Macau eyes expanded role in GBA development

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has outlined Macau’s plans to enhance its role in the Greater Bay Area’s economic development and broader opening-up strategy during the second edition of the Industrial and Commercial Conference for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Speaking in a virtual format, Ho stated that the Greater Bay Area initiative is a pioneering effort under the ‘One country, two systems’ framework.”

Recent decisions from the 20th CPC Central Committee have provided strategic guidance to deepen reforms and advance Chinese-style modernization in the region.

According to Ho, cooperation in the Greater Bay Area provides important guidance by strengthening the alignment of rules and mechanisms that will allow Macau to better contribute to the nation’s high-level opening-up to the world.

As one of the four central cities in the Greater Bay Area, Macau boasts a unique fusion of Chinese and Western cultures, as well as its distinctive status as a Sino-Portuguese platform and a free port.

The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin, Ho noted, offers Macau a broader hinterland and development space.

Macau has focused on implementing a “1+4” moderately diversified development strategy, promoting the growth of comprehensive tourism and leisure industries, traditional Chinese medicine and health, modern finance, high-tech, exhibitions, trade, culture and sports.

Ho said that standing at a new historical starting point, Macau will seize the opportunities presented by China’s modernization. By adhering to the principle of ‘one center, one platform, one base,’ Macau aims to better integrate into the country’s overall development, serve the Greater Bay Area, and build the Greater Bay Area District.

This will allow the region to write a new chapter in what constitutes the successful practice of ‘One country, two systems’ with Macau characteristics.

The two-day conference, themed “China’s Bay Area, Opportunities for the World,” aimed to explore ways to leverage economic synergies and accelerate market integration within the Greater Bay Area.

Victoria Chan