The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum and Economic and Trade Fair, held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.
Macao’s role in advancing development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) will create fresh opportunities for cooperation internationally regarding the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region.
Macao will continue making use of its strengths in order to deliver on its objective of complementing cooperation efforts regarding the PPRD region; and in order to share jointly opportunities arising from development of the Greater Bay Area. The latter is an urban cluster formed by nine cities in Guangdong Province plus the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) – i.e. Hong Kong and Macao.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, delivered a speech today at the opening ceremony of the 12th Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum and Economic and Trade Fair, also known as the PPRD Forum.
The event, being held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, has as its theme the concept “Greater Bay Area: Driving Innovation, Collaboration and Opportunities”.
Macao had not spared effort in pushing forward the development of its own strategic position as a world centre of tourism and leisure. The Macao SAR Government had also been looking forward, in terms of advancing tourism cooperation with governments in the PPRD region. This included consolidation of tourism resources and joint exploration of international source markets for tourists.
Mr Leong added Macao would strive to develop itself as a hub for training tourism professionals, serving the Greater Bay Area and extending its services to other places in the PPRD region.
In his address, Mr Leong mentioned the city had been dedicating effort to establishing itself as a commercial and trade cooperationservice platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, in a bid to act as a bridge between the PPRD region and Portuguese-speaking countries.
By giving full play to Macao’s advantages – in terms of its dual-language heritage, its culture, and its extensive network of returned overseas Chinese – mainland cities and Portuguese-speaking countries could use Macao as a platform in order to develop closer mutual ties in economic and trade matters; the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry; and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Officials that also respectively delivered a speech at today’s opening ceremony for the PPRD Forum were: the Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Mr Li Xi; Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Mr Hu Zucai; Deputy Secretary of the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee and Acting Governor of Jiangxi Province, Mr Yi Lianhong; and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mrs Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
The PPRD Forum is a platform for regional cooperation between nine provinces and two SARs – collectively known as the “9+2” – that are located in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region. They are: Fujian; Jiangxi; Hunan; Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; Sichuan; Guizhou; Yunnan; the Hong Kong SAR; and the Macao SAR.
After the opening ceremony, the Secretary attended a dialogue session of the PPRD Forum, and another event, the 2018 Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference.
During the Joint Conference, Mr Leong gave a further speech to explain how Macao had been integrating itself into the development of the Greater Bay Area and how Macao had been contributing to PPRD region cooperation.
Secretary Leong noted that the Central Government would soon issue guidance on the development framework for the Greater Bay Area and a proposal for advancing the Greater Bay Area as an international technology and innovation centre. The two documents would act as crucial guidance for the Macao SAR Government, as they would provide a clearer picture of Macao’s strategic positions in a regional context and in terms of key topics for regional cooperation.
Macao’s contribution to the Greater Bay Area would adhere to the principle of “serving the country’s needs, delivering Macao’s strengths,” added Mr Leong.
After the meeting, representatives of the governments within the PPRD region signed a minute on the Joint Conference.
Other members of the Macao SAR Government delegation attending today’s PPRD Forum events in Guangzhou included: the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping; the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Ms Lei Ut Mui; the President of the Administrative Committee of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr Cheong Chou Weng; and Deputy Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau, Ms Lin Yuan.
The Macao SAR Government delegation arrived in Guangzhou on Tuesday (4 September). The Secretary held respective meetings with the Governor of Sichuan Province, Mr Yin Li; and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee and Acting Governor of Jiangxi Province, Mr Yi Lianhong, to exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
