SCL awards SMEs for excellence, concludes another round oftraining

Resort operator Sands China Ltd. (SCL) highlighted its cooperation with local SMEs with an award ceremony over the weekend as well as conducting a graduation ceremony for the 13th and 14th cohorts of its Sands Procurement Academy.

In compliance with the government’s call to nurture and support local businesses, the resort operator has purchased services and products from local businesses, most of them SMEs, since its inauguration.

So far, 2,000 service or product providers have cooperated or are in cooperation with the resort operator, Dr Wilfred Wong, president of SCL, said during his speech at the event.

Officially referred to as the Sans Supplier Excellence Awards, the accolade is conferred upon vendors providing commendable services or products. There are seven categories: small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME), corporate culture and sustainability, cost management, service excellence, project management, total quality management and innovation.

The 2023 Awards were bestowed upon Aon Hong Kong Ltd. – Macau Branch for corporate culture and sustainability, Angel Macau Ltd. for innovation, YH Engineering Company Ltd. for cost management, Matrix Event Planning and Exhibition Ltd. for quality management, China Construction Engineering (Macau) Company Ltd. for project management, Maxtime Food (Macau) Ltd. for service excellence and Iat Lei Stationery Ltd. for SME.

Wong said the 2023 award ceremony was held in 2024 because of challenges in securing venue bookings. Elaborating, the executive said that the enterprise’s own venues were fully booked by concerts and MICE events.

With 26% of its MOP8.4 billion procurement expenditure last year going to local SMEs, the resort operator also celebrated two cohorts of graduates from its procurement academy alongside the award ceremony.

Organized in collaboration with the Macao Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM) since 2017, the academy trains local SMEs to meet international standards and expectations so that they be on par with SCL requirements and be able to close deals externally.

Participating local SME suppliers learn through tailor-made practical training modules, presented by lecturers with diverse expertise. The program’s modules comprise six topics: quality assurance, Macau labour law fundamentals, logistics management, procurement process and system overview, supplier code of conduct, and procurement contract basics.

The ceremony saw 69 enterprises graduating from the training program. Wong thanked the MCC and the CPTTM for their support. Since 2017, the academy has trained 524 local SMEs, with 485 having graduated.