macao has benefited and will continue to benefit from the “ closer economic partnership arrangement ” ( the “ cepa ” ) signed with china, whereby macao ’ s merchandise and services will have a much freer access to the china market. in addition, in consideration of the scarcity of land resources of macao, which has an area of only 30 sq. km, china allows macao to make reclamation of land from the seabed up to 3. 5 sq. km. the university of macao is also allowed to relocate to hengqin island, a neighbouring island under the jurisdiction of zhuhai. after all these have been completed, the area of macao will be enlarged by over 15 %. in january 2009, the national development and reform commission of the state council of the people ’ s republic of china released “ the outline of the plan for reform and development of the pearl river delta ( 2008 - 2020 ) ( the “ outline ” ). the gist of the outline is to turn the pearl river delta into one of the world ’ s most competitive conurbations with a high quality of life. the outline defines macao as an international leisure destination committed to further its tourism sector. by then, macao will be connected to other major cities of the pearl river delta, including hong kong, by land transport through the completion of the hong kong - zhuhai - macao bridge. ultimately, macao will become part of the pearl river delta conurbation which accommodates a population of 50 million with a gdp equivalent to that of a medium - sized sovereign country. 11 ) another important role to be played by macao is its bridging function between china and portuguese - speaking countries in trade and economic aspect. macao started to acquaint with portuguese - speaking countries some 450 years ago. portuguesespeaking countries are a market of more than 200 million consumers and are endowed with abundant natural resources. china is a thriving economic entity with foreign exchange reserves of about usd2. 5 trillion. macao is also a special administrative region of china. all along, it has always played the leading role of a liaison platform servicing the economic and commercial cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries. in fact the standing secretariat for the economic and commercial cooperation forum of china and portuguese - speaking countries is domiciled in macao. the way forward for macao is bright and we can conclude that macao together with asia, has emerged from the international financial crisis stronger

anselmo l s teng : overview of recent financial and economic developments in macao speech by mr anselmo l s teng, chairman of the monetary authority of macao, at the spring cocktail reception, macao, 15 march 2007. * * * the honorable secretary for economy and finance, mr. francis tam ; the honorable director of the economic affairs department of the liaison office of the central people ’ s government in the msar, mr. zhou zhikui ; the honorable chairman of the audit committee of amcm, mr. leonel alberto alves ; the honorable chairman of the macau association of banks, mr. ye yixin ; the honorable president of the macau insurers ’ association, mr. si chi hok ; the honorable president of the macau insurance agents and brokers association, mr. tou kam seng ; the honorable president of the federation of macau professional insurance intermediaries, mr. frank ip ; the honorable president of the macau financial markets association, mr. chan kam chun ; the honorable president of the association of macau financial employees, mr. ng chi peng ; the honorable president of the macau money changers association, ho hao chio ; distinguished guests, friends of media, dear colleagues ; spring is around although chill is occasionally being felt. on the occasion of this reception held in the melody of spring, we farewell the past and embrace the future. here, i take the liberty of representing the board of the monetary authority of macao ( amcm ) to extend our warmest welcome to mr. francis tam, the secretary for economy and finance ; mr. zhou zhikui, the director of the economic affairs department of the liaison office of the central people ’ s government in msar ; our distinguished guests and friends of media. moreover, i would like to express my sincere gratitude to mr. francis tam for his unremitting support and guidance ; to the government departments, all sectors of the society and the business communities for their support and co - operation. under the auspices of the central government and the visionary leadership of the msar government, macao manages to sustain its past growth momentum with favourable development noted in consumption, investment and trade. basked in a buoyant market, unemployment rate continues to spiral downwards, gdp regains its double digit growth while surplus is noted in international balance of payment and fiscal account. the credit rating of macao has also been raised from “ stable ” to “ positive