Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng met separately with officials from the provinces of Guizhou, Fujian and Jiangxi and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during last week’s three-day working visit to the nation’s southernmost province of Hainan to discuss how to foster closer ties on business, cultural affairs and also to exchange views on topics of mutual concern, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) on Friday. 

The meetings took place in Sanya city on the sidelines of yesterday’s 2020 Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference.

In Friday’s meeting with the Guizhou Governor Shen Yiqin, both sides reviewed the supply of water from the province to Macau during salt tide periods and discussed topics related to poverty alleviation and cooperation in certain economic sectors.  

Ho vows to help Guizhou fight poverty

According to the statement, Ho reaffirmed the Macau government’s commitment to continuing its support for Guizhou in relieving the effects of poverty, in particular in healthcare, education, training, and economic cooperation. Ho pledged that his government would spare no effort in encouraging Macau’s civil society to take part in Guizhou’s poverty alleviation drive.

Ho also briefed Shen about Macau’s determination to promote its traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) sector, suggesting that the two sides step up cooperation by making use of Guizhou’s ample land resources in the production of TCM products.

Shen expressed her gratitude for Macau’s poverty alleviation support for Guizhou and assistance in tackling challenges in the areas of education, healthcare, vocational training and industrial development.

Guizhou will work closely with Macau to advance cooperation in poverty alleviation in the area of consumption, such as through the supply of agricultural produce, Shen said. Macau and Guizhou will also enhance cooperation in trade and investment, processing of TCM products, training of tourism professionals, and education, she added.

Meeting with Guangxi chairman

In a separate meeting on Friday, Ho exchanged views with the chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Chen Wu, about the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sector and TCM development.

Ho underlined, according to then GCS statement, that the TCM sector is a key factor for Macau’s economic diversification. He briefed Chen on Macau’s legislative progress concerning the sector, pointing out that one of the directions was to attract more TCM companies from across the nation to set up branch operations in Macau. He added that Macau was looking forward to furthering cooperation with Guangxi, as the autonomous region is a major TCM hub.

As a platform for business-service cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, Macau will strengthen its effort to promote economic and trade ties between Guangxi and those countries, Ho said.

During the meeting, Ho also talked about Macau’s effort in fighting COVID-19 and the epidemic’s adverse impact on Macau’s tourism industry. Thanks to the central government’s unwavering support, Ho pointed out, the issuing of permits for mainland residents to travel to Macau under the facilitated individual visit scheme (IVS) is slated to resume nationwide on September 23. He also noted that the issuing of Macau travel permits for Zhuhai city residents was resumed on August 12 and subsequently extended to the whole of Guangdong province as of August 26.

Chen spoke highly of Macau’s effort to prevent and control COVID-19 and said he was glad to hear that the facilitated individual travel scheme is making a comeback.

Regarding cooperation in the MICE sector, Chen said Guangxi welcomed participation from Macau in the China-ASEAN Expo, an event scheduled to be held in Nanning in November. He said that Guangxi was looking forward to being able to take part in a string of upcoming Macau events, including the Macau International Environmental Cooperation Forum & Exhibition and the Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo.

Ho’s 3 proposals to boost Macau-Fujian ties

On Thursday, Ho met with Fujian Governor Wang Ning to exchange views on the commercialisation of TCM products, the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and closer cooperation in economic and trade matters, as well as cultural affairs and tourism.

Ho suggested three approaches for cooperation between Macao and Fujian: 1) financial services in relation to renminbi (yuan) clearing and foreign currency bonds; 2) commercialisation of TCM; and 3) training of a greater number of professionals to support the TCM development, and promotion of science and technology projects in that field.

Macau and Fujian are both playing a key part in the nation’s Belt & Road Initiative, Ho noted, who said he was looking forward to working closer with Fujian in order to promote trade and investment activities in countries and regions covered in the initiative.

Wang praised Macau’s activities in containing the novel coronavirus from spreading locally, saying the stability of Macau’s political system, economy and people’s livelihoods illustrated the Macau government’s ability in governance.

Fujian and Macau should bolster exchanges in the areas of digital economy, maritime economy, financial services, technology, cultural affairs and education, Wang proposed.

Exploring cooperation with Jiangxi 

In a separate meeting on Thursday, Ho met with Jiangxi Governor Yi Lianhong to explore further cooperation opportunities in TCM, tourism, science and technology, and education.

Speaking at the meeting, Ho said the adverse impact from the COVID-19 pandemic had further reinforced the Macau government’s determination to press ahead with policies promoting the city’s economic diversification.

Ho envisaged vast opportunities for cooperation between Macau and Jiangxi, as both have their specific advantages, such as Macau having a strong capital base while Jiangxi is rich in natural resources. 

Ho gave a briefing on the Macau government’s strategy for the development of the TCM sector, based on the favourable conditions under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle; and the Macau government’s work on the promotion of patriotism among young people.

Yi noted that Macau is a core city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), and a platform for the mainland to expand its overseas connections, ties with Portuguese-speaking countries in particular. 

Jiangxi and Macau have developed close ties in a range of areas and frequent people-to-people exchanges, note Yi, who briefed Ho on Jiangxi’s ongoing effort to promote science and technology innovation and proposed that the two sides work together in that regard.

Ho returned to Macau on Friday after the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference. 

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng addresses the 2020 Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference in Sanya city, Hainan province, on Friday, accompanied by Inês Chan Lou (behind, left) and Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong (behind, right). Photo: GCS