Trans-border Industrial Park opens

After preparation of about three years, the Zhuhai-Macao Trans-border Industrial Park (TIP) started operations today. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said that the park's advantage in having a round-the-clock checkpoint would benefit Macao's manufacturing and logistics industries. Passing the checkpoint requires a special permit, which could only be issued to companies stationed in the park. Located between Zhuhai's Maoshengwei and the area around Canal dos Patos in Macao's Ilha Verde district, the Zhuhai-Macao TIP covered 400,000 square metres of reclaimed land -- 290,000 square metres in Zhuhai and 110,000 square metres in Macao. Reclamation and construction of other infrastructures accelerated after the park's ground-breaking ceremony in December 2003. At present, factories in the parks are involved in clothing, textiles, and other manufacturing and logistics industries.