Macau and France yesterday signed an agreement on launching cooperation on scientific research, aiming to harness each other’s complementary strengths and achieve mutual benefits.
A statement by the Macau government’s Science and Technology Fund (FDCT) yesterday said that the agreement aims to strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in scientific research and promote technological innovation and the training of qualified professionals, representing a significant advancement in Macau’s ongoing efforts to build itself into a platform for higher-standard opening up.
The agreement between the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and the French Republic was signed in a ceremony at Government Headquarters in Nam Van yesterday afternoon.
The agreement was signed by Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip and Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe.
The pact is officially known as Agreement Between the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the French Republic for the Implementation of the Joint Scientific Research Programme.
Delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Tai underlined that Macau is accelerating the appropriate diversification of its economy and is committed to promoting the development of several key industries such as high tech. Tai also said that Macau has made various high-level achievements in areas such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and space science over recent years.
Tai said that the Macau government has been adopting an active approach for fully promoting the development of science and technology, adding that its 2025 Policy Address clearly lays out efforts to foster and develop Macau’s new quality productive forces, commitments to promoting scientific and technological innovation, and various coordinated measures to promote the integration of industry, academia and research.
Tai said that the Macau government will gear up its efforts to support the diversification of the city’s industries and increase investment in funding, accelerating its process of establishing a government industrial development fund and a government guiding fund for scientific and technological transformation, and planning the establishment of a science and technology research and development industrial park.
Tai noted that he led a delegation to visit Paris two weeks ago to study the development concepts and operational models of science and technology parks there as well as the incubation and establishment of start-ups, aiming to seek opportunities for future cooperation, where he was deeply impressed by the development in scientific and technological innovation in France, he said.
Tai said that Macau’s cooperation agreement with France in the field of science and technology is an important opportunity for achieving complementarity and mutual benefits.
Tai said that the cooperation agreement will not only inject strong impetus into Macau’s scientific and technological innovation, assisting Macau to play a more prominent role within the “Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau” science and technology corridor and promoting Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, but also deepen the exchanges and cooperation between China and France in the field of science and technology, contributing to the advancement of innovative progress.
Also delivering a speech during yesterday’s ceremony, Drulhe said that France attaches great importance to the cooperation agreement with Macau in scientific research. With a solid foundation in scientific research, she said, France has made notable achievements in various cutting-edge technological fields.
Drulhe said that the cooperation pact will build a bridge of communication between researchers from both sides, adding that France expects to collaborate with Macau leveraging their respective advantages to jointly promote scientific and technological progress.
Drulhe said France expects joint scientific research projects and activities to raise the level of scientific research on both sides and also to strengthen the friendship between people in France and China.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip (right) and Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe pose for a photo after signing the agreement on scientific research cooperation at Government Headquarters in Nam Van yesterday. – Photo: FDCT
