Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai has called for the accelerated development of Hengqin, asking officials from the island and Macao to identify suitable industries for pilot projects and form a better understanding of the different regulations in each jurisdiction.
He made the remarks yesterday during a visit to Hengqin, which is administratively part of the neighbouring mainland city of Zhuhai.
A 106-square-kilometre island, Hengqin has been established as a “Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone” and is seen as vital to Macao’s continuing economic development by providing space for new industries and housing. As many as 16,000 people from Macao currently live and work on the island.
[See more: Hengqin is launching a new employment subsidy scheme for Macao locals]
During his visit yesterday, Sam inspected the Macao New Neighbourhood project – a development purpose-built for people from Macao – and its associated clinic, school and government services centre.
According to a Macao government statement, he was also taken to a technology park and Traditional Chinese Medicine facility that is home to several companies from Macao, before holding talks with Macao and Zhuhai officials tasked with developing Hengqin.
Sam pledged that his administration would delegate a greater number of civil servants to Hengqin, to strengthen cooperation between the two sides and create “a series of landmark and impactful projects and programmes” that would further the island’s growth.
