Committee continues studies into how to nurture local talent

Chui Sai On (center) presided over the first ordinary session of the Talents Development Committee in 2015

Four local tertiary education institutions are currently undertaking a joint research project into five dominant industries in the city, with the resulting data serving to assist the Talents Development Committee in formulating its policies about nurturing local talent, revealed the committee’s secretary-general Sou Chio Fai following the year’s first plenary conference held yesterday afternoon.
Sou Chio Fai says that authorities are considering the possible refinement of a continuing education fund to enable the grant to cover the cost of professional training and its certification from abroad.
Sou, also the head of the Tertiary Education Services Office, told the media that the five industries, which the commission members were inclined to first address rather than targeting other minor industries in the city, included hotel management, event coordination, retail, gaming and catering, to which a majority of local manpower has been devoted.
“The committee chose to select the city’s bigger industries. For example, in the gaming industry, according to the data at hand, the employee number reaches more than 50,000, which is surely a big number out of the close to 400,000 laborers in Macau,” said the official, who then added that the data would be most influential in areas of policymaking that facilitate local citizens’ upward mobility.
Furthermore, as another committee member, Van Iat Kio said, ongoing research by other groups or organizations in tandem with the efforts of local universities could also be of value to the database.  The preliminary results of this database will hopefully be released next month after the committee’s approval.
Despite the existing MOP6,000 education subsidy which was put in place in 2014, the committee admits that this amount might not be helpful when it comes to certain internationally-accredited training programs and courses, which usually require much more financial support. Yet the authorities believe that the SAR government was not solely responsible in that regard, and was also linked to personal achievement and the wellbeing at local enterprises.
“But is it all the government’s responsibility? The answer was a ‘no’ during our discussion. Enterprises are also responsible for it. The certification obtained is also beneficial to them, and also to one himself,” said Sou. “How to share the benefits among the related stakeholders who also need to afford the resource, to a point where communication and integration will be achieved among various organizations offering different subventions for the sake of local professional development has always been our work.”
Even so, the official conceded afterwards that the details of such an idea were yet to be elaborated on. Staff reporter