CE meets Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health

MACAU, August 30 - The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, today met with Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health, Mr Ong Ye Kung. The two officials exchanged views on deepening cooperation between Macao and Singapore in the fields of public health, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and governance in relation to ageing societies.

The Chief Executive is leading a Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) delegation comprising MSAR Government officials and representatives of business organisations on an eight-day official visit covering Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Sam noted that both Macao and Singapore are multicultural and inclusive societies, each having one of the highest population densities in the world, and sharing many commonalities in public health that offer opportunities for mutual learning. He highlighted that Singapore is a global leader in public health governance and biomedical sciences, making it a highly-valued partner for Macao. Singapore’s experiences provide important reference value for Macao’s own development, the Chief Executive said.

Mr Sam further pointed out that TCM is a field with strong potential for collaboration. He welcomed Singaporean pharmaceutical companies to leverage the synergies between Macao and Hengqin, by establishing operations at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao, located in Hengqin. Products developed there could not only access the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area market with ease, but also be promoted, through Macao’s platform role, to Portuguese-speaking countries and markets covered by the “Belt and Road” initiative.

In the field of public health, Mr Sam noted that Macao and Singapore have maintained close cooperation for many years. Since 2005, the two sides have renewed – every three years – a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on health-related matters, strengthening collaboration in key areas such as medical personnel training, public health emergency response, and information exchange. This partnership has contributed to the high-quality development of healthy communities and improved publichealth literacy, the Chief Executive noted.

In addressing the shared global challenge of population ageing, both Macao and Singapore are actively exploring policy responses, said Mr Sam. He expressed hope for enhanced exchanges at both policy and practical levels, including sharing experiences in social security and healthcare services, in order jointly to build more resilient models of governance for an ageing society.

During the meeting, both sides agreed that Macao and Singapore should work together to explore new pathways for collaboration in TCM and public health matters, combining Macao’s institutional and platform advantages with Singapore’s industrial and technological strengths, to achieve mutually-beneficial and sustainable development.

Also present at the meeting were: the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Cao Zhongming; and the Consul-General of Singapore in Hong Kong, Mr Eric Teo Boon Hee.

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