Recently, HK.08279 announced that it will acquire Macau Octopus, known as Macau Octopus, for HK $778 million, and the buyer and seller have reached a transfer agreement on all equity interests, pending regulatory approval and other relevant conditions in Hong Kong and Macau to implement the transaction.

As Macau's leading payment service provider, Macau Tong is a licensed "other credit institution" under the Macau Monetary Authority and is the most commonly used contactless smart payment card in Macau. Initially, the main service bus fare system was expanded to other public transport, car parks, government services, retail consumption and catering services and other payment scenarios. It can also be customized to add functions such as key cards, employee cards and membership cards. More than 3 million copies have been issued so far.

However, with Macau Tong launched in 2007, but the development can only be said to be stable, we can also see that although Macao's local enterprises look forward to the layout of electronic payment, but how to develop the atmosphere is lacking. In recent years, the catalysis of the COVID-19 epidemic and the continuous policy east wind have created new opportunities to promote Macao's development of emerging fields and economic diversity, and the introduction of external forces and cooperation can catalyze the process of economic development in the region.

We can still take electronic payment as an example. during the epidemic, Macao introduced economic contingency measures for online subsidies or consumption vouchers to promote the economic recovery of people's livelihood in the region and accelerate the popularization of electronic payment in the region at the same time. Among the optional electronic payment tools that ordinary people need to open, they include MPay under Macau Tong and Alipay (Macau) and so on. Under the general trend of electronic payment, merchants and banks have also accelerated their integration, driving down overall fees.

According to the "payment Card and Mobile payment Statistics for the first quarter of 2021" released by the Macao Monetary Authority in May this year, the number of local mobile payment transactions in the first quarter of 2021 was 34.73 million, an increase of 40.9% on a quarter-on-quarter basis; the total transaction volume was 3.1 billion, an increase of 31.5% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, reflecting the rising trend of mobile payment usage and total transaction volume in the Macao market. From a long-term perspective, the full popularization of electronic payments will not only benefit the people of Macao, but also deepen the infrastructure connectivity between Macao and the mainland, and make full preparations for tapping the market of 1.4 billion people.

With regard to this cooperation, Macau Tongfang believes that in the future, shareholders and their affiliated groups will also adhere to the principles of convenience and universality and continue to provide quality services to the people of Macao. The successful implementation of this transfer will help promote the further transformation and upgrading of electronic payment, mobile finance and digital economy in Macau.

Especially in the context of the recent introduction of the "General Plan for the Construction of Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone" in the mainland, we can see that Hengqin is making great efforts to explore a set of tailor-made development model, with promoting the diversified development of Macao's economy as the core content. gradually radiate the livelihood, employment and entrepreneurship of Macao residents. Through infrastructure, industrial incubation and cultivation, the efficient flow of enterprises, capital and talents between the two places has been gradually realized.

From this, we can see that the trend of deep cooperation between the two places is irreversible, and it also provides a golden opportunity for the development of Macao. Macao needs to grasp the critical period of development. On the one hand, it can focus on the business opportunities and markets in the mainland and participate in the great cycle of the mainland. On the other hand, it can also work with the Great Bay area to expand overseas markets, promote the international cycle, break the bottleneck of past development, and promote sustainable economic development in an all-round way.