A dozen Macau-funded projects in the Guangdong-Macau Co-operation Industrial Park represent an aggregate investment of 9.65 billion yuan (HK$11.47 billion). The first one of them is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018, said Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac at the groundbreaking ceremony of the projects on Hegnqin Island in Zhuhai on Friday.
These 12 opening projects comprise initiatives related to the tourism leisure industry, cultural and creative industries, information technology, logistics and other trade services scattered across Hengqin Island occupying 330,000 square metres.
The Industrial Park is a 4.5 square kilometre site on Hengqin exclusively reserved for the 33 recommended Macau investment projects based on the Guangdong-Macau Co-operation Framework Agreement signed in March 2011.
Only 16 of these 33 Macau investment projects have acquired land plots. Some 12 of 16 projects met construction requirements, including four projects signed for Land Lease Agreement by the Hengqin Administrative Committee head Niu Jing last Friday at the ceremony.
The four projects are a Sino-Portuguese business and trade services centre; Hengqin World project comprising business service, travel facility and duty free shopping mall; Nam Kwong HQ with office building, hotel and high-end shopping mall; and The West Meets East project which comprises a world platform for the creativity of cultural products and small and medium-sized enterprise centre.
Favourable opportunities
The 33 projects endorsed by the Macau Government include 19 projects that have already signed relevant agreements. Mr Leong said that information on other projects will be released soon.
The existing co-operation arrangements – such as the annual Zhuhai-Macau Co-operation Conference, and the Zhuhai-Macau co-operation mechanism regarding the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade (FTZ) Zone of Hengqin Area of Zhuhai – have allowed the government to further tighten co-operation ties with its Guangdong and Zhuhai counterparts, added Mr. Leong.
The Secretary said the Industrial Park provided favourable business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), professionals and young entrepreneurs from both Macau and Zhuhai. The Industrial Park also contributes to a closer co-operation between the two sides, as do other inter-regional projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the development of the FTZ in Guangdong, he added.
Reference: June 21, 2016 Macau Business Daily
