Ho Iat Seng: China regards Macau as a ‘precious gem’

Macau held a series of events to celebrate National Day, including a flag-raising ceremony, a government reception, the opening of the fourth sea-crossing bridge, and a fireworks show on Tuesday.

The flag-raising ceremony was held early in the morning at the Golden Lotus Square. Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said that the country has always regarded Macau as a “precious gem” and has consistently provided it with strong support, maintaining the city’s prosperity and stability and maximising its opportunities for development.

Ho made the remarks during a reception at the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform Complex, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The event was attended by approximately 1,300 guests.

Ho also mentioned that the government has firmly adopted a comprehensive approach to national security, paving the way for enhanced protection of the nation.

It has completed amendments to the Law on Safeguarding National Security and related legislative initiatives, thereby continuously “refining the organizational structure and enforcement mechanisms for maintaining national security.”

The Chief Executive noted that, over the past five years, the SAR government has steadfastly implemented the ‘One country, two systems’ principle whilst simultaneously preserving China’s centralised jurisdiction over the city, as well as the mainland’s sovereignty, security, and developmental interests.

Meanwhile, the city’s economic landscape is displaying encouraging trends, according to Ho.

In the first half of this year, the territory’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached MOP204.3 billion, a significant milestone. The figure marks the first time since before the pandemic that Macau’s GDP has exceeded MOP200 billion.

During the pandemic, the government used MOP160 billion from its financial reserves to address annual fiscal budget deficits.

As a result of these efforts, fiscal reserves have now climbed to approximately MOP602.7 billion, reflecting an increase of MOP33.4 billion compared to the same period in 2019.

The overall unemployment rate has also seen a positive shift, dropping to 1.7% between June and August, with local resident unemployment at 2.3% —the lowest levels recorded since 2019.

Macau’s fourth sea-crossing bridge, the Macau Bridge, officially opened to traffic on Tuesday, connecting the Macau Peninsula to Taipa.

At the inauguration ceremony, Ho said that the bridge would further support the city’s efforts in becoming a world center of tourism and leisure, and that it would help to continuously improve the well-being of the Macau residents, promoting appropriate economic diversification within the city.

The new bridge, Macau’s first eight-lane divided bridge, is approximately 3.1km long.

The water-spanning section is about 2.9km long and features two spans, each 280 meters across ship navigation channels.

The new bridge’s main structure runs from Macau, on the eastern side of Zone A, across the Outer Harbor channel towards the Macau Channel, and lands on the Taipa side at New Urban Area E1. The infrastructure also includes a viaduct for connection to the future Taipa Grand Hill Tunnel.

Construction of the Macau Bridge commenced in March 2020.

The CE emphasized the bridge as a desired project to enhance the well-being of Macau’s population and promote the city’s sustainable development. He expressed gratitude to the mainland’s Central Government for its support and assistance in the development of Macau, recalling the visit earlier this year by the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, Xia Baolong.

The government is committed to improving infrastructure and urban development for an “ideal living and working environment,” Ho stressed.

In the evening, Chinese and Italian companies staged a fireworks show as part of the 32nd Macau International Fireworks Display Contest.

The contest’s organizer, 10 teams from across the world are scheduled to present 10 shows of fireworks from Sept. 14 to Oct. 6. Lynzy Valles & Victoria Chan