4th GBA Business Conference marks Macau return
Yesterday morning saw the opening of the “4th Business Conference on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development” at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo, marking its return to the city since the inaugural edition in 2023 and gathering over 1,000 political and business representatives from 25 countries and regions.
Themed “Integrating the Greater Bay Area for a Connected World”, the two-day event features an outcome-focused launch, a plenary session, parallel panels, site visits to local enterprises, and business matching sessions, as highlighted in previous event information by the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM).
The event commenced with an opening ceremony attended by senior officials including Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Leung Chun-ying (梁振英), Liaison Office Director Zheng Xincong, and Foreign Ministry Commissioner Bian Lixin.
Leung, also known as CY Leung, is a former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
Addressing the opening ceremony, Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai highlighted that since its inaugural edition in 2023, the conference has, through joint efforts, become “one of the largest and most influential events in the Greater Bay Area [GBA] business sector”.
He added that the latest iteration “precisely aligns with the pace of economic development of the Greater Bay Area”.
Moreover, Sam pointed out in his speech that for Macau, as one of the four central cities and core engines of the GBA, advancing the “high-standard development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is both the key breakthrough for Macau’s appropriate economic diversification and the top priority of Macau’s participation in high-quality Greater Bay Area construction”.
The GBA consists of nine cities in Guangdong, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and the nation’s two special administrative regions – Hong Kong and Macau.
Sam emphasised that the “Macao+Hengqin”* joint development concept must “serve not only Macau’s economic diversification, but also the development of the Greater Bay Area and the broader national strategy”.
Looking ahead, Sam said that Macau “will firmly adhere to the principle of “One Country’, leverage the benefits of ‘Two Systems’, and base itself on its positions as ‘One Centre, One Platform, One Base’ and ‘One Highland’.
“We will closely align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan, support and coordinate with Guangdong Province’s 15th Five-Year Plan, and the Hong Kong SAR’s first Five-Year Plan.
“During Macau’s 3rd Five-Year Plan period, guided by four major engineering projects and government guidance funds, we will leverage our unique resource endowments and internal/external connectivity advantages to intensify policy support and financial investment.
“We will focus on fostering key industries – including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and big health, modern financial services, high-tech, and MICE, commerce, culture, and sport – to promote the clustering of industries, talent, and technology, cultivate new quality productive forces, use Macau-Hengqin integration as an entry point to drive broader momentum, keep pace with the times, accumulate strength, and contribute Macau’s strength in the process of integrating into and serving the overall national development”, he pointed out.
Sam also emphasised the importance of the business sector, noting it as being “a vital force in driving the development of the Greater Bay Area”.
“As one of the world’s most open trade and investment regimes and one of the lowest-tax regions for enterprises globally, Macau enjoys the status of a free port and a separate customs territory under the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, fulfilling a unique role as a ‘precise connector’ between China and Portuguese-speaking countries”, Sam said, welcoming investors from home and abroad to seize market opportunities in Macau, Hengqin, and the GBA as a whole.
*The concept of “Macao+Hengqin”, centred on the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, represents a strategic mechanism designed to expand Macao’s physical footprint, foster economic diversification, and test the institutional boundaries of the “One Country, Two Systems” framework within the GBA. – Gemini
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (9th from left), Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Leung Chun-ying (10th from left), Liaison Office Director Zheng Xincong (11th from left), Foreign Ministry Commissioner Bian Lixin (12th from left) pose with other officials and representatives during the opening ceremony of the “4th Business Conference on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development” yesterday morning at The Venetian Macao. – Photo: GCS
