The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today said unremitting effort to build on Macao’s inherent strengths, and the bolstering of regional effort regarding cooperation would continue to be major paths for Macao’s economic development.

Speaking in the 2018 plenary meeting of the Economic Development Council, Mr Chui said he expected Macao’s economy would continue to maintain a steady course, with good momentum for achieving moderate growth. This was thanks to the high employment rate locally, steady public finances, and improvement in terms of the overall well-being of Macao’s people. 

He added nonetheless the city had to step up its precautionary effort in the light of the volatile international economic situation.

During today’s meeting, representatives from the Economic Development Council’s three task groups – with respective focus on economic diversification; human resources; and regional economic development – made reports on the work conducted so far in 2018. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, attended the meeting and shared his views on the current economic situation, additionally giving insights on the economic outlook for 2019.

In the meeting, Mr Chui underlined that Macao would contribute to the Central Government’s major strategies, under the principle “serving the country’s needs, delivering Macao’s strengths”.

To enhance the city’s economic diversification and sustainability, the Government would advance effort in order to realise Macao’s chosen strategic roles as a world centre of tourism and leisure, and as a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, collectively known as the “Centre and Platform” policies. Such effort would also complement the country’s overall development.

Mr Chui also urged further effort to grasp opportunities created by the country’s progress, so as to enable higher-quality development of Macao’s economy. Making use of such opportunities would also be conducive to creating new drivers for Macao’s economic growth, in line with the goals outlined in Macao’s first Five-Year Development Plan.

Secretary Leong said in his review of the situation, that Macao’s economy had maintained a steady performance in 2018, and the city had been improving its capacity for economic resilience.

The Government would step up effort to make progress while also ensuring stability. Mr Leong highlighted that the Government’s job was to press ahead with higher-quality economic and social development in Macao, and enable the city to play a fuller role in the policies for the further opening-up of the country.