Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong have jointly inaugurated the newly established Hengqin Guangdong-Macau Development and Investment Company Limited, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) has announced.
According to a GCS statement on Friday, Ho and Wang jointly unveiled the inaugural plaque before co-chairing a regular meeting of the administrative committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin that day.
Friday’s meeting, which was held on Zhuhai’s Hengqin island, was the eighth meeting of the zone’s administrative committee, according to the statement.
The zone was inaugurated in September 2021.
The Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone’s top decision-making body is its administrative committee, which is jointly headed by Wang and Ho.
The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the administrative committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of tasks. The executive committee is headed by Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong.
Friday’s statement said that the Hengqin Guangdong-Macau Development and Investment Company Limited has been jointly established by Guangdong and Macau, with a registered capital of 20 billion yuan.
Hengqin’s 4 new key industries vs Macau’s 1+4 plan
According to the statement, the newly established development and investment company will place special emphasis on investing in projects in Hengqin’s four new key industries listed by its two development plans, aiming to create a major investment platform to support the in-depth cooperation zone’s industrial development.
The four new key industries listed by the Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, published in September 2021, and the Overall Development Plan for the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, published in December last year, are 1) scientific and technological research and high-end manufacturing industries, 2) Macau branded traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 3) MICE and commerce as well as culture and tourism, and 4) modern finance.
The Macau government’s current 1+4 appropriate economic diversification model aims to consolidate and diversify the development of the city’s tourism and leisure industry while putting special emphasis on promoting the development of four nascent industries, namely 1) big health mainly driven by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 2) modern finance, 3) high-tech, and 4) MICE and commerce as well as culture and sport.
Meanwhile, according to the GCS statement, Ho noted during Friday’s meeting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), and the 3rd anniversary of the establishment of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin when its first-phase development goals are scheduled to be achieved.
Ho said that the central authorities’ respective ministries and commissions, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guangdong Provincial Committee and the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government are all paying close attention to the cooperation zone’s development.
Ho’s 4 suggestions
Ho made four suggestions for promoting the zone’s development. Firstly, according to the statement, Ho pledged that the zone’s administrative committee will implement the decisions and plans made during the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which was held in Beijing from July 15 to 18, with the aim of enabling Macau and Hengqin to make their respective contributions to the nation’s deepening reform and high-level opening up.
Secondly, according to the statement, Ho said that Hengqin will continue to cooperate with Macau to create a hub for international high-end talents, i.e., highly-qualified professionals, promoting the effective aggregation of innovative components in Macau and Hengqin such as technology, highly-qualified professionals, and other factors of production.
Thirdly, according to the GCS statement, Ho said that the zone’s administrative committee will help Macau improve its mechanism for enabling it to better play its role in the nation’s opening up, making Macau’s “golden business card” as an international metropolis shine even brighter.
Fourthly, Ho said that the zone’s administrative committee will continue to deepen the convergence of regulations between Macau and Hengqin, providing experiences for deeper cooperation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
In addition to making the four suggestions, according to the statement, Ho also underlined during the meeting that in the first half of this year, the cooperation zone was strongly pushing ahead with the development of its four new key industries, in compliance with the original intent to develop Hengqin and its first-phase development goals.
Ho said that the various achievements in the cooperation zone’s development made in the first half of this year have laid a solid foundation for achieving its first-phase goals at end of this year.
Ho pledged that the zone’s administrative committee is determined to achieve its first-phase development goals at the end of this year as scheduled, such as a “significant” increase in the number of Macau residents living or working in Hengqin, achieving the initial stage of the Macau-Hengqin integrated development, and achieving preliminary results in promoting Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, the chief executive said.
Hengqin positioning in nation’s reform and opening up
During Friday’s meeting, Wang underlined the need for the zone’s administrative committee to earnestly implement President Xi Jinping’s important instructions for Guangdong-Macau’s cooperation on developing Hengqin.
Wang also said that the cooperation zone must accurately understand and grasp its development positioning as well as missions and tasks in the context of the nation’s reform and opening up.
Wang also pledged to continue deepening the convergence of regulations between Macau and Hengqin, adding that the administrative committee will transform the nation’s current strategic plan to further deepen reform into concrete measures to promote the cooperation zone’s development and its concrete achievements.
Wang underlined that the zone’s development must comply with the original intent to develop Hengqin, which is to serve and promote Macau’s appropriate economic diversification.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (right) and Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong unveil the inaugural plaque of the newly established Hengqin Guangdong-Macau Development and Investment Company Limited in Hengqin on Friday. – Photo: GCS
