Liaison Office’s deputy director supports hiring non-local drivers

Yao Jian, deputy director of the Liaison Office, said that in regard to “Macau’s future, we must make a proper opening, otherwise, we have no future”. His answer followed the question whether Macau should open its market to non-local occupational drivers, according to a report by Cheng Pou.
While attending an event on financial human resources last week, the media had posed the above question to Yao. Yao pointed out that the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) are making important contributions to the city’s labour protection.
However, the deputy director believes that for the sake of the future of Macau, the city should allow more people to join the labour market competition because development only comes from competition.
Recently, the city’s employers have been urging the authority to allow them to hire non-local occupational drivers. Representatives of the employees, such as the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, on the other hand, strongly oppose this proposal.
FAOM held a press conference on the same day, immediately after Yao’s statement. The association stated that its stance remains the same. “We reaffirm that we are against Macau importing non-local drivers, dealers and superintendents.”
When asked about whether it considers the Liaison Office to be pressuring the government and associations on the above issues, the union believes that the core point of Yao’s statement is finding ways to push forward Macau’s development and to protect Macau’s employment.
The Liaison Office issued a notice, last Saturday, praising FAOM’s efforts in helping to improve the abilities and competitiveness of local human resources.
In the notice, it is mentioned that Yao, on many different occasions, has said that Macau will have a relatively high demand for highly-qualified professionals. It further mentions that Yao hopes that the trade union can keep exploring opportunities and development space for Macau residents, especially for the young generations.