The APEC Tourism meeting in September is a golden opportunity to promote Macao’s image in the world and one of the most important events to mark its 15th anniversary as a Special Administrative Region (SAR).
That is the judgement of Alexis Tam Chon Weng, the Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, spokesman of the government and the general secretary of the committee preparing the event. It has been working for six months, with a great sense of responsibility, to make the meeting a great success that will be remembered for a long time.
Macao has been working with the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The event was announced last year by Vice-Premier Wang Yang during a ministerial meeting of the Macau Forum in the SAR. It has mobilised hundreds of civil servants fromdifferent departments, including tourism, education, media and security, for the organisation.
“Macao will gain international recognition and visibility,” Tam said in an interview with Macao magazine. “It is a golden opportunity to promote Macao’s image to the world. This is one of the most important events to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of Macao Special Administrative Region.”
He said that the government wanted to take the opportunity to make participants atthe APEC meeting understand the successful implementation of the principle of ‘one–country and two systems’ and the stability and harmony of Macao.
“The meeting will generate a momentum to present Macao as a world tourism and leisure centre. We also want the representatives of the 21 countries and regions who will be in the territory to appreciate the cultural heritage of Macao where Western and Eastern cultures met many centuries ago,” he said.
The meeting is also an opportunity to forge future co-operation and closer relations in the tourism sector with the countries and regions that will attend.
“We would like to make friends with other countries and promote Macao at a bigger,international level. This meeting is a great opportunity to achieve these objectives. Hundreds of representatives of the 21 countries and regions of APEC will be in Macao,” he said.
Tam said it was a great honour for Macao to host this big international event that starts September 13. “The choice of Macao reflects the full support of the central government of the PRC for the Macao government and its trust in the government’scapacity to organise the event. It is a vote of confidence given to Macao by the centralgovernment.”
The tourism forum was first held in Seoul, the capital of Republic of Korea, in July 2000. (macaunews/Macaomagazine)
