The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, meets with the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Sun Yeli, in Beijing.
The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, today in Beijing met with the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Sun Yeli. They exchanged views on promoting traditional Chinese culture, enhancing international cultural exchanges by making use of Macao’s role as a multiple-culture exchange and cooperation base with an emphasis on Chinese culture, and advancing high-quality cultural tourism development.
The Chief Executive is on a five-day visit to the capital. After attending the commemorative activities to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Mr Sam remained in Beijing for meetings at ministries and with committees of the Central Government, to discuss sustained support for Macao’s economic diversification effort and high-quality development.
At this morning’s meeting, Mr Sam expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for its long-standing support to Macao’s development. He noted that during President Xi Jinping’s inspection of Macao last year, the city was commended for its strengths as an exchange base for Chinese and foreign cultures, and as a model for harmonious coexistence and mutual learning between the Chinese and Western civilisations.
The Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government is enriching initiatives to strengthen Macao’s status as a world centre of tourism and leisure, as well as to accelerate the development of the city’s cultural and sports sectors, in order to position Macao as a “City of Culture” and a “City of Sports”, thereby realising President Xi’s directives to establish Macao as a higher-level platform for international engagement, said Mr Sam.
Rooted in its positioning as “One Centre, One Platform, One Base”, Macao is using its multicultural heritage to advance cultural tourism through diverse initiatives. These efforts aim to promote Macao’s stories globally and promote traditional Chinese culture through enhanced international exchanges.
The Chief Executive highlighted Macao’s role as a key node in the “Belt and Road” initiative, and the city’s commitment in developing itself as a platform for International cooperation. The MSAR Government’s plan to develop an international integrated tourism and cultural district in Macao intended to strengthen the city’s multicultural foundations and create a vital window for exchange between Eastern and Western cultures, said Mr Sam. This initiative aims to attract more visitors to Macao and boost local economic growth.
The Chief Executive thanked Minister Sun for his supportive stance on Macao’s cultural and tourism development direction and future planning discussed during their meeting. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism would continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with the MSAR Government, sharing tourism cultural resources and networks for reciprocal benefit, thereby jointly promoting Macao’s sustainable and high-quality development, noted Mr Sam.
Mr Sam affirmed that with the strong support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Macao would be able enhance its competitive advantages in cultural tourism, better integrate into the national development framework, and contribute the city’s strengths to the nation’s high-standard opening-up and the building of a culturally strong China.
The meeting was attended by the MSAR Government Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tai Kin Ip; the Director General of the Macao Customs Service, Mr Adriano Marques Ho; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Chan Kak; and the Director of Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau, Mr Cheong Chok Man.
Representing the Ministry of Culture and Tourism were also the Director of the Department for Resource Development, Mr Man Hongwei; and Deputy Director of the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office), Mr Kong Lun.
