The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, will lead a delegation that will, starting from tomorrow (8 January) until 11 January inclusive, visit cities in Guangdong Province that are part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area).

During the four-day tour, Mr Ho will visit Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, and Shenzhen. In each city, Mr Ho will meet with local leaders, and visit local industrial projects, with the aim of accelerating development of the Greater Bay Area.

The visits seek to foster Macao’s ties in relation to each of those Greater Bay Area cities, in order to implement goals mentioned in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and to discuss their relevance now in terms of making epidemic-control measures the norm. Discussions will also cover how to make best use of respective advantages of each Greater Bay Area city, so as to realise complementary development of those places, for the benefit of the Greater Bay Area as a whole.

Regarding Zhuhai, another Guangdong city that is part of the Greater Bay Area, Mr Ho had paid a visit there on 23 and 24 December 2019, a few days after he took office as Chief Executive. The two places had maintained close communication throughout 2020. In July and September 2020, Mr Ho had held meetings in Macao with leaders from Zhuhai, to discuss how to advance development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and other cooperation projects.

The Macao delegation to the eight Guangdong cities will include: the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Lei Wai Nong; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Hoi Lai Fong; the Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Ms Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; the Director of the Macao Economic Bureau, Mr Tai Kin Ip; the President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr Lau Wai Meng; the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Ms Lei Ut Mui; and the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Ms Chan Lou.

While Mr Ho is away, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Mr Cheong Weng Chon, will take on the role of acting Chief Executive.