Industrial Park checkpoint to open 24 hours a day

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, has disclosed that the State Council had given approval for the Zhuhai-Macao Trans-border Industrial Park to establish a special-purpose checkpoint, which would operate 24 hours a day. Mr Ho said this today when he was delivering a speech on the achievements of the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) at the opening ceremony of the 'Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao Trade and Economic Co-operation Forum' in Hong Kong. The Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mr Jia Qinglin, and the Vice Chairman, Mr Liao Hui, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, Mr Donald Tsang, and the Minister of Commerce, Mr Bo Xilai, were among the attendees. Mr Ho said the implementation of CEPA had been generally successful. Under the framework of CEPA, the Mainland and Macao had basically formed a free trade zone that allowed all products of Macao origin tariff-free entry into the Mainland. Under the trade in services agreement, Macao service suppliers have started to enter the Mainland market. More and more Macao residents were operating individually owned shops there. The supplements to CEPA further promoted and facilitated the economic and trade co-operation between the Mainland and Macao. Mr Ho said CEPA reflected the Central Government's support for Macao. It was a vehicle for the economic integration between the Mainland and Macao, and provided the two sides with enormous business opportunities. CEPA also helped to properly diversify Macao's economic structure and generated prerequisites for Macao's sustainable development. He said the Facilitated Individual Travel Scheme, one of the major elements of CEPA, directly supported the development of Macao's tourism industry: Mainlanders now make up more than 50 per cent of visitor arrivals. Given the support of the Mainland, Macao's real Gross Domestic Product growth averaged above the 10 per cent mark every year since the full execution of CEPA in 2004, Mr Ho said. He said promoting the integration of Macao's economy with the Mainland by strengthening co-operation was one of the major parts of Macao's economic development strategy. 'In accordance with the prevailing comparative advantage structure, the Macao SAR Government strives to develop Macao into a regional business service hub, especially for the economic and trade co-operation and exchanges between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries,' said Mr Ho. 'We believe that the far-reaching effect of CEPA is to create a huge and unified market by realising institutional innovations, resources and market integration, and lowering transaction and administration cost.' Speaking on the soon-to-be-completed Zhuhai-Macao Trans-border Industrial Park, Mr Ho said that the State Council had approved the establishment of a special-purpose checkpoint in the industrial zone, which would allow the transport of passengers and goods round the clock. The State Council had also decided that the China Customs, the Bureau of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, as well as the Ministry of Public Security, would carry out their relevant duties in the Industrial Park, under their existing offices in Zhuhai, he said. Staff would be increased appropriately. 'This decision from the State Council embodies both our country's approval for the Zhuhai-Macao Trans-border Industrial Park project, as well as her concern and support for the Macao Special Administrative Region,' said Mr Ho. He said that 'Co-operation and Development' had become one of the most important trends of the world economy. The on-going economic integration between the Mainland and Macao, to which CEPA was certainly the key catalyst, was a necessary process in the co-operation of our region. 'With the guidance and support given of the Central Government, the Mainland and Macao will continue to strengthen and deepen our co-operation.' 'By perfecting the implementation of CEPA, we would establish closer economic and trade links that complement and benefit each other, and in turn jointly contribute to the successful implementation of the ''one country, two systems'' principle,' said Mr Ho.