The Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations said in a press conference yesterday that according to its recent survey about half of Macau’s youth think that the chief executive’s 2022 Policy Address should focus on economic development and improving employment prospects.
According to a statement provided by the association during the press conference, which was held at the union’s service centre on Avenida do General Castelo Branco, over 1,000 young residents aged between 18 and 45 responded to the survey. The statement said that in the last four years, when talking about the annual policy address, the city’s youth mainly showed concern about the city’s transportation and infrastructure issues, noting that they cared about housing policies the most when they were surveyed last year. However, it is the first time in five years that Macau’s young people showed the most concern about economic development and job employment issues in the policy address. The statement pointed out that the second topic of most concern was the city’s health care. The statement also underlined that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey was not conducted in 2020.
A representative of the union, which is generally known as Kai Fong, said that due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many young people are more concerned about the employment situation. He urged the government to increase vocational training in order to assist young people in finding new jobs. He also suggested that the local and mainland governments set up mutual recognition of professional certificates for young people between Macau and mainland so that young locals can also work in the Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) cities in Guangdong as well as in Zhuhai’s Hengqin island. Meanwhile, the union also said that the government should accelerate the planning process for building sandwich-class housing for young citizens.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng will deliver his 2022 Policy Address in the Legislative Assembly’s hemicycle tomorrow afternoon.
Three Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (Kai Fong) representatives address a press conference about young locals’ expectations for tomorrow’s 2022 Policy Address by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, at the union’s service centre in Avenida do General Castelo Branco yesterday. Photo courtesy of TDM
