Recently, a policy briefing on ten new measures to attract foreign investment to Guangdong was held in Macao. Macao-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can enjoy supportive policies in Guangdong Province.
The policies have boosted the confidence of Macao-based enterprises to choose Guangdong for development, according to Zhang Zurong, Chairman of Macao’s Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. He hoped that companies in Macao could make good use of these policy bonuses.
“Macao-based enterprises are welcomed Guangdong , in the hopes that the province can attract more investment from Portuguese-speaking countries,” said Wu Jun, Director of Port Administration Office of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and Deputy Director-General of Department of Commerce of Guangdong.
Wu said that the ten measures will give enterprises a “sense of gain”, helping Guangdong achieve a higher level of opening up.
At the meeting, some entrepreneurs expected the implementation of the policies to be more practical as many Macao-based SMEs only benefit marginally from policies that grant financial subsidies to large-scale projects.
For example, Macao-based policies might be designed to help more local SMEs upgrade upstream of the manufacturing industry, said Li Juren, Vice Chairman of Guangdong Youth Federation.
A new customs clearance procedure was also announced at the meeting. It will be launched when Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opens to traffic. This self-service of customs clearance will only take 3 to 5 seconds for passengers, and their fingerprint information will only be collected in Zhuhai.
According to latest statistics: from January to November 2017, the total actual absorption of foreign investment was 19.48 billion dollars, witnessing a growth of 6.6%; the manufacturing industry celebrated a rise of 15.2% in actual absorption of foreign capital. Foreign investment from major developed countries rose by 26%.
The total import-export volume between Guangdong Province and countries along the Belt and Road reached 13.6 trillion yuan, rising by 16.4%, and accounting for 22.2% of the provincial total. The amount of foreign capital utilized was 470 million dollars, rising by 33.8%; actual foreign investment reaching 270 million dollars.
Guangdong Province has introduced the pre-establishment national treatment ( PENT) management system, with a negative list, and 96% of foreign investment projects being established with records.
Reported by Will, Heather(intern)
Edited by Simon Haywood, Wing Zhang
