Tourism diversification as solution to solving pandemic crisis

Secretary for Social Affairs Ao Ieong U (center, right)

Non-gaming tourism activities have been presented as a possible solution for shielding Macau from future crises such as the one presented currently by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U made the acknowledgment yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL) during a question and answer session with the lawmakers on the sectorial discussion of the government’s policy address for what remains of 2020.
Investment in medical tourism and sports tourism were two of the suggestions made by several legislators to “kill two birds with one stone.” On the one side it would solve the problem of the dependency on the gaming industry and, on the other, it helps Macau to pursue its role as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure.
In reply to the suggestions of several lawmakers including Zheng Anting, Ma Chi Seng, and Chui Sai Peng, among others, Secretary Ao Ieong said that the government is already working towards making that a reality. Nevertheless, Ao Ieong added that for the time being there is the impossibility of developing medical tourism due to the lack of both facilities and human resources.
Developing on the topic, the Secretary said, “we have been training specialized physicians to face our current and growing needs.”
“After the Islands District Medical Complex is built, we can think about launching a few projects on medical tourism, but since we do not have this [facility] yet, we do not have the conditions to launch this idea,” said the Secretary.
While the medical tourism idea is unlikely to be completed in the short or even mid-term, the secretary indicated that sports tourism is a far more viable option.
“What we want to do, and we know that the Sports Bureau [ID] is under great pressure because of this, is to host in Macau one international-level sports event every month,” Ao Ieong said. “Besides the International Marathon, the Dragon Boat Races and the Grand Prix that are already events with a great tradition […] we want to add others of the same [caliber] in other months of the year.”
According to the Secretary, the idea is to start as early as next month with Ao Ieong advancing that besides the Dragon Boat races scheduled to take place in late June, a table-tennis competition is also being planned.
Ao Ieong also advanced that the Macau Golf Open will be held this year and that the ID is in negotiations to host a football event that includes the participation of European teams, tentatively over the summer.
“We are trying to invite some football teams from Europe to compete in Macau Stadium but this [event] is very dependent on the pandemic conditions until then,” she said.

Talent training
vs recruiting
One of the other themes that prompted several questions by the legislators yesterday was on the dichotomy between training local residents to be able to perform some specialized tasks or hiring qualified professionals from abroad to do them.
Right at the opening of the AL session, lawmaker Lam Lon Wai questioned the Secretary on the training of qualified staff members and the amendment of the ratio between locals and those hired from abroad. On the same topic, lawmaker Lam also wanted to know how the government is planning to attract Macau people living abroad to return.
The Secretary replied that as Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng had mentioned earlier, the “Talent Committee will study the feasibility of having a department dedicated to evaluating overseas candidates. This will include a jury that will evaluate the candidates under a fair and rigorous criteria.”
On how to plan the attraction and fast integration in the job market of locals studying abroad, Ao Ieong revealed that it is one of the reasons and tasks that justify the integration of the Higher Education Bureau (DSES) into the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ).
“After the merging of DSEJ and DSES we will use big data to analyze the courses and needs on the market to try to adjust the courses [at universities] or prepare to future needs.”
After lawmaker Chan Hong said that there is an interest from several students that have returned to Macau during the pandemic period to complete their studies in Macau, the Secretary responded that the government will study how to help these students be placed in local universities.
‘National education
is an important matter’
One of the topics addressed in detail yesterday was the development of national education in the SAR under the motto of “Love the Country, Love Macau.”
“National education is a very important matter,” said Secretary Ao Ieong. “We have already started to advance on this topic and we have the flag-raising ceremonies hosted in every school and we are also teaching the [Chinese] anthem to the students as well as the history of China.”
Lawmaker Sulu Sou asked if the teaching of national education would oppose the development of free-thinking citizens as the government indicates on its goals for education. Ao Ieong replied that the aforementioned “Love the Country, Love Macau” is not just a slogan. “Youngsters will feel, see and hear about this in several ways. We incentivize them to go on trips in the mainland and learn more about the history, the culture and the habits. I do not believe that this is in any way a contradiction with having a free-thinking spirit.”
On the same topic, lawmaker Chan Hong also proposed that Hengqin would be the ideal place to set up a base camp for national education. But Ao Ieong refuted the suggestion, saying that “for the time being, we want to have a ‘proximity approach’,” hinting that such topics should be addressed in local schools and the communities.

Elderly housing program targets walk-up buildings
Responding to questions related to livelihood issues for senior citizens, namely the government program titled “Elderlies Residence”, the Secretary clarified that the government will prioritize relocating elderly residents living in walk-up buildings to residential buildings that offer improved accessibility.
The government expects to make about 2,000 housing units available for this program.
Ao Ieong said that those living in walk-up buildings and that have mobility difficulties will be the priority of this program, explaining that the idea is that these people can rent their houses to the younger people and with the income generated by the rentals, pay for their rental in a new and barrier-free building. In some cases, these residences will have access to other door-to-door services, such as meal delivery and even healthcare.