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The 13^th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO 2017) will be held from January 12 to 14 at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, under the theme of Embracing Change, expecting to attract nearly 800 elites of global Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition (MICE) industry and business men to attend. This year’s Forum emphasizes the invitation to the representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries, in order to highlight Macao’s role as the cooperation platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.CEFCO 2017 is co-organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), and the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO), and jointly coordinated by the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). To deepen the media’s understanding of this year’s Forum, following the press conference held in Beijing on December 12, 2016, another press conference was held in Macao today (January 10, 2017), and IPIM Executive Director, Irene V. K. Lau and Deputy Director of the Department of Exposition of the CCOIC, Wang Rui introduced the latest preparations of CEFCO 2017.According to Irene V. K. Lau, she was very pleased that Macao became the first region besides Mainland China to hold the Forum, and she believed that this Forum will serve as affirmation to the development of Macao MICE industry and promote the communication and cooperation between Macao’s exhibition companies and their overseas and domestic peers, so that professionals of the international convention and exhibition industry could better understand the advantages of Macao´s MICE market, including policy advantages. As a matter of fact, the 13th Five-Year Plan of the People’s Republic of China continues to support Macao to actively develop industries such as convention, exhibition and trade. The Macao SAR Government provides a series of support to the organizers and participants in trade fairs. In terms of advantages in hardware and software, Macao offers over 190 thousand square meters of large-scale international convention and exhibition venues as well as hotel and catering facilities. The scale and professional level of the convention and exhibition professionals also continues to rise, providing strong support for promoting the internationalization and professional development of Macao´s MICE industry. In turn, Wang Rui believed that Macau, through this Forum, could demonstrate to the global MICE sector its unique charm.During CEFCO 2017, “Global CEO Roundtable” will be held for the first time. Besides, there will be 3 plenary sessions, 4 sub-group meetings and 4 thematic lectures. On the sessions and meetings, important topics such as “Transformation of Exhibition Industry assists the Global Economic Recovery”, “Approach to Internationalization of Exhibition Companies”, “New Direction of Global MICE Industry under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative”, “Change in the Government’s role in Promoting the Development of the Exhibition Industry” and “Innovative Road of Macao MICE Industry” will be discussed. On the thematic lectures, hot innovations such as Cloud platforms and VR technology will be discussed. From the perspectives of government, enterprises and associations, it will be discussed how the global exhibition industry should seize the opportunity, embrace the challenge, and realize its transformation and development under the new circumstances where world economic recovery remains slow and China is accelerating its economic transformation and modernization.“Exhibition and negotiation area for Macao exhibition enterprises” is set up to assist enterprises in expanding business opportunitiesThis year’s Forum highlights the invitation to representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries. So far, it has been confirmed that a lot of representatives from Portuguese-speaking countries, mainly from Angola, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Portugal, will attend the Forum, which will make full use of Macao’s role as a cooperation platform and also enhance the level of internationalization of this year’s event. The Forum will bring together representatives from well-known domestic, overseas and Macao exhibition industry as guest speakers to increase the participation of Macao MICE industry, and arrange visits to Macao convention and exhibition facilities and meanwhile experiencing the cultural tourism features of Macao, so as to deepen the participants' understanding of Macao's convention and exhibition facilities as well as Macao's economy and culture. In addition, the Forum will also set up an “exhibition and negotiation area for Macao exhibition enterprises”, Macao MICE enterprises and the six gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires will participate in the event. Participants will be able to visit the exhibition area during the event and communicate with the Macao MICE enterprises, boosting cooperation with the local exhibition industry on business opportunities.Since its foundation in 2005,CEFCO has adhered to the idea of “opening-up, cooperation and win-win”. Moreover, CEFCO has actively engaged in the construction of a platform for exchange and cooperation between China and foreign countries’ exhibition industry and has been successfully held in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places for 12 consecutive years, attracting annually about 800 foreign and domestic guests from well-known Chinese and foreign exhibition companies, industry organizations, professional media, research institutions and the official entities responsible for the sector. Every year, the Forum releases China’s Exhibition Economy Development Report composed by the CCPIT, which reviews comprehensively the policies, laws, regulations, industry trends and market characteristics of China’s exhibition industry and which has become an important window for overseas and domestic MICE industry to know more about the China’s exhibition industry.
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The 13^th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO 2017) will be held from January 12 to 14 at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, under the theme of Embracing Change, expecting to attract nearly 800 elites of global Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition (MICE) industry and business men to attend. This year’s Forum emphasizes the invitation to the representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries, in order to highlight Macao’s role as the cooperation platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
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Prof Spencer Li De, associate dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Macau (UM), was recently re-elected as the president of the Asian Association for Substance Abuse Research (AASAR) for a three-year term at the organisation’s fourth annual meeting.The AASAR is a leading international association in Asia dedicated to substance abuse research. The organisation aims to promote scientific research and evidence-based prevention and treatment policies in substance abuse in Asia. Members of the association include prominent scholars, policymakers, administrators, industry practitioners, and volunteers from various countries and regions in Asia.The International Conference on Cooperation in Substance Abuse Research and Antidrug Practices in Asia 2016 was held at Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. The conference focused on multiple topics, including causes and consequences of substance abuse, drug prevention, drug treatment, and drug-related policies. More than 200 scholars, policymakers, administrators, and service providers from Asia and elsewhere discussed substance abuse research, prevention and treatment, as well as related opportunities, strategies, and challenges. During the conference, Prof Li delivered a presidential address and a keynote speech. A number of PhD students and master’s students from UM also attended the conference.
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Prof Spencer Li De, associate dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Macau (UM), was recently re-elected as the president of the Asian Association for Substance Abuse Research (AASAR) for a three-year term at the organisation’s fourth annual meeting.
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Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) conducted a two-month-long public consultation for the "Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan” last year and completed the work of sorting out and analyzing the collected opinions. The Office now publishes a compilation report of public opinions on the "Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan” collected through the public consultation as reference materials for different circles of the society so that people can learn more about the collected opinions and results of analysis.
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In the academic year 2017/2018, the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) will launch a Master of Arts in Second Language Acquisition programme for language instructors who teach Chinese, Portuguese, or English as a second language. This initiative is to meet local demand for language professionals in a multilingual environment, and to support the Macao SAR government’s plan to establish a training centre for bilingual language professionals in Macao.
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The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), in co-operation with several government bureaus under the Secretary for Economy and Finance, introduced in August 2015 a simplified “Document Submission Service for Bureaus under the Secretariat for Economy and Finance”. In June 2016, IPIM and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau jointly launched a new service for collection of notification letters regarding applications for renewal of temporary Macao residency by investors and managerial/technical professionals.
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The 28^th Macao Arts Festival (MAF), organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), will be held from the end of April to May 2017. In order to offer more performance and exchange opportunities to local dancers, IC has expressly invited renowned artist Hiroaki Umeda to lead a dance workshop in mid-February 2017. Selected dancers will take part in the production of a performance and respective rehearsals in April and May; and they will have the opportunity to participate in the performance Double Bill by Hiroaki Umeda (title to be confirmed), integrated in the 28^th MAF. Applications for the workshop are open from today. Admission is free. All interested parties are welcome to participate.Hiroaki Umeda was born in 1977 and is a multi-disciplinary artist. In addition to choreographer, he is also a dancer, sound artist and image and lighting designer. Umeda studied photography at the university, he began to devote his career in choreography at the age of 20, and started attending numerous dance lessons such as ballet, street dance and modern dance. In 2000, he founded his company, S20, subsequently earning recognition for his talent and acclaim as an original and promising young artist when he presented the piece while going to a condition at the Rencontres Chorégraphiques in France. Since then, he has often performed in stages around the world as a solo dancer. From 2008 onwards, he began to take up roles as choreographer for dance companies and he was commissioned a “choreography ten-year plan”. His works radically break the typical boundaries of dance, representing a shattered and detached manner, reflecting the existential state, anxiety and hasty nature of contemporary citizens. In the 25^th MAF, Hiroaki Umeda has brought two pieces of his works, namely Adapting for Distortion and Haptic, which were widely acclaimed.The workshop is limited to 20 participants; should applicants exceed the limit, the choreographer will select participants by analyzing the submitted documents. The workshop will be entirely conducted in English. Cantonese interpretation will be provided by the organizer if required. The regulations and application forms are available at the Cultural Affairs Building, located at Tap Siac Square, and can also be downloaded from the MAF’s website (www.icm.gov.mo/fam) under “News”. Applicants must submit (1) the application form duly filled and signed and (2) a solo dance video with a maximum duration of 3 minutes (if available) at the front desk of the Cultural Affairs Building, during office hours, or send the same by email to cklou@icm.gov.mo. The application envelope or email subject must specifically indicate “Application for Hiroaki Umeda Double Dance workshop – (candidate name)”. The deadline of the application will be on Thursday, 2 February 2017, at 5:30pm.Selected candidates for participating in the workshop will be personally notified by email or SMS; non-selected candidates will not be notified. For more information, please contact Mr. Lou through tel. no. 8399 6625, during office hours, or by email to cklou@icm.gov.mo.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price survey on diapers, over-the-counter drugs, and milk powder on 9 January for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Result of the mentioned survey has been uploaded to the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and is available in the Council’s ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page.
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The Macao Orchestra, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presented the annual “Starry Vienna - New Year Concert” on 8 January 2017, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, and invited the conductor Bruno Weil, who has been active in Austria, to bring the traditional New Year Concert in Viennese style. All tickets were sold out. The concert featured festive decorations and photography activity in a joyful atmosphere.
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