Celebration of Europe Day Forum: "Europe & Asia: Partners or Competition?"
2009-05-13

The horourable speakers

The interactive audience

In order to celebrate the Europe Day this year, the European Union Business Info Programme (EUBIP)* with the support of IEEM and our Contact Point organized a forum on May 12 to discuss about the cooperation and competition of Europeans and Asians. As a sub-theme, the speakers would also talk about the current global economic conditions as well as their advice and insights on career development. The forum was held from 2:30 – 4:30pm in MGM Grand Hotel. The forum had the honor to invite the EU diplomats including the Head of the EC Office in HK and Macao, Ms. Maria Castillo-Fernandez, the Consul-General of Czech Republic, Mr. Rudolf-Hykl, the Consul-General of Sweden, Mr. Lars Danielson, the Consul-General of UK, Mr. Andrew Seaton and the Consul-General of Germany, Mr. Frank Burbach together with the European business leaders in HK and Macao including Mr. Filipe Cunha Santos, President of the Luso-Chinesa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Andrew Evans, the Operations Director of MDSL Asia Limited and Mr. Michael Suesser, the General Manager of HK, Taiwan & Macao, Lufthansa German Airlines. The honorable speakers, which are senior officials in the diplomacy and top executives in the business world, were delighted to share their experience in their expertise with the audience of the forum. We also invited Mr. Paulo Azavedo, the publisher of Macao Business Magazine, to be the moderator of the event.

The event was well attended by more than 60 young professionals and MBA and master students in Macao. During the forum, many questions regarding the cooperation of Macao and Europe in various aspects were raised by the audience for the speakers’ opinions and insights. On the other hand, the speakers also shared their experience on global economy and career development. The forum was active and inspiring as the interaction between the speakers and the audience was frequent and entertaining. After the forum, a networking coffee break was prepared for the speakers and audience so that the latter could have a chance to get acquaintance with the speakers and other audience. We are satisfied that the forum projects a positive and friendly image of EU to the communities in Macao.

*The European Union Business Info Programme (EUBIP) is a three-year programme between the European Chamber of Commerce in HK, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM). The EUBIP is funded by grants from the European Commission, IPIM and IEEM.