Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário has been officially authorized by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng to sign agreements with competent mainland authorities on mutual recognition of driving licenses.
Executive Order 48/2022 was released yesterday in the digital Official Gazette to announce the authorization.
Ho has authorized Rosário “with all the necessary power to represent the Macao Special Administrative Region to sign with the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China the agreement concerning mutual recognition and redemption of driving licenses between Macau and mainland China.”
The idea of mutual recognition was first mentioned in 2013 by then Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On. The proposal was scrapped due to widespread objections.
During the past decade of debate, Rosário has said he could not understand why people objected to the proposal, given Macau and mainland China are of the same country. On the question of pressure on traffic and the road network if more drivers are allowed to drive in Macau with mutual recognition, Rosário indicated it was a non-topic, as traffic congestion is a reality anyway.
On the other hand, Transport Bureau (DSAT) leader Kelvin Lam Hin San has said the mutual recognition system was proposed for the benefit of Macau residents, as more of them had become interested in road trips on the mainland. Mutual recognition would erase inconvenience.
During the decade of debate, data had been sought from Hong Kong, which had allowed mutual recognition with mainland China. In a commentary published by local media Son Pou on April 19, 2018, it was said that a documented reply from the Hong Kong government to its parliament’s Finance Committee showed there were 25% more traffic accidents concerning beneficiaries of direct-issue driving licenses under mutual recognition from 2015 to 2018.
As of the commentary time, Hong Kong had seen 260,000 driving licenses issued to mainland drivers without a test.
It was also revealed that the then Macau government did not anticipate that many mainland residents would choose to drive in Macau even with mutual recognition of driving licenses, because “most mainland visitors had relied on public transport.”
Another commentary published by local media Chit Pou on Nov. 17 argued it was drivers’ sense of safety that avoids or causes traffic accidents. The writer, Ngau Iat, also argued the relation between more driving licenses and more cars on the road. The writer also did not see grounds for mainland drivers to work as illegal drivers in Macau.
The writer then resorted to emotion to support the proposal that Macau should recognize mainland driving licenses, which matched former lawmaker Sulu Sou’s accusation of equating driving license recognition with identity recognition.
