Dozens of ambassadors to China join senior officials and executives of big­name companies at the opening ceremony of the 11th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum in Macao on Dec 2, 2020. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Macao will tap its potential in promoting “dual circulation” and bridging the Chinese and international markets, said Ho Iat-­seng, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region, at an event on infrastructure on Wednesday.

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The two­-day 11th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum, co-­organized by the China International Contrac­tors Association and Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Insti­tute, drew ambassadors to China and dozens of senior executives of big corporations, hundreds in the audience at the site and more online. Panels explored the future of infrastructure for sustainable growth.

Macao will be connecting the domestic market to the internation­al one, enjoying two sorts of resour­ces, and having rules that comply with the standards of international markets, said Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat-­seng

As an important node on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a key city in the Guangdong­-Hong Kong­-Macao Greater Bay Area, Macao not only enjoys the advanta­ges of “one country, two systems”, but also has the benefits of integrat­ing the country with the outside world, Ho said.

Macao will be connecting the domestic market to the internation­al one, enjoying two sorts of resour­ces, and having rules that comply with the standards of international markets, he added.

Ho said that those conditions have put the city at the intersection of the country’s “dual circulation” development pattern, which sees domestic circulation as the main­ stay with domestic and internation­al circulations reinforcing one another.

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“To this end, we will give full play to our unique advantages,” he said, mentioning that the city contrib­utes to the country’s further open­ing­-up and economic growth at higher levels.

Ho said that as an export­-service economy, Macao has withstood the COVID­-19 pandemic and global recession with strong support from the central government.

The fact that this event happened “will inject new energy into the eco­ nomic recovery of the city”, he said.

Liu Weiming, chairman of the Macao Trade and Investment Pro­motion Institute, said earlier that hosting the event can display to the world Macao’s success in pandemic control and stimulate its economic recovery.

“Since the beginning of this year, many local public projects have kicked off, with infrastructure con­struction and public investment becoming a prominent aspect that drives Macao’s economic growth, both at present and in the future,” Ho said.

“The SAR government has always regarded the construction of a cooperation zone for in­-depth col­laboration between Guangdong and Macao in the Hengqin area as the bridgehead and priority for deepening the interconnectivity and collaboration of the Bay Area,” he said.

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With the completion and utility of cross-­border infrastructure such as the Hengqin Line of Macao’s light rail system in the future, he said, the interconnectivity between Guang­dong and Macao’s infrastructure will continue to improve, making it more convenient and efficient for personnel and logistics’ flow.

Vice­-Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan said, “To build up the Bay Area, we need to focus on requirements both in the cross­ border infrastructure construction and those within this region itself, and to strengthen the collabora­tion, so as to back up the integrated development of the Bay Area.”

Contact the writers at vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com