The Subgroup of Elite Developing Plan under the Talents Development Committee recently held the second meeting in the year of 2016, chaired by the Subgroup Leader Wu Zhiliang. The Committee had a discussion on the details of partnerships with University of Coimbra and New University of Lisbon from Portugal.

In order to meet the needs for talents as Macao advances, play a bigger role in connecting China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and hone the skills of talents in both language and professional areas, the Committee is discussing partnership with higher education institutions in Portugal to develop elites not only with language proficiency in both Chinese and Portuguese, but also with solid professional skills. Currently, the Committee is in working with the University of Coimbra to launch a master grants programme, which gives three extra quotas on top of the Postgraduate Scholarships provided by the Technical Commission on Granting Financial Aids for Postgraduate Studies (CTABE), creating more opportunities for Macao students to further their studies in Portugal. Besides, the Talents Development Committee is planning to launch a Lisbon MBA Funding Programme, whose courses will be jointly taught by New University of Lisbon, Catholic University of Portugal and Sloan School of Management of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, in an effort to develop Macao elites in business administration. During the meeting, the committee members discussed the details of the above-mentioned programmes, including applicant qualifications, funding duration and payment method. It was agreed that the programmes will act as positive guides for Macao youth to upgrade professional skills.

The Committee Secretariat also updated the progress of cooperation with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In an effort to create internship opportunities in UNESCO headquarter and affiliated organisations, allowing Macao youth to broaden horizons and gain experience, the committee is liaising with relevant authorities towards signing a cooperation agreement to implement the plans. The committee members were confident that Macao youth have the capabilities and language advantage to enter international organisations and play a role.

In the meantime, to provide more opportunities for Macao residents to participate in programmes co-hosted by Macao and overseas higher educational institutions, the Committee Secretariat has touched base with several colleges and universities, suggesting giving extra spots to Macao residents on top of the original programme capacity. As advised by the schools, programmes suitable for Macao residents are now accessible through hyperlinks on the website of the Talents Development Committee, who will continue to follow up with the Macao colleges and universities to put the recommendations into practice.

Committee members and other attendees at the meeting include Wu Zhiliang, Zhao Wei, Lei Heong Iok, Fong Ka Chio, Iu Vai Pan, Zhang Shuguang, Lou Pak Sang and Sou Chio Fai.

The Talents Development Committee, the Macao Foundation and the Tertiary Education Services Office have jointly launched the “UNESCO Internship Program” (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Program’). Those admitted to the Program will be offer internships in UNESCO Headquarters, offices or their affiliated institutions with grants issued by Macao SAR Government. The duration for registration is from March 15 to April 13.

This Program is launched for the first time by the Macao SAR Government, to provide young people in Macao with opportunities to practice in international organizations, by which they could expand their international perspectives and promote their professional growths with the accumulating working experiences. Each year, up to 10 eligible Macao residents are allowed to practice in internship positions offered by UNESCO. Such positions cover: Social and Human Sciences, Science and Technology and Innovation, Human Resources, Communication, and Cultural Heritage. The internship of destinations include: Cameroon, Mozambique, and Peru.

Applications are available for those who hold a Macao Permanent Resident Identity Card, a certificate of professional degree (bachelor's or above) specified for the internship position issued in academic year 2015/2016 or academic year 2016/2017, and have the appropriate required language proficiency. The maximum duration of the internship is 12 months. The specific date of the internship is subject to the Admission Notice from UNESCO. The round trip travel expenses and the monthly living allowance of MOP$ 12,000 shall be granted by the SAR Government.

With the application documents reviewed and approved, a List of Candidates shall be prepared for UNESCO to make admission decision through selection. The finalized results shall be published on the website of the Talents Development Committee by the end of June.

For more details/ application, please log in the Committee Website (www.cdqq.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call Ms. Chou or Ms. Ng at Tel. 28555108 in office hours.

The Subgroup of Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals under the Talents Development Committee recently held the second Subgroup meeting in the year of 2016, chaired by the Subgroup Leader Van Iat Kio. Macao Professional Development Association was invited by the Secretariat of the Committee to attend the meeting, and both sides have exchanged ideas and explored the works on the development of local talents. After that, the Committee held a discussion on the framework of the Incentive Plan for the Nurturing of Qualified Professionals.

In the meeting, representatives of Macao Professional Development Association President Kou Chon Fai and Director Vong Kin Keong introduced the Association’s works related to talent development. Founded in 2010, the Association has members from different professional sectors. It has organized a number of activities including academic lectures, sharing sessions and seminars to assist enterprises to optimize planning and management of talents on one hand, and provide support to the youth in facilitating professional development on the other, fostering the improvement of the overall environment for local talents in Macao. Members of the Subgroup expected more opportunities to exchange ideas with other professional associations on the works for talent development.

Afterwards, members of the Subgroup held a discussion on designing the framework for the “Incentive Plan for the Nurturing of Qualified Professionals”, with the aim of setting up a financial aid framework to push forward the nurturing of different kinds of qualified professionals which would start with skills enhancement of talents in various professional sectors in Macao in the short run to enable those lacking of market to get more offers. In the future, it is expected to nurture a group of competitive high-level talents on a continuous and steady basis for the region. Based on the principle of fairness, the members of the sub-group carried out in-depth discussions on issues such as application method, required documents for application, composition of training proposal, approval criteria and the configuration of assessment expert group.

Committee members attending the Subgroup meeting of Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals included Van Iat Kio, Tai Wa Hou, Ip Sio Kai, Lou I Wa, So Ying Suen, Yu Wing Yat, Iu Vai Pan, Tai Wong Kuai Leng, Ung Choi Kun, Liang Baijin and Sou Chio Fai.

The subgroup of Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals and Skilled Talents Acquiring Plan under the Talents Development Committee recently held a joint meeting and continue to discuss the idea about promoting residents' participation in certification. Meanwhile, the Committee Secretariat also reported the follow-up case of "Government and enterprise on-the-job training and promote skills certification cooperation framework" (hereinafter referred to as "framework") and "certification center information platform" (hereinafter referred to as "certification center".

At the meeting, the Committee discussed about the incentive guidelines to promote high-skilled and practical talents certification plan. "More training, more outcomes, more reward" is desirable to be the standard for rewarding the residents that obtain results in further study and obtain licenses or professional qualifications in order to deepen the construction of society with knowledge and skills. Meanwhile, the committee continued to make in-depth discussions about the implementation scope and target of incentive certification. The committee has carried out a research earlier for five industries that includes hotel, catering, convention and exhibition, gaming and retail, and the data of talent demand that derived from the research is suggested to use as a reference. Then the first phrase of implementation scope is determined after further consolidation and analysis of the relevant information.

In addition, "Government and enterprise on-the-job training and promote skill certification cooperation framework" has been adopted at the Talents Development Committee assembly meeting in 2015 for the implementation of the three-in-one application talents training model "training, certification, employment", and which includes the promotion of employees’ training in enterprise, trainers’ training provided by the Government and certification information. At this stage, the Secretariat has notified different government departments and organizations that implemented the "framework", and follow up and collect the relevant implementation data regularly. It is desirable to enhance the residents' overall employment competitiveness through the cooperation between government, enterprises and organizations about on-the-job training and skills certification.

Subsequently, the Secretariat also reported the follow-up case of "certification center information platform". The platform integrates the information about training, certification and employment requirements to facilitate residents on career planning. Now local certification organizations are set out to collect the certification of information technology and business management on a trial basis. At this stage, the internal testing of the platform system development has been completed, and later the relevant certification institutions will be invited to do the testing and give some feedback. The Secretariat will continue to collect more certification information of different fields to encourage residents to participate in certification and enhance their professional skills in order to assist in gradually promoting the upward flow in the professional field.

Committee members in attendance included Van Iat Kio, Vong Chuk Kwan, Tai Wa Hou, Ip Sio Kai, Wong Chi Hong, Chan Chi Fong, Tai Wong Kuai Leng, Yeung Tsun Man, Sou Chio Fai.

The Subgroup of the Program for Motivating Qualified and Specialized Talents under the Talents Development Committee (hereinafter "SCDT") held its second meeting for the year 2015 on 11th August, chaired by Subgroup Leader Van Iat Kio. During the meeting, Secretariat of the Committee invited Kong Ngan, head of DSEJ's Division of Continuing Education to introduce the subsidy for the certification of the Continuing Education Development Program. After discussion, SCDT agreed to gather data on certification while effective subsidy can help encourage professionals from different sectors in Macao to engage in training and certification.

At the meeting, SCDT also followed up on the definitions of professional certification and qualification provided by the Statistics & Census Service of Macau (hereinafter "DSEC"). SCDT was invited by DSEC earlier to give advice on the questionnaire for the 2016 Population By-census. Data collection related to professional certification and qualification has been added accordingly while clearer definitions of professional certification and qualification have been established. Secretariat of SCDT also offered additional comments based on the needs of the work of the Committee.

Furthermore, to enable residents to more handily obtain systematic licensing information, SCDT is developing a one-stop licensing information platform (hereinafter "Licensing Centre") and the Subgroup of the Program for Motivating Qualified and Specialized Talents also discussed the design and direction of specialized talents related to the licensing centre. Committee members also carried out discussions on the major work of the subgroup in 2015 and in the future, they will continue to collect and collate data on certification subsidy for different professional areas from different government departments in order to analyse possible drawbacks of the current programs, and on the basis of the current "Continuing Education Development Program, carry out study on how to further utilize the program to encourage residents to participate in professional training and obtain professional certificate and licence.

Members of the Subgroup of the Program for Motivating Qualified and Specialized Talents attending the meeting included: Van Iat Kio,Tai Wa Hou, Ip Sio Kai and Sou Chio Fai. Committee members in attendance included: Pang Su Seng and Tai Wong Kuai Leng.

The Subgroup of Elites Nurturing Plan under the Talents Development Committee held its second meeting for the year 2015 on 31st July, chaired by Subgroup Leader Dr. Wu Zhi Liang. During the meeting, Secretariat of the Committee invited Ms Akiko Takahashi, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. to introduce talents training plans of relevant sector, followed by a brief introduction of the admission status of the first elites nurturing plan and progress report on the cooperation projects with Portugal and UNESCO.

Ms Akiko Takahashi first introduced various training programs and internal promotion opportunities at the Melco Group. Committee members expressed agreement to their training programs, and gathered opinions on talents training from the Group and their needs in this area after discussion. Secretariat then reported the admission status of the Subsidy Scheme for the Global Leaders Masters Course of University of Cambridge. Screening and interview related to the scheme have been reviewed by the Committee earlier and the list of grantees has been published on the website of SCDT.

Later on, committee members carried out active discussions on the cooperation plans with The Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, University of Coimbra in Portugal, University of Lisbon in Portugal and UNESCO in order to explore relevant forms of cooperation. Members agreed unanimously that the promotion of different talents training projects can help improve the quality of talents training of the SAR government and attract talents from different sectors in order to better equip talents to cope with the needs of sustainable development of the Macao society. In the future, the Committee will gather data on the training of young people from various government departments and continue to strengthen cooperation projects with local and world leading higher education institutions concerning the Elites Nurturing Plan.

Members of the Subgroup of Elites Nurturing Plan in attendance included: Dr. Wu Zhi Liang, Leong Lai, Zhao Wei, Lei Heong Iok, So Ying Suen, Liu Liang, Pang Su Seng and Sou Chio Fai.

The Skilled Talents Acquiring Plan Subgroup under the Talents Development Committee held its second meeting in 2015 on 23 July. To introduce the contents of the ‘Cooperation Framework between the Government and Enterprises in vocational training and to motivate certification of acquired skills’ (hereinafter called “Framework”), and to make understand the development of current lifelong learning and career planning in Macau, the Secretariat has invited Mr Vong Kok Seng, Vice-President of the Macao Chamber of Commerce (‘Chamber of Commerce’), and the representatives of the Youth and Education Bureau and the Labour Affairs Bureau respectively as observers at the meeting.

Vong Kok Seng, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce concurred to the Government’s initiative to encourage the cultivation framework of having “Training, Examination and Practice” all-in-one, and stressed that both the skills and attitude of the practitioners were equally important. He suggested adopting measures to encourage ongoing training and practice. The meeting continued with an in-depth discussion along this idea and all believed that it was the common goal for both employers and employees to launch the ‘Framework’.

The representatives of the Youth and Education Bureau and Labour Affairs Bureau presented the current work on the lifelong and career planning for the young people. Members of the Committee endorsed the work and pointed out that the rapid socio-economic growth of Macao had given rise to a series of new industries and professions, therefore, it was necessary for the Government, industrial and business sectors to work together to create more choices for practitioners, as well as to enable upward movement of job mobility for residents, based on the current development trend of the job market.

The meeting was hosted by Subgroup Leader Wong Chi Hong whereas members in attendance include: Chan Chi Fong, Tai Wong Kuai Leng, Leong Heng Kao, Ung Choi Kun and Sou Chio Fai.

Jointly organised by the Talents Development Committee and Macao Foundation, the "Macao Talent Cultivation Programme－Subsidy Scheme for Global Leaders Master Course of University of Cambridge" is an elite cultivation programme initiated by the Macao SAR Government, which aims to provide chances for Macao residents to participate in the "Global Leaders Programme" at a world-leading academic institution, with the support and funding from the SAR Government, thereby cultivating quality talents for leadership roles. Application for the scheme was closed on 31st January this year. The Committee received a total of 74 applications from Macao residents. Screening has been completed recently and results have been announced on the Talents Development Committee website (www.cdqq.gov.mo).

       After the first round of screening carried out by the University of Cambridge and Clare Hall, shortlisted candidates and their academic qualifications and overall quality evaluation data were subject to a rigorous screening and selection process conducted by the selection committee, composed of members of the Talents Development Committee, which has finally come to agreement to grant subsidies to candidates who applied for the MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development.

       Successful grantees are required to sign an interface specification that promises to return to Macao and obtain the master's degree within the period from October 2015 through September 2016 and return to Macao within 6 months after graduation, and work in an industry which is relevant to his/her master course for no less than one year.

        For details about regulations of the "Subsidy Scheme for Global Leaders MasterCourse of University of Cambridge", please refer to the following website: https://www.cdqq.gov.mo/reg/act2.aspx?l=zh-TW

Hosted by Dr Wu Zhi Liang, the convener of the Task Force of Talents Training Program under the Talents Development Committee (SCDT), the group held its first meeting of 2015. Three subgroups under the Task Force gave reports on the progress in the discussion of cooperations on elites nurturing with worldwide higher education institutions and international organisations, the revisions on the framework of the ‘Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals’, and the one-stop platform for training information for the Skilled. Committee Members had active discussions on enhancement and deepening of the works in progress, helping to prepare talents for the future development of Macao.

The Subsidy Scheme for Global Leaders Master Course of University of Cambridge launched by the Subgroup of Elites Nurturing Plan closed application on 31 January 2015, with a favourable response of 74 applicants. The next phase of this subsidy scheme will be the shortlisting carried out by the selection committee of SCDT together with Clare Hall of University of Cambridge, to select no more than 3 finalists whom will be awarded the subsidy to support their participation in the initiative. The Subgroup of Elites Nurturing Plan is also discussing cooperation with UNESCO (the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), to allow young persons of Macao to have internship at either the Headquarters of UNESCO or its subsidiaries to widen their horizons. Besides, the subgroup is working on future cooperation plans with higher education institutions in Portugal to create more opportunities for Macau students to further studies in Portugal, so as to nurture more Sino-Portuguese (bilingual) and professional talents.

As for the subgroup for ‘Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals’, the current major task is to draft ‘the Framework for the Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals’. The secretariat of the Committee is collating information about qualifications/licensing for the focal industries/jobs favourable to the building of ‘one centre, one platform’ , to allow committee members to analyse and research in order to determine the contents for the standards and the scope of the industries/jobs eligible for the Incentive Plan. Committee members hope that the relevant plan will provide room for future support and initiatives to encourage professionals to be qualified/licensed to a higher level, to constantly upgrading the professional levels of all sectors in Macao.

The Subgroup of Skilled Talents Acquiring Plan is working earnestly on ‘the Cooperation Framework for the Government and Enterprises on vocational training and motivating skills recognition’, and will work on the one-stop information platform. Committee members agreed that the first phase of the construction of the platform will be developing the application software for the licensing information, to collect information about training and licensing of the skilled in Macao, for browsing by the public.

At the meeting, the Subgroup of Elites Nurturing Plan suggested to set up the ‘Registration System for the Talents Cultivation Plan’ to collect prevailing information about talents cultivation endeavours in the society. Committee members had vigorous discussion on topics such as goal setting and methodologies for the system.

Committee members in attendance the meeting included: Wu Zhi Liang, Leong Lai, Lei Heong Iok, Chan Chi Fong, Sou Ying Suen, Pang Su Seng, Yu Wing Yat, Iu Vai Pan, Tai Wong Kuai Leng, Van Iat Kio, Ung Choi Kun, Sou Chio Fai.