Government and Policy

Macao initiates research on immigration policy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-13 14:01

MACAO - The chief executive (CE) of Macao special administrative region (SAR) has appointed a government-run institute to launch research into its investment policy, which will be the basis of the government's new policy concerning the matter, the SAR government announced on Friday.

The aim of the research is to provide policy advice to the CE so that the SAR's new immigration policy can better suit the needs of Macao's economic and social development, said Tse Chi-Wai, director of the government-run Research Center for Sustainable Development Strategies.

The Center will form a research team of experts from Macao and Hong Kong to do the job, and analyze different opinions from scholars, officials and the public.

The SAR government revised its immigration policy in 2005, allowing persons who own a property in Macao with a value higher than one million patacas ($125,000), have no less than 500,000 patacas of savings in local bank accounts, and have completed a bachelor's degree or equivalent to apply for residency. But the policy was suspended in 2007.

It was proper to initiate the policy review this year, but the government has not reached a conclusion over the policy of investment residency yet, said SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On in a previous occasion.

The Research Center for Sustainable Development Strategies has previously completed a research report on Macao's population policy, highlighting the conflicts between population size and land shortages, imported workers and local workers, population quality and demands of economic development, as Macao's major population problems.