Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (left) shakes hands with Luxembourg’s Premier Xavier Bettel in the central European grand duchy yesterday. According to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) last night, Ho and Bettel agreed to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Macau and Luxembourg in finance and other fields. The statement said the aim of the working visit was to learn from Luxembourg’s successful experience in developing its financial sector, so as to help Macau develop its modern finance and achieve the appropriate diversification of its economy. Ho also briefed Bettel on the investment potential of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and the government’s “1+4” development strategy, which includes the development of Macau’s modern finance sector. The chief executive, who arrived in Luxembourg on Saturday after a four-day working visit to Portugal, said that companies from Luxembourg were welcome to invest in Macau and the In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wei Nong and Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário attended the meeting. The populations of Luxembourg and Macau are about the same (680,000 and 670,000 respectively), both have a large non-local workforce and both are multilingual societies. Luxembourg has three official languages (Luxembourgish, French and German). Ho is slated to visit Brussels for talks with Belgian and EU officials before returning to Macau on Thursday after his nine-day three-nation visit to Europe.
– Caption: Staff Reporter – Photo: GCS
