Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said on Monday that talks between Macau and Guangdong on the setting-up of a 20 billion yuan (MOP 25.6 billion) cooperation development fund had already been concluded and an agreement would be signed by the two sides as soon as possible, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS).
Acording to the Macau Post Daily, Leong made the remarks during a session about the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) on the sidelines of this year’s Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in Hainan province.
The central government launched the Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiative last year. The initiative aims to link Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.
The Macau government announced in 2016 that via the Guangdong-Macau cooperation fund, Macau would invest in infrastructure and other important projects in the neighbouring province. At that time, the government also said that the future investments in Guangdong would help diversify the assets of Macau’s financial reserves.
According to an announcement in the Macau Official Gazette (BO) last month, Macau’s financial reserves amounted to MOP 500.06 billion, or slightly over half a trillion patacas, at the end of January, a year-on-year growth of 13.6 percent.
The financial reserves are managed by the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM).
Leong said that by participating in the GBA initiative, Macau would be able to become an integral element of the nation’s development.
The policy secretary also underlined Macau’s close links with the Portuguese-speaking world, the European Union and Southeast Asia. He also pledged Macau’s proactive participation in the central government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
