary authority of macao, arranged to send officers to macao in mid - april with a view to making preparation for future development. 10 ) on the other hand, banks with capital from china and portugal account for the lion ’ s share in macao ’ s banking industry. some banks of chinese capital have executed business cooperation agreements with financial institutions of some portuguese speaking countries. under such indigenous competitiveness, the msar government is leading local financial institutions to make full use of the development opportunity offered by portuguese speaking countries to further expand their business. as such, we can grasp the chance and direct suitable financial institutions and enterprises to invest in those countries through macao as the platform. we follow the strategic direction of “ internationalization ” as postulated by our country. such a move will have spill - over effect on other economic / trade activities

anselmo teng : overview of macao ’ s 2012 financial sector development address by mr anselmo teng, chairman of the monetary authority of macao, at the spring cocktail reception of the monetary authority of macao, macao, 18 march 2013. * * * the honourable secretary for economy and finance, mr. tam pak yuen, the honourable deputy director general, economic affairs department of the liaison office of the central people ’ s government in the msar, mr. kou ming, the honourable deputy director - general of the office of the commissioner of the ministry of foreign affairs in the msar, ms. ji ziyuan, dear guests, practitioners of the financial sector, friends of the media, colleagues, “ the dragon goes back to the sea and bids farewell to the old calendar. the golden snake is clad in colours to greet the new spring. ” at this moment, flowers bloom in the warm march air, we gather together again to bid farewell to the year of the dragon and greet the year of snake in the midst of well wishes. we are honoured to have the presence of mr. tam pak yuen, secretary for economy and finance to officiate this spring cocktail reception. as such, i would like to express, on behalf of the monetary authority of macao, our candid gratitude to mr. tam for squeezing out some time from his tight schedule to come to this function. at the same time, i would like to extend our warmest welcome to our guests, particularly mr. kou ming of the liaison office, and ms. ji ziyuan of the ministry of foreign affairs. in the past year, the international economic and financial status was still unstable. the shock arising from the international financial crisis remained unsettled. the negative impacts of the european debt crisis and the u. s. “ fiscal cliff ” continued to ferment. major economic entities adopted loose monetary policies consecutively. coupled with the problems and threats triggered by other geopolitical factors, the global financial situation was further complicated and looked opaque. under the interaction of all risks, global economic recovery was moribund. the economic entities of major developed nations had anaemic growth. recession loomed in eurozone. under such an uncertain global economic and political environment, the msar government insisted on promoting appropriate economic diversification. through continued deepening of regional cooperation and the locomotive effect of the thriving tourism services industry, satisfactory growth was achieved by its overall economy,