Macau announced on Sunday, September 6, that the eight-day visit of the Executive Leader's delegation to Southeast Asia, which ended on Saturday, resulted in the signing of 189 cooperation protocols. Eighty-two agreements were signed in Singapore, 45 in Indonesia, and 62 in Malaysia, covering areas such as tourism, new technologies, traditional Chinese medicine, electronic commerce, and halal certification.
The Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Macau Government Tourism Office (DST) released a joint statement on the results of the trip. The DST signed memoranda of understanding with associations and entities from the three destinations to promote bidirectional tourist flow, while IPIM signed agreements with Chinese chambers of commerce in the region, creating a more comprehensive commercial and economic network between Macau and Southeast Asia.
The representatives of the signing commercial associations considered that the initiative created an efficient cross-border bridge for cooperation between the parties. They also expressed their expectation to leverage Macau's platform role and the benefits of the Deepened Cooperation Zone between Guangdong and Macau in Hengqin to access the Mainland China market and expand presence in Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries.
The Deepened Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is a special economic area of approximately 106 square kilometers, created in 2021 to support Macau's economic diversification. China established Macau as a platform for cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries in 2003, with the Macau Government expanding the focus to Spanish-speaking countries more than two decades later.
