José Pereira Coutinho, the only directly elected member of the Macau Legislative Assembly, will be speaking about China’s “One Country, Two Systems” policy on Macau and Hong Kong.
José Coutinho was born in Macau, the son of Goan parents, and is a law school graduate from the University of Macau. He has been active in the fields of worker rights, casino licensing, intellectual property, and international trade arbitration. He entered Macau’s 3rd Legislative Assembly in 2005 through direct election and was re-elected to the assembly in 2009 and 2013.
Coutinho is also President of the 10,000 member ATFPM – Associação dos Trabalhadores da Função Pública de Macau (Association of Civil Servants in Macau). He is the representative for Macau in the Portuguese Overseas Congress in Lisbon, Portugal (Conselho das Comunidades Portuguesas), the principal association in Europe for people of Portuguese descent. He served as President of the organization from 2008-2012.