Macau (MNA) – The Macau SAR Government is preparing to sign an agreement with the Guangdong Province that will clarify the rules to apply on recreational boat activities between the city and three main areas of that Province.
According to a dispatch published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday, the government has delegated the Director of the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA), Susanna Wong Soi Man – or her legal substitute – the power to represent the Macau SAR as the grantor in the signing of detailed rules that will govern the nautical activities mentioned above with the Maritime Safety Administration of Guangdong.
The rules – not yet detailed by the government – will apply to individual tourism projects operating in the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
The Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone, approved by the State Council in December 2014 and officially launched in April 2015, covers three areas of the province occupying some 116.2 square kilometres, namely, Nansha (Guangzhou), Qianhai-Shekou (Shenzhen) and Hengqin (Zhuhai).
By the end of December 2017, the Zhuhai Government announced that it had started developing 123 yacht berths in Jiuzhou Bay as part of the Free Yacht Travel Scheme put in place for Hong Kong and Macau-registered yachts in such trade zone.
The MSAR had launched one of its first maritime co-operation initiatives by the end of 2016, with the Macau-Zhongshan Free Yacht Scheme, beginning operations on November 23.
The scheme has not, however, proven successful, with only seven yachts from Mainland China having registered for the scheme as at mid-2017.
DSAMA and people from the industry pointed out that the high amount of demanded deposits, bureaucracy issues and the lack of attraction of Zhongshan as a sailing destination were among the factors curtailing interest in the scheme.
