Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng listened yesterday to views and suggestions from four local associations on his upcoming 2023 Policy Address, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) said.
According to GCS statements on each of the separate meetings, the Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM), Macau Federation of Trade Unions (commonly known as Gung Luen in Cantonese), General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau (Kai Fong) and Macau Women’s General Association (Fu Luen), met Ho at Government Headquarters.
According to GCS, Kai Fong suggested that the government continue to improve its COVID-19 prevention and control work, and liaise with the central government on the possible relaxation of the movement of people between Macau and the mainland.
According to GCS, Ho noted that while Macau’s COVID-19 vaccination rate stands at over 90 percent, there are still over 6,000 senior citizens who haven’t received any COVID-19 shots. Ho said he hoped that Kai Fong would help to contact the senior citizens to get vaccinated.
According to GCS, Ho pointed out that the central government has meanwhile confirmed that it will roll out a string of measures to support the development of Macau’s tourism industry, as boosting visitor arrivals to Macau is key to the recovery of the local economy, which the local government is confident will rebound.
According to GCS, Fu Luen called on the government to focus on the so-called “property ladder”, i.e., to help residents ascend to higher levels of home ownership, as well as to speed up the construction of the Islands Healthcare Complex in Cotai to prepare for any possible public health crisis in Macau.
According to the GCS, Ho said that the “property ladder” set up by the local government aims to solve residents’ housing problem, taking into account the housing needs and purchasing power of people from different social strata.
The government will ensure the effective use of social resources so that residents get a fair share of the government’s housing benefits, GCS said.
According to GCS, Ho said he believed that the completion and operation of the Islands Healthcare Complex in the future will effectively meet residents’ demands for specialist medical services.
Responding to ACM’s suggestion that the government focus on building the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Ho said that the zone’s first year of operation had been fruitful and that the future development would focus on the development of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) sector under the “big health” industry approach, as well as on the creation of better living conditions facilitating Macau residents to work and live in the mainland, GCS said.
ACM is also known as “Chung Chung” in Cantonese.
According to GCS, Gung Luen urged the government to launch a “fully inclusive” second 10 billion pataca financial support measure.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong, who also attended the meeting yesterday, said that the government would soon announce a new round of inclusive measures, i.e., measures benefiting all residents, stressing that it had not been easy to accumulate Macau’s financial reserves and that it was necessary to save some of the reserves to meet the needs of the economic cycle.
Ho is slated to deliver his 2023 Policy Address in the hemicycle of the Legislative Assembly in November. Macau’s calendar and fiscal years are identical.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre) attends a meeting with senior members of the Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM) at Government Headquarters yesterday, with Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong (seated next to Ho, left) also in attendance. – Photo: GCS
