Macau, China, April 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Macau’s Talents Development Commission aims to promote its "talent recruitment" programme across Portuguese-language countries, including Portugal and Brazil, its coordinator stated on Monday.
Kong Chi Meng promised to "proactively promote the policy of attracting talent from abroad, including from Portuguese-language countries," according to the public broadcaster TDM. "We are working with the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute to simultaneously promote investment and talent recruitment," Kong said.
The programme has received over 2,000 applications, with around 900 approved, revealed Kong, who serves as the Director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau. The third phase, which began in December, which will run for one year, has attracted nearly 300 applications.
The coordinator said that this third phase introduces new criteria, including a higher valuation of qualified professionals holding degrees from universities in Portugal and Brazil.
Macau established the recruitment programme in July 2023, targeting qualified professionals in the financial sector and scientific and technological research and development, including Nobel Prize winners. The scheme offers various advantages, including tax benefits.
This programme has become the only alternative for Portuguese citizens to obtain a resident card in the territory. Since August 2023, Macau has stopped accepting new residency applications from Portuguese nationals for "specialised technical functions", allowing only justifications based on family reunification or previous links to the territory.
These guidelines end a practice established after Macau's handover in 1999. Portuguese nationals now rely on the issuance of a "blue card", an authorisation limited to their employment contract, which does not include resident benefits, particularly in health and education.
The 2021 census indicates that over 2,200 people born in Portugal live in Macau. The latest estimate provided to Lusa by the Consulate-General of Portugal pointed to around 155,000 Portuguese passport holders among the residents of Macau and Hong Kong.
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Lusa
