The meeting for fostering implementation of the “Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” (referred to as the “Plan”) was held in Guangzhou on 18 March 2021. Convened in a hybrid online and offline format, the meeting gathered representatives of pertinent entities as follows: the National Development and Reform Commission; the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council; related governmental departments of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions; Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region; cultural and tourism authorities of the nine Pearl River Delta cities, as well as experts and media representatives.

This is the first meeting held since the launch of the Plan to push forward its implementation progress. The meeting aims to enhance communication and collaborative efforts in putting the Plan into comprehensive and effective practice, in turn propelling the advanced development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

At the meeting, representatives of the Department of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the Department of Exchange and Cooperation of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Regional Department of the National Development and Reform Commission each delivered their remarks and highlighted the great significance of the Greater Bay Area development, besides giving an introduction of the Greater Bay Area development progress, as well as a briefing of expectations on the tasks to move the Plan forward. Representatives of the cultural and tourism authorities from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao each presented their work progress, the next steps forward and major initiatives to put the Plan into practice. They also led an insightful dialogue on how to divide the tasks involved.

Representative of related governmental department of Macao SAR remarked at the meeting that the Plan has mapped out clear directions for the concerted development of the cultural and tourism industries. The Macao SAR Government agreed with the principles raised by the Plan about innovation, regional cooperation as well as integration between the fields of culture and tourism, which will serve a major guideline for Macao’s initiatives to push forward cultural and tourism development in the future. Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has been transferred to the Secretariat for Economy and Finance since early this year with the aspiration to extend the tourism industry chain and foster “tourism+” integration across fields effectively, in turn yielding greater economic benefits in the tourism industry of Macao and the Greater Bay Area.

Within the framework under the tutelage of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the related departments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will enhance coordination and communication, while capitalizing on the existing collaborative mechanisms for cultural and tourism cooperation, such as the Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural Cooperation Meeting and the Tourism Federation of Cities in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay Area both alternately organized by the three destinations, to steer the Plan toward substantial progress of implementation through the establishment of regular work and communication mechanisms.

To further implement the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, deepen cultural and tourism cooperation across the Greater Bay Area, and join hands to build the Greater Bay Area into a cultural and leisure destination, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the Office of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province jointly promulgated the “Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” on 24 December 2020.