Macao had maintained social and economic progress while ensuring stability, and continued improving people’s livelihoods, expediting infrastructure construction, and achieving social harmony, said today the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On.
With a foundation of sound public finances, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government had made good progress in implementing the Five-Year Development Plan of the Macao SAR, with a 90 percent completion rate by the third quarter of 2019.
Mr Chui delivered this afternoon – at the Legislative Assembly – the Review of the Government’s Work in 2019 and the Financial Budget for the Fiscal Year 2020. Titled “Ten Years of Policy Implementation for Achieving Long-term Stability”, The Review of the Government’s Work in 2019 contains about 12,000 words in Chinese, covering five areas: improvement of livelihood policy and measures; expedition of urban development; promotion of stable economic development; continuation of the deepening of regional cooperation; and the strengthening of public administration.
Mr Chui specially mentioned that 2019 was a milestone for him and his administration. The progress achieved during the past ten years had been largely due to the strong support of the Central Government and the wisdom and effort of Macao people. His ten years of experience as Chief Executive had proved that proper, persistent and comprehensive implementation – with unswerving confidence – of the principle of “One country, two systems” was the key to ensuring the long-lasting stability of the Macao SAR.
Only through safeguarding state sovereignty, state security and focusing on development, could Macao’s long-term stability and prosperity be promoted and maintained, Mr Chui stressed.
On behalf of the Macao SAR Government and himself, Mr Chui expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Legislative Assembly, all civil servants and the citizens of Macao; and to the Central Government and all its representative offices in Macao for their full and long-term support. He said the fifth Chief Executive Election had been successfully completed, and he would strive to assist in the formation of the new-term Government. He firmly believed that the Macao SAR would be even more determined to move forward to a new stage of development in the new era.
With regard to improving livelihood-related policies and measures, the Government had established a mechanism for regular rounds of application for public housing. Additionally, the creation of a formal framework for educational curricula within the local education system – and the basic academic achievements required under them – had already been applied to all levels of formal education.
The Government had also coordinated youth activities to advocate the core value of being loyal to the country and to Macao. During the year, the Government organised about 800 youth projects, and 70 dialogue sessions through which young people could communicate with government secretaries and bureau directors.
To enhance public health provision in the city, construction of the Islands District Medical Complex was expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year. Construction of a new nursing academy would be completed within this year; while the Ka Ho Rehabilitation Hospital had already commenced operation. The Athletes Training Centre would also soon start operation.
With the aim of building a safer city, the Government had established the Safeguarding State Security Committee, and again joined its effort with that of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR, in order to organise the National Security Education Exhibition. Overall public order remained stable in Macao. The Cybersecurity Law and the Civil Protection Framework Law had passed their first readings at the Legislative Assembly.
During the year, the Government also announced and implemented the Plan for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Macao (2019-2028), to strengthen the city’s capabilities in disaster prevention and mitigation; and made improvements in resolving flooding problems and safeguarding electricity supplies in low-lying areas of the Inner Harbour.
To promote technological innovation, the Government’s cloud computer centre had already commenced operation, and the first phase of installing and testing smart lamp posts had been completed. Regarding implementation of smart governance, the Government had launched the One-stop Public Services Account smartphone app, and continued digitising and optimising public services.
The Government had optimised smart travel and improved the accuracy of real-time statistics and forecasting of movements of crowds. Regarding healthcare services, the Government had provided a greater number of smart medical services and developed the second phase of the Electronic Health Record Sharing System. The Government had also promoted smart transport and improved the efficiency of transportation. Strengthening coordination and moving towards integration of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, Macao was developing into a smart city, said Mr Chui.
The Chief Executive emphasised that the Government attached great importance to solving transport problems, strengthening the regulation of bus company operations, and improving bus routes and placement of bus stops.
The revised Legal System Governing Taxi Services came into effect in June this year, and numbers of violations by taxi drivers and operators had been greatly reduced. The number of taxis continued increasing, and was expected to reach 1,800 by the end of this year.
The Law on the Light Rapid Transport (LRT) System was enacted, and the Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited had been established. The Taipa line of the LRT would soon open. As part of the effort to continue optimising the pedestrian environment, the skywalk connecting Rotunda do Estádio and the LRT station in Taipa had been completed for the most part; it would become operational once the LRT system was in service.
To foster stable economic development, the Government had approved two-year extensions to the casino concession contracts and sub-concession contracts of two gaming enterprises, so that the expiry dates of all gaming concessions could fall in 2022, creating a better situation for the next phase of work regarding the industry.
Also during the year, the Government had promoted a tourism development model with leisure tourism as the axis; had fostered diverse industrial growth; optimised supportive policies and measures for the convention and exhibition industry; promoted construction of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation Between Guangdong and Macao; and launched the Community Cultural and Creative Production Subsidy Scheme.
Mr Chui said the Government had pressed ahead with developing a renminbi clearing centre for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries; issued sovereign bonds in Macao for the first time; established the connectivity of financial infrastructure of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; and promoted the establishment of a platform for cooperation in financial services between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
In order to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, a number of initiatives had been introduced: Catastrophe Insurance for Small and Medium Enterprises; the Catastrophe Insurance for Small and Medium Enterprises Funding Scheme; and the Import and Export Credit Insurance Scheme.
To protect the legitimate rights and interests of local employees, the Government adhered to the principle of importing foreign workers only to make up for shortfalls in local labour, and firmly implemented measures during the third- and fourth-term Governments to prohibit the import of foreign workers for gaming dealer posts. The Government also expedited the revision of the Labour Relations Law, proposing the introduction of paid paternity leave; increasing payments for maternity leave; and providing overlapping leave and compensation leave. The "Employees' Minimum Wage" bill has passed its first reading at the Legislative Assembly.
Mr Chui stated the Government had continued deepening regional cooperation. To further align with the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Government had prepared an annex to Macao's first Five-Year Development Plan. This was in order to, respectively, deeply integrate Macao’s five-year development plan into the construction of the Greater Bay Area; to align with the national master plan; and refine in detail administration of policy.
The Government had also strengthened the capacity of public administration, and addressed long-standing problems in operation of public administration. A series of reform measures had been launched to improve the effectiveness of administration, such as integrating and optimising the organisational structure of the Government and the consultative structure, continuing to improve the civil service system, strengthening civil-servant training, and establishing a civil servant activity centre.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau had been officially established this year, with an expanded community services role. The Islands District Integrated Government Services Centre had been established, and implemented “one-window” municipal services.
The Chief Executive pointed out that the Government had spared no effort in strictly conforming to the Constitution and the Macao Basic Law, and amended relevant laws on respecting and protecting the national flag, national emblem and national anthem, to safeguard the country's dignity. The Government had strengthened Macao’s legal system, established and perfected the mechanism to coordinate legislative processes, expedited the implementation of legislation in major areas, and prioritised legislation regarding livelihoods.
In his concluding remarks, the Chief Executive stressed that with the strong support of the Central People’s Government and the joint efforts of the public, Macao had successfully overcome economic difficulties and maintained stable growth in the past decade.
To report on its policy implementation during the past ten years, the Government had compiled a publication titled Ten Years of Policy Implementation for Achieving Long-term Stability – A Summary of Policy Implementation by the Third- and Fourth-term Macao SAR Governments. This 62,000-word publication, along with this year’s Review of the Government’s Work, were good reference points via which the public would be able to understand the efforts of their Government.
Members of the public may collect copies of the above-mentioned reports on the Government's work – which are available in Chinese and Portuguese – from the following locations: the Chief Executive's Office; the Public Information Centre; the Municipal Affairs Bureau; the Macao Central Library; the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau; the Government Information Bureau; and the Government Printing Bureau.
The reports are also available for download via the respective websites of the Chief Executive's Office, the Government Information Bureau and the Government Portal.