The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today said the Government was committed to optimising Macao’s top-level policy efforts in order to integrate further with the country’s development effort regarding the “Belt and Road” initiative.
Mr Chui made the remarks this morning prior to his departure for Beijing to take part in tomorrow’s opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
“Unimpeded trade”, “financial integration” and “people-to-people exchanges” were the three main cooperation goals regarding Macao’s participation in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (collectively known as the “Belt and Road” initiative), he said.
Mr Chui introduced details of the Government’s plan. Domestically, Macao would work closely with regional partners such as Guangdong Province and Fujian Province. Externally, the Government would make use of the city’s extensive network of returned overseas Chinese, and the city’s links with Portuguese-speaking countries, to actively seek closer ties with those countries and other nations in Southeast Asia.
The Government has been working diligently to link the initiative with the city’s Five-Year Development Plan, with the Central Government’s supportive policies, as well as with the proposal for a city cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This would optimise the conditions for the city’s integration with the country and for Macao’s role in internationally-facing development, he added.
To boost community-level participation in the “Belt and Road” initiative, Mr Chui said the Government would provide the necessary framework to encourage the city’s various economic sectors, associations and think tanks to explore further opportunities related to the initiative.
He stated the Government planned to set up a scholarship to encourage local students to join exchange events held in places covered by the “Belt and Road” initiative.
The Chief Executive has been invited to lead a Macao delegation to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The Forum was the most high-level conference on the topic – as well as the most important diplomatic event held by the country – since the “Belt and Road” initiative was put forward some three years ago, he said.
Macao’s invitation to attend the Forum signified the Central Government’s support for the city’s efforts in making further contributions to the “Belt and Road” initiative. Attending the Forum also allowed the Macao delegation to learn first-hand about the initiative’s latest progress, and would help extend Macao’s cooperation with other places.
Mr Chui said President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Zhang Dejiang, had respectively – commencing in late 2014 – paid a visit to Macao.
The state leaders had directed the Government to continue to adhere to the “one-country” principle while taking advantage of the “two-systems” model; and to make further contributions to the country’s continuing reforms and opening up. Taking part in the “Belt and Road” initiative provided Macao further opportunities to serve the country and to intensify the principle of “One country, two systems”, added Mr Chui.