The Board of Directors of the WTC Macau is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Alberto Marçal as President effective from January 1, 2002. Mr Marçal succeeded António Leça da Veiga Paz who left his position after holding the post for 14 years.

   Prior to joining the WTC Macau, Mr Marçal was the Deputy Director of the Economic Services Bureau of the Macau Government. In 1999, he joined the WTC Macau and took the post of Executive Director.

   As the President of the WTC Macau, Mr Marçal will continue to follow the goals of the WTC Association, which promotes stability through trade. Mr Marçal believes that the outlook for the WTC Macau is bright, and that it will continue to have an important role to play in the economic development of Macau.

   Mr Marçal also believes that there is a need to further strengthen and reposition the WTC Macau due to the changing economic environment of Macau.

WTC Macau General Assembly

   The 19th General Assembly of WTC Macau was held on April 4, 2002. The Assembly approved the 2001 annual report and the programme of activities planned for 2002.

   As China's accession to the World Trade Organization will create new business opportunities, one of the WTC Macau main goals in 2002 is to strengthen the role of Macau as a gateway between Chinese and International business partners. The Assembly believes that the WTC Macau is in a privileged position to maximise links between Chinese and international business partners, particularly with the community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, considering that its global organisation has at its disposal a business network of more than 330 centers all over the world.

   Besides, the WTC Macau will also activate its conciliation center and sign a co-operation agreement with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade/China Chamber of International Commerce in Beijing. In the meantime, the WTC Macau will also set up a special service to offer legal consultancy and advice to assist Macau entrepreneurs in their business in Mainland China.

   In addition, the WTC Macau will also focus its efforts on supporting the further development of Macau's tourism industry by holding a series of international conferences and exhibitions on current issues, namely on developments in the information technology.

   World Trade Centers were created to help the business community or region they serve by promoting international trade, offering a shopping center environment with high quality information and related services, which help traders to do business quickly and conveniently. To recognize the unique contribution of each World Trade Center, the WTC Association marks the second Wednesday in June every year as the WTCA Day.

   This year, on June 12, WTCs all over the world will be recognising the first annual World Trade Centers Association Day, in a celebration of the dedication and hard work of thenetwork of WTCs. Every WTC is planning appropriate events to highlight the unique contribution they make to the business community.

   WTC Macau plans to commemorate the day with a WTCs Posters Exhibition, which will give the public a chance to get familiar with our Association from a visual perspective.

   In addition, a commemorative envelope featuring a stamp of the WTC Macau Building, and a special postmark will be issued by the Macau Post Office.

   WTC Macau President Alberto Marçal sees World Trade Centers Association Day as a major opportunity to educate the world about the work of the WTCs, and also to present the services and facilities of each World Trade Center, thus encouraging companies to use trade to expand their business.