Traditional Chinese medicine seen as ‘key’ area

Lionel Leong highlighted yesterday the role that traditional Chinese medicine could play in Macau’s development and economic diversification. Mr Leong stressed that the government is committed to accelerating the establishment of the Guangdong-Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park in Hengqin.
Lawmaker Chui Sai Peng asked about the development of the park and where Macau’s planning for the park now stands.
Mr Leong told lawmakers that traditional Chinese medicine “is one of the key strategies for the development of Macau when it comes to emerging industries.”
“The Chief Executive already instructed us to hasten all procedures related to the park (…) we aim to coordinate the learning, teaching and research areas, and we’ve already started working on the launch of the park in Hengqin, while learning from mainland China entities about the developments in Chinese traditional medicine,” he said.
Firstly, the government will focus on the construction of the park’s infrastructure. Secondly, it will begin training staff and creating labs, as “the opening of this park will be paving the way for research into traditional Chinese medicine,” he stressed.
In this context, the secretary pledged to strengthen cooperation with Hengqin and other neighboring regions. The government aims to attract more investment from Chinese pharmaceutical companies. “Some mainland pharmaceutical companies have already signed protocols with Hengqin,” the Secretary said. However, the local government is aiming for even greater cooperation, as they attempt to attract the ten major Chinese pharmaceutical companies to Hengqin. He concluded by saying, “We could then foster cooperation between these pharmaceutical companies and Macau SMEs that will be present in Hengqin.” CP