With the rapid development of the catering, health care and beauty industry, IFT has approached the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) and ITEC, an international specialist examination board providing quality qualifications in beauty and spa therapy, hairdressing, complimentary therapies, sports and fitness training, and customer service, and has successfully obtained the accreditations to offer the courses and exams of the two organisations. Currently, IFT has developed partnerships with 13 international organisations to offer nearly 70 internationally recognised courses and accreditations. SCAE is a training organisation aiming to create and inspire excellence in the coffee community through innovation, research, education and communication. Its Coffee Diploma System (CDS) provides practical knowledge and techniques on all aspects of the specialty coffee sector, requiring learners to master the skills from roasting to running a coffee bar. Lately, IFT offered one of the modules of its Coffee Diploma and received very good response from the public. Course participants who have attended no less than 80% of the class and passed the written and practical exams will obtain a course certificate by IFT and an official SCAE certificate, which can be counted as 10 credits in SCAE Coffee Diploma System. For the area of the health care and beauty studies, IFT has obtained the accreditation from ITEC to offer courses and exams in aromatherapy, make-up, manicure & pedicure, diet & nutrition and holistic massage. Being a leading international specialist examination board in U.K. for nearly seventy years, ITEC has established over 655 registered institutes globally, providing quality qualifications in beauty and spa therapy. With increasingly fierce competition in the labour market, international qualifications can enable employees to manifest their professionalism and serve as an important part in their career upward mobility. Therefore, IFT has always been trying its utmost to develop partnership with international organisations to offer more internationally recognised courses and qualifications, in order for the public and industry professionals to enhance their professional skills so as to promote the development of the industry. Since the 1990s, IFT has been offering the International Travel Agent Foundation Course of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In 2001, with the support and the joint efforts of the European Union and local industry, the Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System (MORS) was developed. Besides, a number of international mega resorts and hotels have opened in Macao in these recent years, and the society has developed rapidly and faced severe manpower drought. Therefore, IFT has been successively expanding its list of international partners with the renowned training and certification organisations, including the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Servsafe®, International Bartenders Association (IBA), London Chamber of Commerce (LCCI), Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School, Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (CIBTAC), American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AH&LEI), Court of Master Sommelier and Burgundy Wine School. The current scope of accreditations includes culinary arts, nutrition, food security, catering and hospitality, accounting, management, public relations, supervision, retail, information technology and advertising. Through offering the extensive international qualifications, IFT hopes that the pressing needs of local professionals can be relieved, and at the same time, the working population can be motivated to raise their qualifications which will help the local industries to grow more professionally.
