Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, said Wednesday that the Hong Kong government was discussing the possibility of launching a “travel bubble” with Macau.
Lam was responding to questions from the Hong Kong Legislative Council about the process of reopening borders, revealing she had discussed the border arrangement between Hong Kong and Macau with Macau’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng at last week’s Boao Forum for Asia.
“I discussed this topic with him (Ho Iat Seng),” Lam said. “And we followed up on this issue as soon as we got back to Hong Kong, to see how to implement a Hong Kong-Macau travel bubble.
“The major problem is that Macau and the mainland (China) have almost resumed normal interactions, so we have to find a way to prevent Hong Kong travelers from visiting the mainland without undergoing quarantine after crossing into Macau.”
Lam did not provide any further details around the timing or inner workings of any potential quarantine-free measures with Macau.
Hong Kong is set to start its first “air travel bubble” with Singapore from 26 May with the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong now stabilizing.
Notably, Macau officials said this week that they had not started any discussions with anyone around launching a “travel bubble” with other regions.
