Macao businesswoman Melinda Chan Mei Yi has called for multi-currency venture capital funds, private equity investment funds and the like to be set up to attract foreign investment in the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone on Hengqin Island, which abuts Macao, the Macao Daily News reports.

The newspaper quotes Ms Chan, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Guangdong Provincial Committee, as saying in an interview that putting into effect the master plan for the zone, which was made public last week, can help make the economy of Macao more diverse.

The availability of financial services would induce companies in China and the lusophone world that engage in business in Macao to settle their accounts in renminbi in the Hengqin zone, the Macao Daily News quotes Ms Chan as saying.