Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has emphasised in his National Day address today that over the past 25 years, i.e., since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999, the nation has regarded Macau as a "pearl in the palm" (掌上明珠 - zhangshang mingzhu)*, and he underlined that the nation has consistently served as Macau's strongest support for maintaining prosperity and stability. thereby providing Macau's greatest opportunities for development over the past quarter of a century.
Ho also said pointed out that "under the strong leadership of the central authorities and the substantial support from the mainland, successive governments of the MSAR and various sectors of society have worked together to create the best development situation in Macau's history, writing a brilliant chapter in the successful practice of 'One Country, Two Systems' with Macau characteristics."
The chief executive made the remarks in a speech during a reception hosted by the local government at the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform Complex (Forum Macao Complex) in Nam Van. According to the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), the event was attended by some 1,300 of guests including Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Vice-Chairman Edmund Ho Hau Wah (who was the MSAR's first chief executive, from December 1999 to December 2009), Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the MSAR Director Zheng Xincong, the MSAR's second chief executive Fernando Chui Sai On (December 2009 to December 2019), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commissioner Liu Xianfa, and People's Liberation Army (PLA) Macau Garrison Political Commissar Lin Qinghua.
In his speech, Ho Iat Seng also pointed out that over the past five years, under the strong leadership of the central authorities with Xi Jinping as its core, the MSAR government has united all sectors of society and the general public to work together to carry out reforms and achieve innovation, apart from steadfastly implementing the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy, while also safeguarding the overall jurisdiction of the central authorities over Macau and the nation's sovereignty, security and development interests.
The chief executive, who has announced recently that for health reasons he decided not to seek a second five-year term at the helm of the local government, also said that his administration has always focused on ensuring the development objective of appropriately diversifying the local economy in line with its "1+4" strategy, based on the "One Centre, One Platform, One Base" concept.
According to previous government announcements, the "1+4" strategy aims to reinforce Macau's role as a centre for integrated tourism and leisure, officially known as World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, as well as a platform of economic and trade cooperation between China and the world's Portuguese-speaking countries, while facilitating the development of four emerging industries: the "Big Health" industry; modern financial services; high-tech; and conventions, exhibitions and sports, as well as commercial and trade industries.
Ho also underlined his government's determination to attract highly qualified human resources to Macau to assist in the special administrative region's modernisation and innovation drive. The government has said that the talent acquisition programme aims to improve the quality of Macau's limited manpower pool.
The chief executive, a former member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and ex-president of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL), also underlined that Macau's financial stability, such as the fact that the MSAR's fiscal reserves stood at around 602.7 billion patacas in June this year, irrespective of the government's heavy spending on special measures that were needed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted Macau between early 2020 and late 2022.
Ho, 67, also noted that Macau recorded 19.7 million visitor arrivals in the first seven months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent. He also reaffirmed that the MSAR must adapt to the development and changes of the times and, thereby, continue to consolidate and enhance its unique status and advantages within the nation's development so that it can play an even better role and make greater contributions to building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation.
The chief executive also thanked the Liaison Office, the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commission and the PLA Garrison for their constant care for and support of the MSAR.
Prior to the reception, Ho and other senior local and mainland government officials as well as community leaders, lawmakers, Judiciary personnel and others attended a solemn flag-raising ceremony at Golden Lotus Square in Zape. According to GCS, about 600 people attended the event.
Meanwhile, Ho has invited the fourth bridge between the Macau Peninsula and Taipa Island today. Macau Bridge has a length of 3,085 metres with eight vehicular lanes, four in each direction, with one lane in each direction for motorcycles only. It has a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h for cars and 60 km/h for motorcycles.
*A traditional Chinese idiom used metaphorically to refer to someone or something who or which is deeply cherished or beloved, like a precious jewel., similar to the English idiom of being the apple of someone's eye. Incidentally, both Hong Kong and Macau have traditionally been known as "Pearl of the Orient" ("Pérola do Oriente" in Portuguese).
Caption: Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng offers a toast during this morning's National Day reception at the Forum Macao Complex in Nam Van. - Photo: William Chan
