Hengqin as solution to Macau’s limited space: Economy chief

The lack of land resources in Macau is curtailing Macau’s economic development, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said in a reply to a lawmaker inquiry at the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday.
“The lack of space is the element that is stopping our development,” Lei said in a reply to lawmaker Au Kam San, who was questioning the high investments being made by the local government on Hengqin Island.
According to the Secretary, Macau’s land resources and space are very limited and that is why the government must resort to regional cooperation to diversify the economy. He also noted that the participation from Macau in the development of Hengqin is not only an expectation of the central government but is also in line with the local government policies that aim at “a bilateral business model.”
Lei said that in this field, Macau has received requests from the medicine and logistics sectors seeking land-space in Hengqin to develop their businesses.
Lei also replied to Au that one of the main factors taken into account in the approval of requests for land in Hengqin is precisely the contribution that such industry or economic activity will have for the development of Macau and, further, how linked the company is with the SAR, noting that the government will continue to pursue such goals.
However, Au was criticizing the idea of using 400 billion patacas of government resources to develop an area located outside of Macau’s territory and of which “we can’t perceive what are the real benefits.”
Au commented that such money would be channeled out of Macau and out of reach from Macau’s laws and regulations, adding, “our rules do not apply for the companies based outside Macau.”
The lawmaker said that, in his opinion, the government should work harder at finding “at least one” of those projects that can be implemented in Macau to effectively be under the scope of the local authorities and be able to contribute to the creation of jobs locally.
Responding to Au’s opinion, Lei insisted that the collaboration with the neighboring city of Zhuhai in Hengqin “is giving us opportunities,” adding that in the future, the government will develop policies regarding the movement of capital across the border.