A Guangzhou-based think tank suggests establishing an administrative committee led by the central government and joined by the three local governments for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development.The unique situation in the bay area, which includes two political systems, and three different legal currency and customs systems, calls for the central government to fill an important role in the region's development, said Chen Guanghan, deputy dean of the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies of Sun Yat-sen University.A cooperative mechanism among the government, the corporate sector and the society is necessary, with the relationship of the government and the market in synergizing regional development to be properly addressed, Chen said. In support, he cited a development report on the bay area issued by his institute on Monday.The role of the market in distributing regional resources should be supported, with the free flow of productive factors in the region and rational industrial division to be promoted, he said.Due to differences in the systems in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao with a coordinating procedure yet to be fully developed, further coordination and cooperation have met impediments.The adjustment in the administrative procedure has become an urgent issue, which means employing multigovernance instead of merely making decisions on individual issues, said Liu Yungang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University's School of Geography and Planning.He suggested such a multigovernance body to be located in the Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone, which lies at the center of the bay area.Consisting of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao, it is the world's fourth major bay area following those around New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, with the highest per capita GDP among three Chinese city clusters. The plan for the bay area is expected to be issued later this year.Chen's institute also suggests an international business environment be built in the bay area, with greater and mutually benefiting infrastructure connectivity, higher innovation capacity, a more diversified and synergized industrial system, and quality living space.The institute also issued a sustainable development index for the cities in the bay area and a case study report on Hong Kong and Macao youths' entrepreneurial efforts on the Chinese mainland.Compared with their predecessors, the Hong Kong and Macao youths who have started their business on the Chinese mainland hold higher academic backgrounds, are engaged in sectors with higher technology and provide products and services with higher added value, said Zhang Guangnan, assistant dean of the institute.They have been attracted by the world manufacturers and world market advantage of the Chinese mainland and bank on their international networks.On their challenges, Zhang said the policy support from the local governments should be better communicated and more tailor-made to facilitate entrepreneurship of Hong Kong and Macao youths on the mainland.? design your own wristbandsilicone fidget spinnerblack rubber wristbandscustom rubber wristbandscustom rubber bands
Cambodia's Prime Minister and president of Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen looks at the ballot box after casting his vote during local elections in Kandal province, Cambodia June 4, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] KANDAL, Cambodia - Since early Sunday morning, Cambodian voters have queued at polling stations across the country, waiting their turns to cast ballots in the 4th commune elections. Cambodians are confident that their votes will bring good leaders to their villages and communes. The election is crucial to electing good commune chiefs and councilors who care about the people and devote their physical and mental energies to commune and village development, 56-year-old businesswoman Seang Chantheng told Xinhua after casting her vote at a polling station in the southern Kandal province. She revealed that she voted for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) since the party has brought full peace and development to the country. The party I trust, the party I have always supported is the Cambodian People's Party and today I voted for the party, she said. Eang Dane, 19, a high-school student in the capital of Phnom Penh, said she also cast her ballot for the CPP and believed that only leaders from the CPP could bring real development to the grassroots people. It was the first time I have voted, I'm really happy, she told Xinhua after voting at a station in Phnom Penh. I love the CPP because the party has brought peace and development to our country. Dane was confident that the CPP would continue to win the elections for further development in communes and villages, especially the development of roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. Kim Sokhonn, a 46-year-old housewife who voted at a polling station in Kandal province, said she felt free to vote for the party she liked, and there was no intimidation. I hope that all political parties will accept the election results. I don't want to see the situation like it was in 2013, she told Xinhua, referring to the national elections in July 2013 in which the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) did not recognize the election results and staged mass protests for months. Twelve political parties have contested in Sunday's elections, with the ruling CPP and the opposition CNRP being the major contestants, according to the National Election Committee (NEC). CPP President and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen voted at a polling station near his mansion in Kandal province, roughly 10 km south of the capital on Sunday, while CNRP President Kem Sokha cast his ballot in Phnom Penh. Hun Sen said during an election campaign on Friday that he was confident that the CPP would continue to win the majority in the polls. There is only the CPP that has sufficient capacity to govern Cambodia and to maintain the country's peace and development, he said, adding that the party has more than 5 million members. Approximately 7.87 million eligible voters are expected to vote in the elections which are held to elect 11,572 commune chiefs and councilors for the kingdom's 1,646 communes. The preliminary election results are expected on Sunday evening and the official results will be released 21 days after the votes. Held every five years, the commune elections are seen as a bellwether of the ruling party's support ahead of the national elections in July 2018. In the last commune elections in June 2012, the CPP gained 61.9 percent of the votes, compared to about 30.6 percent for the opposition.
