With the opening of Macau’s first 24/7 self-service centre in Hengqin yesterday, local residents are now able to access nearly 70 public services round the clock through remote service counters, intelligent document cabinets and self-service kiosks.
The Macau government’s 24-hour self-service centre in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin officially opened yesterday, and Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Chao Wai Ieng said in a speech during yesterday’s kick-off ceremony that the centre in the Macau New Neighbourhood (MNN) aims to promote accelerated development of the integration of Macau-Hengqin people’s livelihoods through the provision of “convenient” public services to local residents living in the zone.
The centre, jointly launched by the Macau government and the Executive Committee of Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, provides nearly 70 cross-border public services to local residents working, studying, living and developing their career in the zone, covering 12 public entities, including the Identification Services Bureau, Public Security Police (PSP) and Financial Services Bureau (DSF), according to a joint statement by the Identification Services Bureau and the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) yesterday.
Wu Zijian, deputy director of the Executive Committee of the Cooperation Zone, pointed out in his speech that the establishment of the centre was another indication of the zone’s vitality and an important achievement in promoting the “orderly convergence” of the zone’s public services and social security system with Macau, and in building a “new space” that facilitates the life and employment of Macau residents there.
The statement noted that remote service counters have been set up at the centre so that “Macau residents can apply for their ID documents regardless of whether they are in Macau or Hengqin” through video telematics.
Meanwhile, according to a separate statement by the Public Security Police, the zone’s PSP self-service kiosks are now available for five more services, comprising the renewal and replacement of special stay permits for non-local students; the collection of the special stay permits for non-local students; the renewal of stay permits for non-resident workers (NRWs); application status enquiries and printouts of stay permit for NRWs; and printouts of certificates of permission to stay and residence.
The statement added that the PSP self-service kiosks were launched in the zone on September 2 with three services, in which local residents can apply for proof of personal immigration records and renewal of stay for their foreign domestic helpers, while NRWs can enquire, through the kiosks, about the validity period of their stay permits.
This undated handout photo provided by the Identification Services Bureau and the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) yesterday shows the Macau government’s 24/7 self-service centre at the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.
