The Government has gazetted creation of a committee to coordinate Macao’s participation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to an Executive Order published today in the Macao SAR Gazette.

The remit of the Working Committee for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area becomes effective the day after the day of issuance of the Executive Order.

The new body is to be responsible for formulation of short-, medium-, and long-term planning for Macao’s involvement in the city cluster initiative. The latter concerns nine cities in Guangdong Province and the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), Macao and Hong Kong.

Other responsibilities of the new body are to include: conduct of relevant research and formulation of policies regarding Macao’s participation in the Greater Bay Area; formulation of an annual work proposal and supervision of its implementation; and provision of advice and issuance of guidance, on related events.

According to the Executive Order, the Committee will be directly under the supervision of the Chief Executive, who is also the Committee’s Chairman. Other members of the committee will include: the Government’s five policy secretaries; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office; the Government Spokesperson; and the Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau.

The Committee has the power to set up specialised task forces to undertake those works for which the Committee is responsible. The membership of such task forces might  be drawn from among distinguished persons from Macao or further afield, including those from academic institutions, and from public or private entities. Such persons might also be asked to attend Committee meetings.

The Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau will provide administrative, technical and logistical support to the Committee. The Committee’s budget will come from the Bureau.