The "Youth Forum on Jointly Building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" is held at the Conference and Exhibition Centre of the Venetian Macao.
The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today called for concerted effort to create better conditions so that young people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area could strive to achieve their dreams within it.
In his speech to open the "Youth Forum on Jointly Building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", Mr Chui said he believed the city cluster initiative would serve as a new platform and bring unprecedented opportunities for young people in terms of their personal development.
The Macao Government is hosting the two-day Youth Forum as another sort of platform: encouraging discussions regarding development of the Greater Bay Area, and promoting friendship within it.
The Greater Bay Area initiative, put forward by President Xi Jinping, involves a city cluster formed by the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) – i.e. Hong Kong and Macao – and nine cities in Guangdong Province, namely: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.
Young people were the future of the country and a leading force for advancing development of the Greater Bay Area, Mr Chui noted.
Mr Chui also noted to the attendees, that while young people could individually benefit from the Greater Bay Area, they also had a civic duty to push forward the overall development of it.
Other officials giving addresses at today’s opening ceremony were: the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Zhang Xiaoming; Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Zhang Guangjun; and the Secretary for Home Affairs of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Lau Kong Wah.
Director Zhang said enhancing the well-being of the people in the Greater Bay Area, particularly in terms of creating more opportunities for young people, was one of the intentions of the city cluster initiative.
Reviewing recent policies announced by, respectively, the Central Government and the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, Director Zhang said the measures had created a stronger framework for young people from Hong Kong and Macao to study, work, start a business and/or live on the mainland.
Vice Governor Zhang shared with the audience during his speech three aspirations regarding the contribution of young people and public policy on youth affairs in the Greater Bay Area.
First, effort could be made to ensure the positive attributes of young people were utilised in the development of the Greater Bay Area, including any practical suggestions they might make. Second, there could be effort to promote participation from a greater number of people in that matter via the creation of a greater number of signature events. Third, young people’s contributions could be encouraged via support for innovation and youth entrepreneurship.
Secretary Lau from Hong Kong said he believed the Youth Forum would bolster discussions on the prospects and opportunities created by the development of the Greater Bay Area, while enhancing youth exchanges within it.
Hong Kong would work closely with other Greater Bay Area cities in order to strengthen youth development efforts, Mr Lau added.
During the inauguration ceremony, a total of 30 Macao young people signed a letter regarding their commitment to, respectively: serving the country in terms of assisting Macao to make use of its inherent strengths to assist in national development; integrating their personal development with the country’s overall development; making full use of opportunities and striving for innovation; and undertaking responsibilities regarding the development of the Greater Bay Area.
Following the ceremony, a total of five keynote speakers shared insights on the Greater Bay Area and their personal life experiences.
The keynote speakers were: 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 (CPPCC) and Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr Peter Lam Kin Ngok; Chairman of Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group and founder of Alibaba Cloud, Dr Wang Jian; multiple Olympic gold medallist in diving Ms Gou Jingjing; and the Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau of Macao, Mr Mi Jian.
Other officiating guests at the inauguration ceremony included: the Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, Mr Ho Hau Wah; the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Zheng Xiaosong; and the Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR, Ms Shen Beili.
Today’s ceremony of the "Youth Forum on Jointly Building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" was attended by an aggregate of 1,400 guests, including delegates from the Greater Bay Area cities and youth representatives.