Xi Jinping: Macau Included on ‘One Belt, One Road’

The annual conference of the 2015 BOAO Asia Development Forum, held in March in Hainan Province (Photo provided by Government Information Bureau)

The 2015 BOAO Asia Development Forum opened on 29th March in Hainan Province, with Xi Jinping's pivotal 'One Belt and One Road' concept the focus of this year's edition. During his keynote speech, the Chinese president called for political and economic cooperation, welcoming all countries and territories along the road, including Macau, to join 'Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road Initiatives.'

Building on this, the Boao Asia Development Forum (Macau) - jointly co-ordinated by the Boao Forum for Asia, Macau Youth Federation, and Macau University of Society and Technology - has invited renowned global business and political leaders and scholars to share their insights on tourism, cultural creativity, sustainable development, and other topics of interest on 18th May.

The Forum - themed 'Knowledge Interconnection - Innovative Thoughts of Asian Development' - also seeks to offer an all-encompassing demonstration of the unique charms of Macau in addition to stimulating an in-depth analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing Macau and Asia in future development.

As a small-scale economy, Macau has exhibited a unique prominence in Asia's development. Based on the statistics of the World Bank, Macau's GDP per capita in 2013, if calculated by purchasing power, reached US$140,000, surpassing even Qatar to become the highest in the world. In a study ranking cities by growth in employment and economic output per person, jointly released by the Brookings Institution and JP Morgan Chase, Macau was ranked the strongest in economic performance in 2014.

Today, the Macau SAR Government is committed to building Macau into a 'World Tourism and Leisure Centre', as well as installing new industries such as tourism and sightseeing, leisure and recreation, entertainment experiences, conferences and exhibitions, cultural, creative, Chinese medicine, and higher education in Macau in order to push the territory towards moderate economic diversification.

Macau's industries are also working hard to identify new paths for economic transition and societal development, and have explored the possibility of a knowledge-intensive approach to development. Faced with the trend of convergence between economic globalisation and regional development and the fast development of knowledge economy in the areas of the Internet and technological innovation, and encouraged to become economically further integrated with Guangdong and Hong Kong, Macau is joining hands with other Asian economies for joint development and industrial connections.