MACAO – The appropriate economic diversification is the priority of the Macao Special Administrative Region government, Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said on Monday while delivering the 2025 fiscal year policy address.

He said the relatively undiversified economic structure remains the primary challenge for the current SAR government.

Delivered at the Legislative Assembly, it was the first policy address since Sam took office.

Sam said long-standing issues persist, such as a narrot w visitor base, imbalanced fiscal revenue, and insufficient innovation capacity.

Furthermore, the progress of diversifying industries still falls short of social expectations, and the role of Hengqin in supporting Macao's economic diversification has yet to materialize fully, he said.

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He pointed out that efforts must be focused on enhancing economic governance systems, continuously improving the business environment, enriching the content of the world center of tourism and leisure, accelerating the cultivation and development of key emerging industries, and fostering new quality productive forces based on Macao's realities.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital to Macao's economic and social development, the CE emphasized, adding that the SAR government will take a long-term perspective, tapping into local communities' rich historical and cultural resources, revitalizing the community economy, and supporting SMEs in upgrading their quality and development.

He pointed out that enhancing coordination mechanisms is a key measure for the new administration to deepen administrative reform and improve governance capacity.

The new SAR government, he said, will adopt a proactive and responsible attitude, along with a pragmatic and efficient work style, to resolutely address issues of inaction, passive behavior, and failure to act in accordance with the law.

He said that the SAR government has established six leadership groups and working groups to coordinate the advancement of major cross-sectoral affairs, which include the leadership group for public administration reform, the leadership group for promoting the construction of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao deep cooperation zone, and the legal coordination working group.

Going forward, Sam said more cross-sector and interdepartmental coordination mechanisms will be established to break down administrative barriers, promote efficient collaboration across departments, and enhance overall coordination with the aim of improving efficiency and ensuring the smooth advancement of various reform measures and governance initiatives.  

Stressing innovation for development and forging ahead into a new era, he said emphasized that in the face of longstanding issues and emerging challenges. It is essential to accurately understand changes, respond to them scientifically, and proactively seek transformation, said the CE.

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Solutions must be grounded in Macao's realities, stabilizing the economic fundamentals, invigorating economic vitality, strengthening expectation management, and expanding new development space, he said.

The policy address defined the overall direction for governance in 2025 as enhancing diversification, improving livelihoods, strengthening governance, and integrating into national development. It also laid out the SAR's primary development targets and outlined five key policy priority areas.