The government confirmed yesterday that the city’s outgoing tourism chief will become the full-time head of the Macau Grand Prix Committee from 20 December for the next two years.
The appointment of veteran Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Joao Manuel Costa Antunes was published in the Official Gazette (BO) Wednesday.
A note attached to the appointment signed by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U said that Costa Antunes had the necessary “professional competence and aptitude” to be the committee’s full-time chief.
Costa Antunes, a structural engineer by profession, has headed the Macau Grand Prix Committee on a part-time and ex-officio basis (in his capacity as MGTO director) since 2002. He headed the committee’s predecessor (Macau Grand Prix Organising Committee) between 1988 and 2001.
Costa Antunes, aged 62, has been MGTO director since 1988, with a one-year interruption between December 1998 and December 1999 when he headed the Handover Ceremony Co-ordination Office.(macaunews)
Costa Antunes, who moved from Portugal to Macau in 1983, is the current president of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). (macaunews)
