The Government is to hold a youth forum, on 13 and 14 October, exploring the opportunities arising from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in terms of young people being able to pursue their aspirations while serving the country.
An aggregate of approximately 1,000 attendees, including young people and government representatives from Greater Bay Area cities, is expected at the two-day event in Macao.
Activities during the event days include: several parallel sessions; a youth round-table session; a basketball contest; and tours – organised for forum participants from out of town – of several Macao districts.
The youth forum – carrying as its theme the new opportunities presented by the Greater Bay Area in terms of development of young people – is to open on Saturday morning. A number of guests is expected to share insights on the Greater Bay Area as well as personal life experiences.
The guests include: laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2010, Dr Peter A. Diamond; member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chair of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr Peter Lam Kin-ngok; Chairman of Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group and the founder of Alibaba Cloud, Dr Wang Jian; Olympic multiple gold medallist in diving, Ms Gou Jingjing; and the Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau of Macao, Mr Mi Jian.
On Saturday afternoon, the five secretaries of the Government will each hold a parallel session to share, and discuss with participants regarding, respective information on the unprecedented opportunities arising from the Greater Bay Area. The five parallel sessions will explore with young people issues relating to the establishment of the system for the rule of law; innovation, entrepreneurship and employment; security and responsibilities; cultural exchange and cooperation; and maritime and land transport linking Macao with other Greater Bay Area cities.
In addition, 30 young people from Macao will sign a letter of commitment regarding participation in development of the Greater Bay Area. The signing event is to show Macao’s young people are highly motivated and willing to take on the responsibility of serving the county in parallel with the pursuit of personal development.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a city cluster formed by nine cities in Guangdong Province – namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing – plus two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), i.e. the Hong Kong SAR, and the Macao SAR.
The Greater Bay Area initiative, put forward by President Xi Jinping, is an important national-level strategy in the overall blueprint for the country’s evolution.
Young people are a leading force for advancing development of the Greater Bay Area. The Government hopes the forum will serve as a new platform for promoting closer exchanges and interactions between young people in the Greater Bay Area, in order to encourage their contributions toward the development of the Greater Bay Area.
Events on Saturday morning will be broadcast live on the Facebook page of the Government Information Bureau (https://www.facebook.com/macaogcs) and on the television service of local public broadcaster Teledifusão de Macau (TDM).