The government said yesterday that the 8th Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Tourism Ministers Meeting (TMM) will be held on September 12 and 13, while the organisation’s 45th Meeting of the Tourism Working Group will be held between September 8 and 11.
It’s the first time that Macau will host an APEC meeting. Unlike the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Macau is not an APEC member, whose membership consists of 21 “economies” from the Pacific Rim.
The event will cost the local government about 75 million patacas.
Earlier this year, the central government decided to move a meeting of APEC finance ministers from Hong Kong to Beijing, which is slated to be held in September as well.
Alexis Tam Chon Weng, the government’s chief spokesperson who is the general secretary of the preparatory committee for the local APEC meetings, made the remarks during a press conference at Government Headquarters.
Tam, who heads the office of Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and Government Information Bureau (GCS) Director Victor Chan Chi Ping jointly hosted yesterday’s press conference to announce details of the two meetings.
According to the press conference, the two meetings and related activities will last for a whole week, from September 8 to September 14. The two-day APEC Tourism Ministers Meeting will be held at Macau Dome in Cotai while the 45th Meeting of the Tourism Working Group, which is customarily held before the ministers meeting, will take place in the Four Seasons Hotel in Cotai.
Tam said he was confident the meetings will be “successful”.
He also said that the preparations for the meetings had gone smoothly and the government was well prepared.
When asked by reporters as to whether any national leader will come to Macau for the ministerial-level meeting, Tam said that it was “still too early” for the central government to make any announcements. However, he said he believed that there will be a national leader attending the meeting.
Tam also said he believed that the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Judiciary Police (PJ) are capable of ensuring public security and the protection of the about 500 guests thus” there is no need to ask for external support.”
He also said that any protests during the APEC meetings would be allowed as long as they were being held in line with the law. (macaunews/macaupost)
