The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, speaks to reporters.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, said a new measure to limit cash withdrawals per ATM transaction in Macao would not have a negative impact on the city’s gaming industry. The measure would help maintain the city’s monetary stability and would have a positive effect on managing capital flows, Mr Leong told reporters on Sunday (11 December). The new measure sets a limit of 5,000 patacas or 5,000 Hong Kong dollars per transaction of overseas cash withdrawal when using mainland bank cards. The new limit took effect on 9 December. The measure would not bring any negative impact to daily cash withdrawals by Macao residents and tourists, said Mr Leong. The mainland’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange has set an annual cap – in force since January – on overseas cash withdrawals for mainland bank cardholders at 100,000 yuan per card, in addition to a 10,000 yuan daily cap. The Government remains committed to make use of all measures that can help further stabilise Macao’s economy and effectively combat any forms of money-laundering and illicit capital flows. On Sunday, the Secretary also gave a summary of his visit to Portugal last week. The visit included meetings with Portugal’s secretaries of state in the areas of industry, commerce, environment, energy and foreign affairs. Those meetings were in order to discuss ways to take full advantage of Macao’s role as a bridge between China and Portugal. Topics discussed included: how to explore additional fields in which Macao could offer services that can help improve cooperation between China and Portugal; strategies to attract more European companies – in particular, firms led by young entrepreneurs – to invest more in the mainland, via services offered by Portugal and Macao; and how to take advantage of Macao’s close ties with Portugal and other European countries in order to help young people from Macao and the mainland strengthen cooperation ties with those nations. Mr Leong said Portuguese companies were particularly interested in exporting a wider range of food products to the mainland by making use of policies under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), an existing protocol between the mainland and Macao. The Government was actively seeking more channels that would enable a larger number of food products from the mainland – particularly products that are processed in Macao – to have greater access to the Portuguese market, he said. The Macao officials also exchanged views with their Portuguese counterparts on: technology development; environmental science; the role of Macao as the new host of the headquarters of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Cooperation and Development Fund; and reciprocal protection of consumers’ rights. While in Lisbon, Mr Leong also attended an Internet development summit, which attracted nearly 60,000 participants. Portugal and Macao would step up efforts to jointly explore markets in Asia, he said. To accomplish that goal, Mr Leong added that Macao would further optimise its existing infrastructure, in particular Internet infrastructure, in order to meet international standards.