The Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau, Mr Mi Jian, speaks at a press conference in Beijing regarding the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area.
Macao is to be a “core driver” in the advancement of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), and will enjoy unprecedented opportunities as a result of the city-cluster initiative.
The Director of Macao’s Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau, Mr Mi Jian, made the comments today when attending a press conference in Beijing regarding the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area, which was promulgated on 18 February by the Central Government.
The press conference was convened by the State Council Information Office, and was held in the presence of Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, Mr Luo Wen; Executive Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Lin Shaochun; and the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.
Macao identified as one of the four major cities in the outline development plan, showed the Central Government’s expectation and confidence regarding Macao’s future development, said Mr Mi.
Mr Mi went on explaining that the proactive involvement of Macao in advancing the Greater Bay Area would help Macao realise its goal of achieving adequate economic diversification, thus building a solid foundation for further prosperity and advancing well-being among Macao’s people.
Under the terms of the Greater Bay Area blueprint, Macao was positioned as “a multicultural exchange and cooperation base with an emphasis on Chinese culture”. This was an affirmation of the deep-rooted and rich coexistence of multiple cultures within Macao, said Mr Mi.
Addressing the press conference, Mr Mi stated that Macao – by playing active roles in pursuit of the “Guangdong-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao innovation and technology corridor” as envisaged in the outline plan – would be making a clear commitment to the Greater Bay Area and setting itself challenges.
The Greater Bay Area is an initiative to advance a city cluster encompassing nine cities in Guangdong Province – namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing – plus the two SARs, Hong Kong and Macao. It covers a geographical area of 55,904 square kilometres and has a population of 69.57 million as estimated in 2017.
