Macau, EU translation master’s on the way

Chief Executive Chui Sai On attends a reception hosted by the Charge D’affaires of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Belgium, Counsellor Chen Xiaoming

The Macau Government plans to open a new master’s degree in Portuguese/Chinese Translation in cooperation with the European Union (EU), the secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan announced on Wednesday.
Chan was in Brussels with a delegation lead by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On where she met with Marco Benedetti, the director-general of Interpretation at the European Commission.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the secretary said that Macau and EU have trained 26 interpreters and translators since 2006, adding that a new programme will commence in February with 12 trainees.
The territory has proposed to further enhance cooperation with the EU and, Chan revealed, both sides had agreed to explore the feasibility of setting up a master’s programme for the training of interpretation and translation professionals.
According to Portuguese news agency Lusa, Chan said that the project “is still at an initial stage” and that the government has requested more information on a similar programme that started with Maputo, the Mozambique capital.
She stressed that the political will of the Administration “is to provide all the necessary tools to its citizens so that they all can have the ability to play an excellent work of translation.”
According to several services the Macau government is currently facing a lack of Portuguese/Chinese translators and interpreters.
“We will always give preference to quality. Therefore, since 2006, when the first classes of the course on complementary techniques of translation organised with the European Union started, we have never been able to fill all vacancies, because we always required a very strict assessment of the candidates’ capabilities,” she pointed out.
Since 2006, a total of 38 translators and interpreters participated in this programme, of which only nine did not hold a degree in translation.
The Chief Executive returns to Macau today. On the last day of his visit to the EU he met with the vice-president of the European Parliament, Libor Roucek.
He also attended a banquet hosted by the counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium, Chen Xiaoming.
Chan and the vice-president of the Legislative Assembly, Ho Iat Seng, concluded that the five-day visit was important to strengthen bilateral relations.