Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (right) meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat-seng (left) at Government House on Feb 25, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat-seng at Government House on Saturday to exchange views on promoting Hong Kong's cooperation with Macao and high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). 

Lee welcomed Ho's visit to Hong Kong with his delegation and said that since the implementation of full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and Macao on Feb 6, travel between the two places has resumed vigorously, demonstrating the close ties and connection between Hong Kong and Macao, according to an HKSAR government statement.

Lee said that being special administrative regions of the country, both Hong Kong and Macao uphold the principle of "one country" while leveraging the advantages of "two systems"

He added that being special administrative regions of the country, both Hong Kong and Macao uphold the principle of "one country" while leveraging the advantages of "two systems". 

With the unique advantages under "one country, two systems", the Hong Kong and Macao SARs are integrated into the Chinese mainland while having strong international connectivity, serving as a bridge linking the mainland and the rest of the world, Lee said. 

Hong Kong and Macao are both cities in the GBA, jointly promoting regional development, participating in, contributing to and benefiting from the prosperous development of the country, he added.

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Also attending the meeting were Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, and Director of the Chief Executive's Office Carol Yip Man-kuen.

Lee introduced to Ho the establishment of the Steering Group on Integration into National Development. The Group is chaired by Lee, with three Secretaries of Departments as deputies, enhancing the leadership to "1+3". 

The strengthened top-level coordination and leadership will enable Hong Kong to more proactively integrate into the overall development of the country, Lee said.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (front row, third right), meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat-seng (front row, third left) at Government House pn Feb 25, 2023. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok (front row, second left), Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (front row, first right), Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (back row, left), and Director of the Chief Executive's Office Carol Yip Man-kuen (back row, right) also attended the meeting. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

He said that Hong Kong and Macao had all along been maintaining close cooperation in various important areas, including commerce, cross-boundary infrastructure and cultural tourism, under the spirit of complementarity, to jointly promoting the development of the GBA. 

For example, on commerce, since the signing of the Hong Kong and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in 2017, Hong Kong enterprises have captured more and better business opportunities in Macao's market, facilitating the flow of commerce and investment between both sides, Lee said.

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He said he was pleased to know that Ho had visited the Hong Kong Science Park and the Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development under the InnoHK in co-operation with the University of Macao on Saturday morning, which enabled the Hong Kong SAR to introduce its achievements in promoting innovation and technology development. 

Lee also welcomed the Macao Government Tourism Office's invitation to a large-scale delegation formed by members of the Hong Kong tourism sector to visit Macao this month to step up joint tourism promotion and the development of tourism industry of both sides.

Lee added that he looks forward to visiting Macao next week to have an in-depth discussion with Ho on further deepening Hong Kong's cooperation with Macao to generate stronger impetus to the growth of the GBA including both SARs and making greater contribution to national development.