Chief Executive Chui Sai On stressed Tuesday that the government’s plan to sign a reciprocal driving-licence recognition deal with the mainland aims to benefit local residents by making it more convenient for them to work and do business on the mainland.
He also said that a reciprocal driving-licence recognition scheme between Macau and the mainland would help young local people to pursue their career prospects there.
Chui made the remarks when answering questions from directly-elected grassroots legislators Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San during a Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario has been authorised to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Public Security on the reciprocal recognition of driving licences, according to an executive order published in the Official Gazette (BO) on Monday. The order did not say when and where the deal will be inked.
The local government first announced in October last year that it was planning a reciprocal driving-licence recognition agreement with the central government.
According to the Transport Bureau (DSAT), the deal would allow Macau driving licence holders to drive on the mainland – and vice versa. The planned mutual driving-licence recognition would only be applicable to cars, excluding other vehicles such as commercial vehicles, scooters and motorcycles, according to the bureau.
According to the bureau, the point of the planned deal is that Macau’s car driving licence holders can get a mainland car driving licence without the need to take a driving test on the mainland and that car driving licence holders from the mainland can drive in Macau on their own driving licences.
Chui said that the planned reciprocal driving-licence recognition aims to make it more convenient for local residents to travel, work and do business in the mainland, particularly as Macau is participating in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Chui quoted official statistics as saying that more than 10,000 Macau residents applied for a mainland driving licence in the last two years.
According to The Macau Post Daily Chui stressed that the government still does not have a timetable as to when the reciprocal driving-licence recognition deal will get off the ground.
Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On also said that the government has decided to build 6,500 subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) units on the plot of the abandoned La Scala luxury housing project near the airport.
The government announced in September 2016 in its first-ever Five-Year Development Plan that it planned to build a huge public housing project providing 8,000 units on the plot, which lies at the bottom of Big Taipa Hill, next to Avenida Wai Long in front of Macau International Airport.
