Hong Kong and Macao are gearing up for the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Co-operation and Development Forum that will be held in the two SARs and Guangzhou next week.

The PPRD region believes that economic co-operation can greatly enhance the economies of the nine participating provinces and the SARs.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has declared that the city will go all out in its participation effort.

The forum will open in Hong Kong on June 1, followed by further discussion in Macao on June 2, and finish in Guangzhou on June 3.

Zhang Dejiang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony in Hong Kong.

Officials with a number of functional departments of the central government and senior leaders from the nine participating provinces and regions will also attend to formulate a blueprint for the economic circle which is generally viewed as a new pole of economic growth for the country.

Welcoming the forum, Tung said in a statement that regional economic development was inevitable.

"Regional economic development is an inevitable trend," he said. "The new concept of PPRD is yet another breakthrough in economic co-operation between Hong Kong and the mainland following the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

"Economic co-operation and development in the PPRD region can greatly expand our economic hinterland and enhance our business opportunities."

Tung said the initiative boded well for Hong Kong in the areas of logistics, investment, professional services and tourism.

He vowed that "Hong Kong will spare no effort in taking part in this co-operation".

On a regional level, he said the new concept would also be conducive to enhancing the overall competitiveness and co-ordination in the PPRD.

Tung was pleased that Hong Kong was chosen to host the opening of the forum. This reflected again the support given and the importance attached to Hong Kong by the central government.

Aside from Hong Kong and Macao, the PPRD region -- also known as the "9+2" -- involves the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.

The theme of the forum is "Prosperity through Partnership".

In Macao, Chief Executive Edmund Ho has been soliciting advice from his think tank ahead of the forum to find out how best Macao could participate in the economic circle. A Macao government spokesman said yesterday Ho convened his think tank earlier this week to discuss Macao's role.

He said the government attached great importance to the forum, aware that a concerted effort in the region would mean a golden opportunity for Macao to be integrated in the country's regional economic growth.

Ho believed that Pearl River economic integration was a direction that Macao had to move along since it could broaden the economic scope of the SAR.

However, he warned that Macao should guard against quick success and instant benefit from regional co-operation, hoping that the SAR could conduct sufficient research and self-building to make itself more ready for economic integration.

It was important to know what advantages and disadvantages Macao had in order to pursue mutually-complementary co-operation with other members in the region, he said.

(China Daily HK Edition May 27, 2004)