The government’s “Macao One Account” app has been upgraded, with its “Appointment for Counter Service” function having been increased from just nine public entities in the past to the 28 now, covering more than 600 services, amongst which seven are services provided by the Government Affairs Service Centre of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, “facilitating the life of Macau residents who study, work, engage in business and live in the cooperation zone”, Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) Director Ng Wai Han said yesterday.
In addition, according to Ng, the more than 600 services, which are on the “Macao One Account”, cover the areas of taxes, employment, social welfare, identification services, municipal affairs, administrative matters, notary services, public works and traffic and migration, among others. Ng added she expected that more public entities will gradually link their services to the “Macao One Account” by the end of this year, when the coverage rate of the “Appointment for Counter Service” function will, she expects, reach 70-80 percent.
Ng noted that the number of account holders of the “Macao One Account” has reached nearly 540,000, providing nearly 320 online functions and services in different fields.
Commercial Services Bureau of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin Deputy Director-General Yau Yun Wah said that Macau residents can schedule a specific period within two weeks to handle service formalities, covering fields such as commercial registration, social security, property registration, notary services, brand registration and licensing of food and beverage establishments, as well as licensing of retail sales of medicines, at the Hengqin’s Government Affairs Service Centre, which officially came into operation last Monday.
Yau pointed out that “in this way, obstacles that have been worrying Macau residents are overcome, such as the usual lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with the appointment system for government services in the mainland, or the need to personally visit the centre to obtain a password, thus improving efficiency and experience related to the handling of formalities in the cooperation zone”.
Between January and August this year, the centre logged 1,028 applications by Macau residents, amongst which 131 were related to commercial registration, 352 to social security, 301 to property registration and 186 to notary services, Yau noted, adding that for the time being, only Cantonese, Putonghua and English are available for services handled in Hengqin.
When asked whether the cross-border service involved the transfer of personal data to places outside Macau, SAFP Deputy Director Chan Chi Kin said that the function had been programmed not to transmit personal data, stressing that no personal data would be needed for the QR code for prior booking, urging residents to use the function with confidence.
‘Address Registration and Modification Service’
Meanwhile, Ng also announced during the press conference the launch of the new function in the “Macao One Account”, namely, “Address Registration and Modification Service”, providing a “unified means” for residents to register and update their addresses in 23 most commonly used public entities, which “are closely related to peoples’ livelihoods, without the need to attend them individually to complete the formalities in different government bodies, thus achieving the objective of “being a complete online process, fast and convenient”.
According to the press conference, about 745,000 Macau identity (ID) card holders can register for the “Address Registration and Modification Service” in their Macao One Account, which, Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Chao Wai Ieng underlined, will only be used for communications between government entities and residents. When registering, he said, applicants can choose to select all 23 public entities simultaneously by choosing “select all with one click”, or provide address information for their designated entities, adding that it is also possible to register, at the same time, the address of one’s underage children. After completing the registration, the relevant data will normally be processed within three working days.
The new service will, according to Chao, also enable registered residents to check and update their address and change their choice of government entity at any time, “ensuring the ready availability and accuracy of data and helping public entities enhance their efficiency and quality of the public administration”.
In terms of the renewal service for Macau ID cards in the “Macao One Account”, Chao said that the relevant service has now entered its technical testing stage, and will be officially announced after the relevant administrative regulations have been published in the Official Gazette (BO) and come into effect.
Ng, Chan, Yau and Chao made the remarks during a joint press conference yesterday at the Public Admini
Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) Director Ng Wai Han (second from left) and Deputy Director Chan Chi Kin (left), as well as Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Chao Wai Ieng (second from right) and Commercial Services Bureau of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin Deputy Director-General Yau Yun Wah look on during yesterday’s joint press conference about the new functions of the “Macao One Account”, at the Public Administration Building on Rua do Campo. – Photo: Yuki Lei
SAFP officials attend to residents at the Public Administration Building on Rua do Campo. – Photo: Yuki Lei
