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Interview: Macao Chief Executive Confident of Future
Macao Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah said Wednesday, December 13, that the first year of Macao's return to the motherland has laid a good foundation for the future development of the Special Administrative Region (SAR).
The chief executive said in a group interview that over the past year, civil servants have been working hard in their posts, economy has stepped out of years of depression, public security has greatly improved, and social conditions are stable.
"What we have achieved today will bring about a more promising future," he said, attributing the success to the implementation of "one country, two systems" principle and local residents' support of the SAR government.
Economic development will remain the top priority in the work of the SAR government next year. After four years of recession, economic growth rate is estimated to reach 4 percent this year.
"Considering the fact that the base of total output has grown big, we will try our best to maintain the economic momentum and achieve an increase rate of 2 or 3 percent next year," the chief executive said.
To attain that goal, the government will make more efforts to improve the economic environment so that more business people choose to invest here.
"As China is entering the World Trade Organization and the motherland is carrying out the massive program of developing the western areas, Macao should have a good grasp of the opportunities," he said.
In the administrative sector, the overall structure of civil service will undergo assessment and reform to ensure that the quality of civil servants is raised and public administration become more efficient.
In addition, public security will remain a key part of government work for a rather long period of time. "Without fine public security, no development and reform can be achieved," Edmund Ho said.
"At the time of one-year anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, we cherish the memory of Mr. Deng Xiaoping very much,"he said. "The successful implementation of 'one country, two systems' in Macao has fully demonstrated the wisdom of Deng Xiaoping in creating the great concept."
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