The opening ceremony for the 20th annual conference of AULP takes place at UM

The 20th annual conference of the Association of Universities of Portuguese Language (AULP), whose theme was “China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries”, was held at the University of Macau (UM), Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM) and Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) from 7 September to 8 September 2010. More than 190 people from 11 countries and regions, including members of the Executive Council of AULP and representatives from Portuguese-speaking universities, attended the conference. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Mr. Cheong U said he hopes the conference can strengthen the cooperation between tertiary education institutions in Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries and open up new areas for cooperation.

The four-day event was co-hosted by UM, IPM and IFT, with support and funding from the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR, the Macao Foundation, Macau Government Tourist Office and the Consulate General of Portugal in Macao. So far UM, IPM and IFT have cooperated in hosting four annual conferences of AULP. The opening ceremony took place at the Cultural Centre of UM at 10:00 a.m. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Mr. Cheong U, Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries Domingos Simões Pereira, President of AULP Prof. Clélio Campolina Diniz, Vice President of AULP Prof. João Guerreiro, UM Rector Wei Zhao’s representative Vice Rector of UM Prof. Rui Martins, IPM President Prof. Lei Heong Iok, IFT President Fanny Vong, President of the Administrative Council of Macao Foundation Dr. Wu Zhiliang, and Director of Macau Government Tourist Office Eng. João Manuel Costa Antunes jointly presided over the ceremony.

In his speech Mr. Cheong U said that Macao SAR has become an important platform for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, which is also an important role accorded to Macao by the Central Government within the framework of the “one country, two systems” policy. The theme of the conference is thus of special significance to Macao. Macao has all along been hailed as a city where “the East meets the West”. It is a place where oriental and western cultures have blended and co-existed for more than 400 years. Mr. Cheong said that in expanding cooperation with the Chinese mainland, an emerging “super economy”, and Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan, Macao should be able to make important contributions by drawing on its unique characteristics. Mr. Cheong also said that he hoped this conference can help strengthen the cooperation between local tertiary education institutions and those in Portuguese-speaking countries and also open up new areas for cooperation.

UM Vice Rector Prof. Rui Martins delivered a speech on behalf of UM Rector Wei Zhao. In his speech Prof. Martins said that institutions of higher education in Macao are young, but they are developing very fast, providing more choices for students. He said that in addition to nurturing professionals for Macao and the mainland, local institutions of higher education constantly seek to enhance international exchange and cooperation; this year the three local public institutions of higher education, namely UM, IPM and IFT, once again undertook the task of organizing AULP’s annual conference. Prof. Martins said he believes that this year’s annual conference will bear witness to the substantial progress AULP has made in recent years.

In his speech, Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries Domingos Simões Pereira said that holding the annual conference of AULP in Macao is of special significance because Macao is where the first western-style university, Colégio de São Paulo, was founded. He said that Macao has all along been a city where eastern culture blends with western culture, and that it is very impressive that the Portuguese culture has been well preserved even after Macao’s return to China.

In his speech, President of AULP Prof. Clélio Campolina Diniz said that universities can create knowledge and apply the knowledge thus created back to society. He said that AULP can serve as a platform for cooperation in higher education and can help realize the joint planning and sustainable development of scientific, cultural, art, economic and social projects at national or regional levels; and to achieve this objective, AULP should strengthen the links between universities, promote the interaction between teachers and students, and advance the mutual understanding and friendship between different nations.

Approximately 190 representatives from 11 countries and regions enrolled for this conference, the highest number in the history of AULP. Numerous high-level parallel sessions, including the General Assembly of AULP, AULP Executive Council Meeting, Meeting of the Council of Presidents of Portuguese Universities, and Meeting of the Coordination Council of the Polytechnic Institutes of Portugal, were held during the two-day conference. This is also the first time that some mainland universities with departments or faculties of the Portuguese language have been invited to attend the conference and have a meeting with representatives from AULP member institutions.
The conference’s theme was “China, Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries” and revolved around five topics, namely “economy, commerce and development”, “problematics of the Portuguese language in the world”, “linguistic unity and normative plurality”, “some challenges of the Portuguese-speaking world”, and “networks of cooperation in higher education”. Five highly respected scholars were invited as keynote speakers for the five topics, and they were: Prof. Roberto Luíz Montemor, Prof. Simonetta Luz Afonso, Prof. Eduardo Marçal Grilo, Prof. Tito Horácio Fernandes, and Prof. Eduardo Arantes e Oliveira. This is also the first time in AULP’s history that conference speeches have been collected through a “call for papers” (CFP). The CFP received enthusiastic response from scholars of universities of Portuguese language from around the world. Finally 46 papers were selected for conference presentation and for inclusion in the collection of conference papers.

During the conference, a launch ceremony for a Macao-themed dictionary was held in commemoration of the fourth centenary of the death of Matteo Ricci, a knowledgeable scholar who is recognized as one of the earliest European sinologists and who compiled the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary in the world. This Macao-themed dictionary has its origin in a research project at UM that began 1998. It consists of four volumes and approximately 1000 pages. Its publication had the support of AULP.

AULP is a large international academic organization. It has more than 200 members from Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, East-Timor and Macao, as well as some associate members which are mainly departments of Portuguese at tertiary institutions in the United States, France and Italy. There are 6 members from Macao: UM, IPM, IFT, International Institute of Macau (IIM), University of Saint-Joseph, and Asia International Open University (Macau).

AULP holds its annual conference in Portugal, Brazil, Africa and Macao in rotation. UM, IPM and IFT cooperated with AULP in hosting the annual conferences in 1998, 2003 and 2006 (IIM began to participate in the co-hosting of the annual conference in 2003). Since 2005 UM has been serving as AULP’s Vice President for Asia Pacific.
 

07/09/2010