The first Shanghai-Macau Cooperation Conference took place on Friday, with the purpose of promoting bilateral ties between the two cities, representing the launch of a cooperation mechanism and a platform for dialogue.
The event took place in Shanghai and was co-chaired by Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng. During the conference, the two cities signed a total of five agreements encompassing a a broad array of subjects, from the development of “smart cities” to cooperation in the MICE sector, cultural affairs as well as academic exchange.
According to a statement from the MSAR Government, in his opening remarks Ho highlighted Macau and Shanghai’s long, standing close ties. The statement added that Ho believed the Cooperation Conference “helped establish an optimised mechanism for enriching content for cooperation and expanding fields for exchange”. He mentioned Shanghai’s economic achievements and added that they were a reference point for Macau.
Ho continued by pointing out how the tow cities could collaborate to promote mutual progress. From “fostering of training for financial professionals, promoting a presence in Macau for Shanghai financial institutions, encouraging Shanghai companies to issue bonds in Macau, to bolstering exchanges between financial and service providers in the two cities”. The role of Macau as a platform to reach Portuguese-speaking countries was also mentioned, namely the city’s ability to help with the promotion of Chinese Medicine in these countries, as well as the European Union.
According to the same statement, Gong Zheng said that he viewed the Conference as a platform for cooperation and added that Shanghai and Macau “had seen growing ties in recent years in a number of fields, such as financial services, MICE, cultural affairs, tourism and youth exchange”, adding that he was he was confident “the two cities would in future enjoy even brighter prospects than they had so far”.
The MSAR delegation arrived on Thursday (June 3) for a four-day visit. Today (June 5), Ho Iat Seng met with Fudan Unversity’s president, Xu Ningsheng. Both parties discussed topics such as the training of qualified Macau staff and the promotion of exchanges and cooperation between the respective higher education institutions.
Ho stated that, after pandemic experience, the MSAR Government is aware that Macau’s economic development cannot depend on the gaming and tourism industry. However, he noted that currently Macau “lacks qualified staff for this purpose, requiring a long-term plan for their training” and stated that Fudan University, as a “prominent higher education institution in the area”, is an appropriate place for this training.
