Global EditionASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Featured Contributors

Macao should bet on Greater Bay Area

By Timothy Kerswell | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-12-23 14:25
Share
Share - WeChat
Tourists visit the Ruins of St. Paul's in South China's Macao Special Administrative Region, on Oct 8, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

While experiencing tremendous growth since its return to China, Macao's reliance on gaming puts it in a vulnerable position. Accordingly, the central government has actively promoted the diversification of Macao's economy as a priority goal. Macao has always been susceptible to short-term shocks, suffering declining growth during the outbreak of the H1N1 virus and the 2008 financial crisis.

When China launched its anti-corruption campaign, gaming revenue in Macao fell to a five-year low, indicating part of Macao's revenues came at the expense of the rest of mainland. More recently, relaxation of gambling regulations in Japan, Singapore and the Philippines suggests the end of Macao's monopoly position as a gaming hub. These facts make diversification an urgent task.

With only 30 square kilometers and 650,000 people, the task of diversification is a difficult one. To accomplish this, Macao must utilize its geographical and historical advantages. Macao has natural synergies with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), and its efforts at diversification can be best realized by integrating within mainland's national development plan.

Macao's historical relationship with the Portuguese-speaking countries allows it to be a platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking world. Its role was highlighted by the opening of the headquarters of the China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries Cooperation and Development Fund in 2017. Macao is uniquely positioned to link mainland to the Portuguese-speaking world, developing trade and investment ties based on shared prosperity.

The role of finance in Macao has been steadily increasing, but much of this is unhelpful real estate speculation. For Macao to truly become a financial hub, requires its integration with the productive sectors of the national economy. The creation of a stock exchange denominated by the renminbi would be a significant step in this direction, helping Macao to diversify its economy, and reducing mainland's political exposure by further diminishing its reliance on Hong Kong as a conduit of foreign investment.

With a population bigger than the United Kingdom, and more than 12 percent of China's GDP and 1 percent of China's landmass, the Greater Bay Area is an immensely significant space. Macao needs to find its identity and define its contribution within the Greater Bay Area to realize the benefits of its potential. Macao's biggest advantages come from its unique history, allowing it to provide opportunities for leisure, tourism and learning.

In leisure and tourism, Macao's greatest complementarity is with the neighboring city of Zhuhai, particularly through the development of Hengqin Island. While Macao has experience and expertise with tourism, at roughly 96 square kilometers, Hengqin has the space Macao desperately lacks. Linking these regions as a space of leisure and tourism, but also as a cultural and educational centre, can be a major step toward Macao's diversification and can be its contribution to the Greater Bay Area.

In higher education, Macao can learn a lesson from the Australian experience. Australia enjoyed the benefits of opening up its universities to internationalization, in particular to students from the Chinese mainland. As a result, Australia swiftly transformed from an underfunded, domestically focused education provider to the third-largest education exporter in the world and a trillion-dollar industry.

Macao could quickly achieve significant growth in its higher education industry, in fact, the infrastructure already exists. The University of Macau has Asia's most extensive residential college system and the university can accommodate up to 15,000 students, and yet it runs significantly under capacity at about 10,000 students per year. The reason for this is the quota system which caps enrollment of students from mainland at 18 percent of the total, meaning total enrollment is determined by the number of Macao residents enrolled.

Due to Macau's ageing demographics, the result is either a reduction in total enrollment, a drop in acceptance standards or both. If the university's extra enrollment capacity could be utilized by treating students from the Greater Bay Area, as "locals", it would increase revenues, bring economic activity to Macao and facilitate more interaction between Macao and mainland, deepening Macao's identity with the mainland.

Students from mainland do not take up employment in the Macao labor market. This means they would instead be bringing significant economic activity to Macao, boosting demand for services and increasing the quality of jobs. If Macao is going to play a vital role in developing the Hengqin region, an expanded higher education cluster would be a great way of doing it.

The challenge remaining is for Macao to have the courage and foresight to diversify despite its recent success. During President Xi's speech commemorating the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China, he emphasized the need to "break new ground while the going is good". Macao would do well to heed this advice and broaden its horizons.

The author is an assistant professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Macao.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美日韩亚洲中文字幕二区| 中文字幕在线观看一区| 精品国产精品国产偷麻豆| 国产精品va在线观看无码| 一级毛片直接看| 最好看的2018中文字幕国语免费| 人人妻人人澡人人爽曰本| 色噜噜狠狠色综合中文字幕| 国产精品一区二区三区久久| s级爆乳玩具酱国产vip皮裤| 日本三级黄色网址| 亚洲专区区免费| 波霸在线精品视频免费观看| 噜噜噜狠狠夜夜躁| 91九色精品国产免费| 国产综合色在线视频区| а天堂中文最新一区二区三区| 日本视频免费高清一本18| 亚洲免费观看视频| 波多野结衣无限| 再深点灬舒服灬舒服点男同| 野花影院在线直播视频| 国产精品29页| 97成人在线视频| 娇妻之欲海泛舟白丽交换| 主人啊灬啊别停灬用力啊视频| 最新国产成人ab网站| 亚洲日韩国产成网在线观看| 真实国产伦子系| 国产97在线观看| 高雅人妻被迫沦为玩物| 国产精品免费av片在线观看| 99精品在线视频观看| 成人午夜亚洲精品无码网站| 久久天天躁狠狠躁夜夜中文字幕| 欧美亚洲一区二区三区| 亚洲熟妇无码乱子av电影| 精品久久久久不卡无毒| 国产乱人伦真实精品视频| 久久久久777777人人人视频| 国产精品真实对白精彩久久|