Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said on Wednesday that Macao should play a broader role in the country’s economic development, highlighting the city’s task of building a “prosperous world-class” Greater Bay Area (GBA) together with its nearest neighbours.
Ho’s remarks were made during the two-day Second Business Conference on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau GBA Development, which he joined by video link. The Hong Kong-based conference wound up yesterday.
In his speech, Ho described the GBA as “a pioneering and exploratory project” and emphasised central government mandates promulgating better coordination within the GBA, as well as the direction Macao’s own contributions should be taking.
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The SAR needed to lean into its strengths as a platform for China and Portuguese-speaking countries, its unique Easts-meets-West cultural heritage, and status as a free port and separate customs territory, Ho said.
He also outlined Macao’s current blueprint for its own development, which places tourism as the backbone of Macao’s economy but fosters the emergence of four other industries: life sciences, financial technology, advanced technology, and the hosting of large-scale events.
At the conference, the chief executive acknowledged opportunities that the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin – a GBA initiative – had given Macao to grow both physically and economically. He noted that this year marked the zone’s third anniversary, along with the 25th anniversary of the Macao SAR.
