Melco promotes local SME prosperity and development | supporting Macau’s national development integration through ‛Follow your dreams’ seminar for colleagues

To provide colleagues with practical knowledge of the Greater Bay Area’s business and entrepreneurship opportunities, Melco Resorts and Entertainment hosted a seminar titled “Follow your Dreams.”
Melco supports the government’s direction for development in the Greater Bay Area. 300 of its colleagues were invited to participate in the virtual and in-person event, where young entrepreneurs in Macau and the Greater Bay Area spoke about business environment and development opportunities.
Attendees Mr. Chan Hon Sang, Deputy Director of Economic and Technological Development Bureau; Mr. Zhao Su, Assistant to Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Mr. Li Juren, President, Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association; Mr. Frankie Wong, Vice President, Macau Youth Greater Bay Area Development Association and Ms. Leong Lai San, Sanna, Manager, Investor Service Department, Business Development Services Division, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute were welcomed to the event by Melco representatives including Dr. Kent Wong, Chief Advisor; and Mr. Stanley Chan, Senior Vice President, Resorts Operations.
Dr. Kent Wong, Chief Advisor of Melco Resorts and Entertainment, said, “The GDP of the Guangdong-
Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is close to US$1.7 trillion. It is one of the most open and economically vigorous regions in the country, and which has huge development potential.
With the region’s continued development, the area’s business environment has seen great improvement to bring us unprecedented new opportunities.
Dr. Wong expressed hopes that after the event, “our colleagues will have gained a deeper understanding of the job market and workplace culture in the Greater Bay Area, so that goals can be set for their future development and to encourage colleagues to bravely pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.”

The heart of roadshows
To further help local SME suppliers to explore business opportunities, Melco has also hosted Heart-of-House Roadshows in the employee-only areas of City of Dreams, Studio City and Altira since the beginning of 2020.
During a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the global economy, Melco hosted a total of around 90 roadshows, supporting a total of about 100 local SME suppliers and NGOs who were invited to exhibit and sell products including electronics, food and wine, household items, personal care, skin care, and seasonal decorations.
Providing opportunities for promotion and direct sales to 16,000 colleagues working in the Melco Macau properties, the event successfully created a total of nearly MOP6.5 million in total sales. As of May this year alone, Melco has held about 30 innovative road shows in the Heart-of-House for employees, creating a total turnover of nearly 2.8 million MOP for more than 40 local SMEs and NGOs.

Further to promoting sustainable economic growth and prosperity for local SMEs through Heart-of-House roadshows, Melco’s commitment to SME success is also implemented through ongoing programs such as Melco SME Academy, the “Knowing You, Knowing Us” campaign and Express Payment Scheme.
Melco SME Academy offers training and business development opportunities for SMEs to become better equipped in the face of challenge, while the ‘Knowing You, Knowing Us’ campaign enables SMEs and Melco to better understand each other’s requirements, standards and offerings. The fast track payment initiative – Express Payment Scheme – was launched to ensure Melco’s SME partners will be paid within 14 days of receipt of deliverables with aim to ease cash flow pressures and help suppliers overcome the challenges of these unprecedented times.
This drive was highlighted by Ms. Akiko Takahashi, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff to Chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts and Entertainment, Mr. Lawrence Ho:
“Melco continues to gladly support and collaborate with local SMEs and NGOs through our innovative Heart-of-House roadshow series to help vendors generate revenue as well as market exposure, especially through the unprecedented challenges of the past 1.5 years.”
She added that via roadshows and further ongoing programs such as the Melco SME Academy, the ‘Knowing You, Knowing Us’ campaign and Express Payment Scheme, “we strive to continue realizing our commitment to the local community – to enhance SME prosperity and to help local businesses succeed.”