Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has appointed Alexis Tam, former Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, as the director of the Macao Economic and Trade Office to the World Trade Organization, as announced in an Executive Order.
Prior to this appointment, the former government secretary already held the directorship at the Macao Economic and Trade Offices to the European Union in Brussels and to Portugal in Lisbon, and is expected to retain these two posts.
Tam’s appointment representing Macau to the WTO will take effect on May 1. He will replace Fung Ping Kuen, according to the government’s staff portal.
Although Macau is not a sovereign country, it is a member of the WTO. The Economic Bureau recorded that Macau is a founding member of the organization overseeing global trade.
After the change of sovereignty, Macau retained its membership of the organization because, according to the bureau, Macau and mainland China are two independent customs territories.
Such membership can be retained under the stipulations of the Basic Law, particularly Article 137. Meanwhile, Articles 136 and 138 respectively stipulate Macau’s right to bridge international exchange and the enactment of international treaties in Macau.
“Furthermore, it is also stipulated in the Basic Law that Macau shall continuously effectuate its free trade policy with freedom in the movement of goods, intangible assets and capital,” the Economic Bureau explained. AL
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