Association gathers views on Five-Year Plan

[Photo: Renato Marques]

The Macau Economic Association (AECM) held a symposium early last week to gather experts’ and scholars’ views on the direction of the local economy under the new Five-Year Plan.

The symposium, chaired by president Joey Lau and attended by 19 participants including experts, scholars, and other members of the association, exchanged views on key aspects of the Five-Year Plan consultation document.

According to AECM, participants put forward a range of suggestions covering the plan’s structure and priorities, including economic diversification, Hengqin–Macau rule alignment, high-tech industries, specialized financial services, the digital economy, livelihood-related economic development, and mechanisms for policy implementation, supervision, and evaluation.

In his concluding remarks, Lau noted that the Five-Year Plan is based on current development conditions and closely aligned with national development strategies.

He said the plan features a scientific framework and pragmatic measures in areas such as industrial diversification, Macau–Zhuhai integration, the development of emerging industries, and the allocation of land and talent resources.

He emphasized that Macau should seize development opportunities and, leveraging supportive tools such as government-guided funds, science and technology industrial parks, and industrial land guarantees, expand emerging sectors including high-tech industries, specialized finance, and the digital economy.

He also stressed that the Hengqin Cooperation Zone should serve as a key breakthrough in driving broader local socio-economic development.

Lau said the symposium helped collect a wide range of views and suggestions, which the association will compile into a proposal for submission to the government as feedback.

He added that AECM will continue working with different sectors of society to provide constructive input that supports Macau’s high-quality development.