The initiative – to support vocational training, particularly in tourism and hospitality – has an eye already on this year’s edition of the WorldSkills international competition. The idea of UTM contributing to a WorldSkills training base aligns with the University’s role as the relying unit for the Tourism Education and Training Base for the Greater Bay Area
UTM is among the entities promoting the new “WorldSkills Macao Comprehensive Training Base”. The scheme was officially launched last month through a joint effort involving UTM, Macao’s Labour Affairs Bureau, the Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and Angsana Zhuhai Hengqin Hotel.
The training base is located at the latter hotel, in the Cooperation Zone. According to its promoters, the base aims to provide a platform to support skill training and exchanges that can benefit the tourism and hospitality industry in Macao and in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
A cooperation framework agreement for the training base was officially signed by the four supporting parties at a public event on 6 May.
The establishment of the WorldSkills Macao Comprehensive Training Base in Hengqin is linked to the implementation of the “Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”. The training base aims to make use of the experience and strengths of Macao in the fields of skill training and tourism and hospitality education, helping to cultivate fresh talent for the industry in the Greater Bay Area.
The establishment of the training base follows the new overall model set for the Cooperation Zone – designed by the Central Government – involving “mutual discussion, joint construction, joint administration, and shared benefits”.
The scheme will initially focus on skills related to restaurant service and hotel reception. Training in these two skills for Macao and Mainland China participants in the upcoming edition of the WorldSkills contest will serve as a pilot project.
The international competition, held every two years, is the largest vocational education and skills tournament in the world. This year’s competition, the 47th edition, will be held from 10 to 15 September in Lyon, France. Macao’s Labour Affairs Bureau is organising a 21-strong team to represent the SAR.
At the 6 May gathering, a new “Greater Bay Area Workplace Mentorship Programme” was also revealed. It was launched jointly by the Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Cooperation Zone and UTM.
A total of five Macao ID holders with work experience on the Mainland was appointed as the first batch of mentors, and for a period of three years. They will provide career guidance, internship and job recommendations, entrepreneurship consulting, and other services, to young people from Hong Kong and Macao wishing to go to the Cooperation Zone to find employment or start a business.
UTM helped select the first batch of those being mentored under the programme. They included one University alumna, two postgraduate students and two current undergraduate students. Each was assigned an individual mentor.
The 6 May gathering also saw details announced for the 2024 editions of the “Shenhe Cup” and the Zhuhai-Macao-Hengqin Hospitality Vocational Skills Competition. Those events are jointly organised by the Zhuhai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Macao Labour Affairs Bureau, and the Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Cooperation Zone, and aim to promote the coordinated development of vocational skills training in Macao and Guangdong.
UTM has long been involved in both the “Shenhe Cup” and the Zhuhai-Macao-Hengqin Hospitality Vocational Skills Competition. In 2022 and 2023, its Mong-Ha Campus received the hotel reception category competition, with UTM being one of the implementation units for the scheme.
At the 6 May event, the Zhuhai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Macao Labour Affairs Bureau, and the Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Cooperation Zone also signed a cooperation framework agreement on vocational skills qualification recognition in Zhuhai, Macao, and Hengqin.
Editor: UTM Public Relations Team




