The second session of the 14^th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the second session of the 14^th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will open tomorrow and today respectively, and a number of local deputies to the NPC and members of the CPPCC arrived in Beijing yesterday to attend the meeting.

Macau has 12 NPC deputies and 38 CPPCC National Committee members.

Both annual plenary sessions taking place around the same time are known as the nation’s “two sessions”.

Before getting on a flight to Beijing at about 11:45 a.m. yesterday, the local media talked separately to several of the local NPC deputies, including Legislative Assembly member José Chui Sai Peng, Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (known as Kai Fong in Cantonese) Chairwoman Ng Siu Lai and Federation of Macau-China Sport General Associations President Kevin Ho King Lun, as well as several members of the CPPCC, including Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long, indirectly-elected lawmaker-cum-Macau Association of Banks Chairman Ip Sio Kai and government-appointed lawmaker-cum-Pui Ching Middle School Principal Kou Kam Fai.

Chui voiced concern about how [the nation will] ensure the smooth operation of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin as an autonomous customs territory which got off the ground on Friday to promote the development of the Hengqin-Macau integration process, while also increasing Macau’s competitiveness and attracting more enterprises and talents to Macau. Chui, an urban planner by profession, also said that this would help the government do well in its ongoing “1+4” development drive aiming to appropriately diversify the city’s economy.

Focusing on the in-depth cooperation zone’s development, Ng said she hoped that during the “two sessions” period, various policies will be implemented as soon as possible, especially measures concerning the flow of people, logistics, capital and information between Macau and Hengqin, so as to facilitate the life of Macau people living and working in Hengqin, and to give full play to the advantages of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy to promote the appropriately diversified development of Macau’s economy.

Apart from saying that he would pay close attention to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the in-depth cooperation zone, Ho said he would also focus on the feasibility of granting “sport visas”: “The government plans to shape Macau as a ‘City of Sport’, in addition to athletes and coaches, there are in fact a lot of sport-related people, such as relevant staff for various sporting events.”

Meanwhile, Lo, Ip and Kou expressed their concerns about the development of their respective sectors involving the big health and high-tech industries, as well as Macau’s education system.

According to Lo, one of his proposals is to provide medical tourism visas, which would be similar to business visas, aiming to allow tourists seeking medical treatment multiple trips between the mainland and Macau over a period of time.

Ip said he would focus on the role that Macau could play in the nation’s economic restructuring and the development of high-tech, while Kou said he would highlight the development of patriotic education and how Macau’s tertiary education institutions in the in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin can operate independently.

Ho to pay 3-day visit to Beijing from today

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng will pay a three-day working visit to Beijing from today to Wednesday, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) yesterday.

During Ho’s absence from Macau, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon will be acting chief executive, the statement noted.

Ho will attend tomorrow’s opening ceremony of the second session of the 14^th NPC.

Local National People’s Congress (NPC) deputies – Legislative Assembly member José Chui Sai Peng (top, first from left), Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations Chairwoman Ng Siu Lai (top, centre) and Federation of Macau-China Sport General Associations President Kevin Ho King Lun (top, first from right), as well as National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) members – Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long (below, centre), indirectly-elected lawmaker-cum-Macau Association of Banks Chairman Ip Sio Kai (below, first from right) and government-appointed lawmaker-cum-Pui Ching Middle School Principal Kou Kam Fai (below, first from left) talk to the media separately yesterday morning at the local airport before their flight to Beijing to attend the second session of the 14th NPC and the 14th CPPCC starting tomorrow and today respectively. – Photo combo: Yuki Lei