Ho Iat Seng to announce major public administration reform Monday

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng will announce the restructure of several key government departments in his first Policy Address on Monday, according to public broadcaster Radio Macau.

According to the broadcaster, the restructure will include the transfer of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) from under the purview of the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture to that of the Secretariat for Economy and Finance.

The MGTO’s main responsibility is to implement and analyze the tourism policies of the Macau SAR. However, it also organizes and coordinates some of Macau’s largest events, including the annual Macau International Fireworks Display Contest and the International Film Festival and Awards – Macau (IFFAM).

The restructure will also see the Higher Education Bureau (DSES), which is responsible for tertiary education in Macau, integrated into the general education authority, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ). Radio Macau also reported that DSES director Sou Chio Fai, who has led the bureau since he ceased to be DSEJ director in 2011, is expected to retire in August.

The Office for the Development of the Energy Sector will be placed under the scope of the Environmental Protection Bureau, Radio Macau said.

Secretary Ao Ieong U heads the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture in the Macau SAR – a diverse portfolio with interests spanning healthcare, education, sports and promotion of the arts – while Lei Wai Nong presides over the Secretariat for Economy and Finance.

The secretaries were both appointed to their roles for the first time by Ho Iat Seng in December last year. Both have frequented the daily press conferences organized by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center since January to brief the public on matters related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Public administration reform was one of Ho Iat Seng’s major manifesto pledges during his candidacy for Chief Executive.

The major shakeup dwarfs the minor departmental restructure seen during Chui Sai On’s second term as Chief Executive, when several public entities were transferred to the authority of the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Sports Bureau from the now-defunct Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, itself restructured as the Municipal Affairs Bureau in January 2019.

Updated with additional information, April 16, 9:30 p.m.