Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng reaffirmed earlier this week that Guangdong and Macau will work closely together to create in a pragmatic way a greater number of innovative cooperation models and mechanisms, in order to speed up progress and achieve the planned goals for the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin Island, according to an English-language statement released by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) on Tuesday.
Ho made the remarks on Monday while visiting the island for a Spring Festival meeting with officials from the zone’s Administrative Committee and Executive Committee.During the one-day visit, Ho underlined the importance of a dozen agreements on major projects such as integrated circuits, electronic information, biomedicine, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), "big health" and modern financial services, that were signed between the two sides last December.
Ho also said that he was looking forward to seeing more concrete steps being made in relation to the agreements, in order to accelerate the zone's high-quality development.
While addressing Monday’s meeting, Ho underlined four points regarding the zone's development:Firstly, those involved in the projects should hold firmly to the zone's original mission for the development and optimise its top-level design. Ho underlined that President Xi Jinping has pointed out a clear path for the zone's development through four strategic approaches, i.e., a new platform for promoting Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, a new area in which Macau residents can live and work, a new showcase to enrich the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, and a new high ground for promoting the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Projects and work planned for the zone must be in line with the four strategic approaches, Ho said, in order to ensure adherence to the undertaking's central mission, namely the promotion of Macau's appropriate economic diversification. Ho also said a stronger sense of innovation and experimentation, as well as a pioneering approach, were required to fulfil such a mission.
The second of Ho’s four points was the need to pursue further work on the rules and mechanisms to connect Macau and the cooperation zone in Hengqin, in order to ensure that the respective advantages of the two places can work together in a complementary way, and also in order to strengthen the regulatory-system setup. Ho noted that the zone’s Executive Committee has already set up stable and smooth operations. He said the next step should be to focus on research of the regulatory systems in Macau and Hengqin and to compare the two.
Ho said the zone should also dedicate further effort to advancing connections between the financial services of Macau and Hengqin, and their civil and commercial administration systems. The introduction of court services with Macau characteristics to handle civil and commercial matters was also necessary, he added.
The third point raised by Ho was that fresh progress was required, in order to attract more businesses and investments to the zone, as well as to promote the launch of new projects there. Ho said it was necessary to set up a first-class team to work on bringing in businesses, and to set up a database for attracting large-scale business projects to the zone, in particular projects covering integrated circuits, biomedicine, new energies, and new materials. Further efforts should be made to accelerate key projects for the zone, such as building a computing platform, as well as to establish a technological innovation centre for traditional Chinese medicine.
Ho also said that greater efforts were needed to attract a greater number of skilled professionals to the zone, while ensuring that its needs for manpower in general were also met.
Ho’s fourth point raised the need to encourage dynamism in the team working in the zone, and the efficiency of entrepreneurship there. Implementation of the zone's policies depended on the people involved in it, he said. He also underlined the importance of ensuring that the Executive Committee can work in an environment of stability, cohesion and vitality. The hiring of supporting staff should be based on individuals’ ability and merit, and the need to encourage a think-outside-the-box spirit, to create a pioneering atmosphere and efficient effort, the chief executive said.
The Chief Executive called on all the personnel on secondment from the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government working in the zone to learn from their colleagues from Guangdong province, and to draw attention to the regulatory advantages enjoyed by Macau, in order to promote for the zone the guiding principle of “Mutual Discussion, Joint Construction, Joint Administration and Shared Benefits”.
After Monday’s meeting, Ho and his entourage visited the offices of the Executive Committee and of the Guangdong provincial government in the zone. He urged them to stay true to the zone's key missions, i.e., to assist in Macau’s appropriate economic diversification and realise the zone’s guiding principle of “Mutual Discussion, Joint Construction, Joint Administration and Shared Benefits”. This in turn would promote the steady implementation in Macau of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, Ho concluded. – MPD
Caption: Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre) addresses a meeting hosted by the Administrative Committee and the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin on Monday. – Photo: GCS
