Lionel Leong
Local residents will be able to put money into the future Fund for Development and Investment (FDI), a public initiative to improve the management of financial reserves
According to the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, who spoke at last Friday’s Legisl ative Assembly (AL) on the second day of the Policy Address debate for the areas under his jurisdiction, the government will “develop the fund with the participation of citizens as soon as they can ensure the security of that investment.”
Mr Leong acknowledged that the fund may initially experience low revenue or even a small loss, but is expected to gain stability after some time.
“We will develop the Fund for Development and Investment initially and when we can ensure the security of that investment we will accept the participation of citizens,” he said.
On the closing day of the sectorial debate, Lionel Leong explained that a work group is being created to address Macau’s participation, following Beijing’s international strategy of “one belt, one road”, in order to further develop the sector of conventions and exhibitions, to which Mr Leong has referred as a sector on which “Macau’s economy relies heavily.”
According to the secretary, the “professional visitors” that are attracted to Macau’s conventions and exhibitions are very important, since they “have a higher purchasing power when compared with other tourists.”
Remaining on the topic of internationalization, lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong suggested that Macau should participate in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, as promoted by the United States of America. The secretary replied that the “possibility will be studied by his office” but the priority at the moment is following Beijing’s strategy of “one belt, one road.”
The secretary was also questioned about the legislation of employment agencies. The Labor Affairs Bureau director revealed that a project to tighten the regulations of those agencies is being finalized and will be delivered to the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs in the first quarter of 2016.
If the plan proceeds, the recruitment of domestic helpers will be subject to changes, since the proposal aims to increase the oversight of employment agencies.
Mr Wong Chi Hong added that with the encouragement of tighter rules, rogue employment agencies have been duly penalized.
Employment was one of the topics highlighted during the afternoon, with several lawmakers expressing concerns about the introduction of a minimum wage for some sectors and how this will allegedly contribute to unemployment. “I don’t think this mechanism for the minimum wage is going to work. I think this will increase the unemployment. It will be a deception,” Ng Kuok Cheong said.
Near the end of the debate, Chan Chak Mo questioned the accuracy and quality of the data of the current unemployment rates, which Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated as having stabilized at 1.9 percent. In the lawmaker’s opinion, there is limited information about “who these people are, what their academic qualifications are, what their age range is and the reasons why they are unemployed”.
At the request of the secretary, the DSEC director explained that the two sectors most affected by unemployment are the gaming and hotel industries. However, he was unable to provide more data, leaving the secretary to pledge to provide it to the AL.
This answer caused tensions among the AL, since local employment rate issues have recently been mostly related to workers in the construction sector with low academic qualifications
young entrepreneurism in question
Lawmaker Chan Chak Mo questioned the policy of entrepreneurism from the younger generation, a recurring topic in many of the inquiries delivered by the secretary and his team. The legislator raised the fact that many have not only spoken about the government’s support of “young entrepreneurism” but also about the limits to be imposed to the import of labor.
“It seems like we are pushing the younger generation to be their own boss from one side, but putting strict limits on their access to manpower from another. If we are going to tell all the youngsters they should create their own jobs but they cannot hire staff, who is going to work in their shops?” he asked. The secretary clarified that it is not the government’s intention to “appeal to the young people to create their own business. We are only helping and supporting the ones that have the wish to follow that path.”
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