More companies need to obtain international certification

Helena Lei, senior manager of the CPTTM at the session, yesterday

The Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center (CPTTM) conducted an information session yesterday, during which the center introduced the concept of international management quality certifications, the testing of support services and the funding that the CPTTM provides to companies.
Throughout the session, Helena Lei, senior manager of the CPTTM, pointed out that 41 percent of local companies which hold international certifications are in the service industry.
According to Lei, from 1993 to 1996, only seven ISO9000 quality management certifications were issued in Macau. These companies were established either in Hong Kong or overseas, only later creating manufacturing facilities, offices or branches in the MSAR. By the end of last year, local companies in Macau collectively held a total of 355 worldwide recognized certifications.
Besides the certifications issued to businesses in the service industry, which cover the majority, 22 percent of the certifications were obtained by companies in the construction industry, followed by a significant share held by the clothing industry.
The gaming industry also applied for certain certifications, which, in Lei’s words, allow big corporations, such as casinos, “to require outsourced companies to comply with certain requirements.”
The first generation of companies that started to apply to certified systems can be traced back to the 1980s.
“Back then, only large organizations, such as construction and public departments, made applications,” Lei clarified. She encouraged local small and medium-sized companies to apply for funding from CPTTM in order to facilitate the process toward obtaining international certification. Staff reporter