On February 5, the 2021 Greater Bay Area Engineers Forum was successfully held in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. Numerous leaders attended and addressed the opening ceremony, including Zhang Yuzhuo, Vice President (in charge of daily work) and Chief Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of CAST, Wang Xi, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Li Weinong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government and Director of the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Wu Wei, Head of the Department of Exchange and Cooperation of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, and Huang Weilun, Director of the Development Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Wang Jinzhan, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CAST, presided over the opening ceremony.

According to Zhang Yuzhuo, engineering technology can change the world and serves as an essential impetus to the progress of human civilization. Engineers should undertake the important mission of promoting innovation in engineering technology and global sustainable development. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is standing at the forefront of China’s reform in the new era in terms of deepening reform, expanding opening up, accelerating institutional innovation and launching pilot programs. In order to build a model of high-quality development in the area, Chinese engineers need to forge ahead by making innovations and promoting friendly exchanges between the people. Engineers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao are supposed to make concerted efforts to expand openness, strengthen trust and deepen cooperation.

Important outcomes were produced during the forum, including the renewed cooperation agreement signed between the CAST and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), with Zhang Yuzhuo and Ir Edwin Chung Kwok-fai, President of the HKIE, as representatives respectively. Another outcome was the agreement for mutual recognition of the qualifications of electrical engineers signed between the HKIE and Guangdong Society Electrical Engineering (GSEE), represented by Chung and Li Jianshe, President of the GSEE, respectively.

The theme of the 2021 Greater Bay Area Engineers Forum was “Pool the wisdom of engineering elites to foster Greater Bay Area development”. The event was hosted by the CSE, with the CAST, the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) as guiding units. Besides, professional bodies including the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology, the CAST Center for Professional Training and Services, and 35 engineering technology institutions in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, assisted in the organization of the event. The forum was held both online and offline, composed of one main forum, two sub-forums and one symposium. Its topics mainly cover six aspects: sustainable development underpinned by engineering, innovative and integrated development of engineering technology in the Greater Bay Area, technological achievements transformation in the engineering field, career planning of young engineers and the development of the Greater Bay Area, differences of engineering standards in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as young engineers training and talent mobility. The main venue was located in Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and a branch venue was set up in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The event was live-streamed online.