Wang Aihua and Wang Dinghuang
Hazel Wong, a young woman from Macau who founded an internet medical care company three years ago in Hengqin has risen to be a “star” entrepreneur in the region.
Having earned several entrepreneurship prizes, Wong said her success was inseparable from the support offered by Hengqin, which is home to an incubator for start-ups from Macau, in terms of subsidies for premises and personnel training.
Now, her visions for the future have been bolstered by a general plan made public last Sunday by the central authorities in Beijing for the establishment of a Guangdong-Macau in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, which prioritizes the development of Macau’s industries such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
“The plan creates greater development space for us,” Wong said, explaining how she would avail herself of Hengqin’s advantages to develop medical tourism and build an internet “base” for TCM in the region.
The plan defines the strategic position of the cooperation zone in Hengqin as a new platform to boost Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, a new space that provides convenience to Macau residents’ life and employment, a new model to enrich the practice of “One Country, Two Systems,” and a new high ground for building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said on Friday at a press conference that the SAR government, in accordance with the plan, will give priority to developing industries in the areas of health, modern finance, hi-tech, exhibitions and trade, and culture and sports in the Hengqin cooperation zone.
According to the plan, young people from Macau who start up their own business in Hengqin or are employed for innovative work there will gradually be able to enjoy support policies from both Macau and Guangdong. Measures will also be taken to encourage businesses in the cooperation zone to hire young Macau talent.
Vincent Chow, founder of a cross-border e-commerce company in Hengqin, said businesses should shoulder greater responsibilities in the development of the cooperation zone.
“Hengqin has a natural advantage in running cross-border e-commerce businesses thanks to its special geographical location,” said Chow, whose company now runs a number of cross-border e-commerce business service platforms in several countries and regions.
Zhang Kun, a young man from the mainland who now works for a research institute of the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Zhuhai, said the plan would help universities in the mainland and Macau to further step up cooperation and gradually build Hengqin into a high ground for education talents that serve the Greater Bay Area.
Calling the institute a successful case of in-depth cooperation between Guangdong and Macau in the education area, Zhang said universities in Macau and the mainland have great potential for cooperation.
“I believe there will be more sparks between Guangdong and Macau in scientific and technological innovation and industrial cooperation,” Zhang said. – Xinhua
