The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, will lead a 19-member official delegation to the 8th Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum (or PPRD) to be held in Haikou, Hainan, from 28-30 November.

Mr Tam and his delegation will attend a cultural show on the evening of 28 November, and on the following day, he will attend the opening ceremony of the Forum where he will deliver a keynote speech.

He will also attend the Leader Joint Conference to be held in Sanya on 1 December before returning to Macao.

A delegation comprising 70 representatives from Macao’s business sector will also participate in the Forum.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) regional co-operation, a concept initiated by Guangdong in 2003 and supported by Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, as well as the two Special Administration Regions (SAR) of Hong Kong and Macao (hence dubbed 9+2), aroused much attention. Under the instruction of the CPC central committee and with the support given by relevant national departments, the '9+2' governments work together to boost their co-operation and the PPRD region as a whole, and is achieving steady progress.

The PPRD, which comprise provinces from east, middle and west Mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, covers one-fifth of China's territory, has one-third of the population and boasts more than one-third of economic output (excluding Hong Kong and Macao).