Macau (MNA) – On the countdown of the Gala night that will announce the winners of the Business Awards of Macau at Grand Lisboa Hotel, the Director of the Awards, Victoria Man, spoke to Macau News Agency (MNA) about inspiring examples and the rewarding experiences she has collected while preparing this year’s event.
MNA. What innovations and surprises are you bringing to the Awards this year?
Victoria Man. This year is our 5th anniversary, and surprisingly, we have the five “mosts”: 1) the most participants, 2) the most media partners, including media from Macau, Portugal and overseas, 3) the most Chinese participants, 4) the most attention and coverage from local, Hong Kong and overseas media, corporations and commercial associations, and 5) the most impact in the Chinese community.
What have been the main challenges you have faced in organizing the event and the main achievements you have gained from it?
V.M. The main challenges I have faced would be time management, since the number of applications this year has increased a lot; to collect and manage portfolios and contacts for a huge number of applicants; to communicate with 30 judging members with a huge number of documents during the voting process in a very limited time – this has involved a lot of stress and lack of sleep. We also needed to create a lot of efficient solutions, but still needed to keep the same high quality.
The main achievements for the Awards would be our impact. Macau is an international city and in every edition of the Business Awards there is a large number of international candidates for the Awards. Since last year, there are more and more local candidates who have applied, and many local companies and entrepreneurs have succeeded in expanding their businesses outside of Macau to different markets. Described by Mr. Paulo A. Azevedo, the chairman of the Business Awards, the impact of the Business Awards has been expanded from multinational corporations to local corporations.
For me, I need to say special thanks to Mr. Azevedo, who has given me a lot of opportunities. I have learned a lot from this project, especially management and communication skills. I also greatly appreciate the support of our sponsors, who have helped to make this successful recognition programme really happen.
What can you say about the participants and the winners of this year’s edition?
V.M. Young, international and surprising. First of all, we have a lot of young candidates under 30 this year. One of them is even under 25, but already has his own business and the business has great achievements. This is very inspiring. I can see the new generation of Macau is very brave and smart.
Secondly, there are a lot of local corporations and entrepreneurs participating this year. I am surprised by their quality and mindset. The strategies and quality of these companies really reaches international levels. I have experienced working with companies in different countries, and honestly, I think Macau corporations and entrepreneurs have special skills and they are one of a kind. Due to Macau having a mixed western and eastern culture, the local companies can adapt to different cultures and learn everything very fast. At the same time, they understand the local culture and market. For example, they know which technology from other countries should be imported to Macau and what could really improve the city. On the other hand, some local traditional businesses have expanded their market to Hong Kong, China and overseas, and succeeded in bringing Made in Macau companies to the international market.
Last, but not least, as with our past four editions, multinational corporations still demonstrate a very high level of quality, and each year they pay more and more attention to Corporate Social Responsibility and making a contribution to Macau.
What are your plans for the coming edition of the Awards?
V.M. First, I want to explain a bit about the special nature of the Business Awards of Macau. We are a bilingual programme with a trilingual team. Our judging panels and organizing team are Chinese, English and Portuguese speakers, also with international backgrounds and business experience.
Actually in this edition, we have already received a lot of applications from China and other countries, plus, a lot of media, associations and companies have approached us for cooperation opportunities. And this year is the first year we have Portuguese media partners which especially provide news for Chinese communities in Portuguese-speaking countries. Also, another media partner is international media for stockbrokers and their Chinese media section. Under the One Belt One Road scheme of the China and Macau governments, in the future, I hope the Business Awards of Macau could be a helpful platform to assist local companies to expand their business and find more opportunities in Portuguese-speaking countries and overseas, and also help corporations from overseas countries to find the right Macau partners and to find the right markets to invest in.
