Macau funding of ‘confidential’ GBA projects could swell to 100 billion yuan

Lawmaker and President of the Follow-up Committee for Public Finance Affairs, Mak Soi Kun

The Macau government has invested a total of RMB8 billion (MOP9.4 billion) into the Guangdong-Macau Cooperation and Development Fund, a fund established last year with the objective of facilitating the city’s integration into the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

But lawmakers responsible for monitoring the project say the investments could climb five times higher than previously thought to reach a total maximum investment from Macau of 100 billion yuan (MOP117 billion).

According to the report made at the latest Legislative Assemble Follow-up Committee for Public Finance Affairs meeting, held on Wednesday, the funding for the integration efforts has already amassed 8 billion yuan in the first year, from which the majority, 7.33 billion yuan, was invested in several undisclosed projects.

Questioned on the topic, the president of the Follow-up Committee, Mak Soi Kun, said that the Monetary Authority of Macao, which is managing such investment projects, said the investments are confidential. He said that the target of the investments had not been an issue for the members of the Follow-up Committee, who, according to Mak, had no interest in knowing more about the matter.

“The investments are made confidentially and the government is not in a position to disclose the details,” Mak said, adding, “what concerns us is the return rate. We do not follow up on specific investment projects but on the profit [that can be generated through such investment]. Once we are assured that the rate is reasonable, we have no interest in following each project in detail.”

According to the president of the committee, what was told to the members is that the money had been invested in a total of eight projects, from which five were related to infrastructure and construction projects in the Greater Bay Area. Some of the funding had gone toward the development of so-called ‘technology and science development centers’, without any further clarification.

According to the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, at the time of the creation of the fund, it had an annual guaranteed return of 3.5% on the current investment, to which extra returns would be added. The income would be kept in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) fiscal reserve.

According to the information, between June and December last year, the MSAR has made a profit of over RMB45 million (MOP52.7 million), while profits from January to May amounted to over RMB51 million (MOP60 million).

The president of the AL Committee confirmed what had been announced last year; that the Macau government will invest a total amount of 20 billion yuan from its fiscal reserve in various injection stages. He now adds that the money should be fully-invested by the end of this year.
Mak also suggested that the initially proposed ceiling of RMB20 billion could, in fact, increase to RMB100 billion if “Macau realizes that such investment is profitable.”