Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng met yesterday with his Hong Kong counterpart John Lee Ka-chiu at Government Headquarters, pledging to jointly strengthen cooperation between Hong Kong and Macau, according to separate statements by the two special administrative regions’ (SARs) government information authorities.

According to a statement by Hong Kong’s Information Services Department (ISD), Lee led a delegation in the morning to conduct his first visit to Macau since the full resumption of normal travel between the two SARs in January, with Lee visiting Macau’s latest tourism, convention and exhibition facilities to learn about its new developments in promoting tourism and culture.

After the city tour, Ho met with Lee, and both had an in-depth discussion on promoting Hong Kong and Macau’s cooperation, with a view to generating stronger impetus for the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and making greater contributions to national development, according to the ISD statement.

During the meeting, Lee said that it was now a “perfect time” to deepen tourism cooperation between Hong Kong and Macau, as normal travel between Hong Kong and Macau has been fully resumed, as well as to promote multi-destination tourism in the GBA, jointly contributing to achieving the goal of developing a world-class bay area for leisure, which is set out in the nation’s Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the GBA, the ISD statement said.

Lee added, according to the statement, that since the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) in October 2018, the travel time between the three places has been shortened, and Hong Kong has always strongly supported the cross-border transportation arrangements and measures of the HZMB to meet the needs of residents, travellers and traders between the three places to foster commercial and cultural exchanges.

Lee and the delegation then attended a luncheon hosted by Ho, and returned to Hong Kong in the afternoon, according to the ISD statement.

Meanwhile, the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) said in its statement that Ho and Lee agreed that cooperation between Hong Kong and Macau will usher in a brighter future, as the haze of the COVID-19 pandemic has dissipated.

The two SARs should, on the basis of making good use of the advantages of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, give full play to their respective strengths, and complement each other for reciprocal and coordinated development, in order to further integrate themselves into the country’s overall development, the GCS statement said.

Ho was quoted as saying during the closed-door meeting that he was confident that Macau’s economy will recover, thanks to the continuous support and care given to Macau by the Central People’s Government, Hong Kong, and mainland provinces and cities, the GCS statement said.

The GCS statement pointed out that Ho briefed Lee on the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, pointed out that the cooperation zone would welcome all investment from Hong Kong and that the Macau SAR government would provide policy support accordingly.

According to the GCS’s statement, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário and Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office Hoi Lai Fong also attended yesterday’s meeting:

According to the ISD statement, Hong Kong’s Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Cheuk Wing-hing, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung, Director of the Chief Executive’s Office Carol Yip Man-kuen were members of Lee’s delegation. 

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng shakes hands with his Hong Kong counterpart John Lee Ka-chiu at Government Headquarters in Nam Van yesterday. – Photo: Information Services Department (ISD)