Macao’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng made three suggestions when concluding the third meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin island on Friday.
The first is to stay true to the zone’s original mission, as President Xi Jinping has stressed on several occasions, which is to facilitate Macao’s adequate economic diversification, as well as promote the zone’s steady development, according to Ho, who also detailed his insights into attracting investments and importing talented human resources.
The chief executive said more work should be done to boost Macao’s development and to strengthen the integration of Hengqin and Macao, while investment in the zone should focus on four major industries planned there: scientific and technological research and high-end manufacturing, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); cultural tourism, conventions and exhibitions (MICE); commercial and trade industries; and financial services.
In addition, efforts should be made to ensure that major projects to be based in the zone meet the requirements of its Master Plan, while importing talented human resources should also align with the needs of the four major targeted industries and be done with a market-oriented approach, he said.
The second suggestion is to take on responsibly and courageously promote the integration of regulations and mechanisms, and to do so in a pragmatic and efficient way.
According to Ho, two tax incentive policies – i.e., regarding personal income tax and corporate income tax – have been put in place in the first half of this year and they have been effective in attracting talented human resources to the zone.
He added, by the end of this year, further efforts should be made to advance the zone’s special regulatory system, as well as to promote coordinated development planning, and the development of financial services.
The third suggestion is to strictly comply with the requirements for collective efforts set out in the new development system, as well as to complement respective strengths in order to increase efficiency in decision-making.
According to Ho, mutual discussion, joint construction, joint administration and shared benefits is a new model for cooperation not only for the zone but also under the framework of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.
The four elements are the zone’s major advantage, Ho said, adding that advances relating to the development of enterprises are key to the idea of “joint construction and shared benefits”. It’s therefore important, Ho stressed, to speed up relevant progress and to implement in an orderly way the introduction of the four major targeted industries.
Meanwhile, at the meeting, the Administrative Committee reviewed a number of important documents, i.e., a work report, a budget proposal, and an investment plan.
The meeting, which was jointly chaired by the Administrative Committee’s two directors, Ho and Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong, also discussed deployment regarding the next phase of work, The Macau Post Daily reported.
