President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Mr. William Weidner,
Chair of the University Council Dr. Tse Chi Wai,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome all of you at this Handover Ceremony of the Adelson Advanced Education Centre (AAEC) of the University of Macau (UM). I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Venetian Cotai Limited, especially to Mr. William Weidner, President and COO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Mr. Daniel Shim, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for their long term support to the University of Macau as well as Venetian’s financial support in establishing this Centre. At the same time, I must also take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to our former Rector, Prof. Iu Van Pan, whose endeavor has led to realization of this project, and my special thanks to the colleagues in the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Michael Gift and Prof. Rose Lai for their relentless effort during the Centre’s establishment. Without the close collaboration between the two parties, this project would not have materialized so successfully in such a short time.

The Venetian Macao is currently the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the second largest building in the world, revealing exceptional potentials in its future development. The Venetian Cotai Limited has been providing continuous support to the development of Macao society and the University of Macau, and in particular, the cultivation of non-gaming local elites. Senior managers of the Venetian Cotai Limited demonstrate full enthusiasm in sharing their valuable expertise and experience with our undergraduate and postgraduate students. Hence, being the best public university in Macao, the University of Macau is very pleased to cooperate with the Venetian Cotai Limited to achieve mutually beneficial relations. Through our cooperation, we expect this newly established Center to become the best MICE and Hospitality educational centre.

The core mission of the University of Macau is to provide excellent teaching, research and community services. Our foremost tasks are to best serve the Macau community, foster potential leaders with international horizons, enhance the University’s position as a premier university and be globally recognized. Today, the establishment of AAEC is an important part of our goal. Under this cooperation, the University of Macau can provide a brand new, off-campus venue dedicated to business and management-related trainings. Moreover, it will provide a new drive for the development of our undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the areas of MICE and Hospitality, improve the professionalism and competitiveness of our students, enhance the diversified development of local industries and contribute further to the local society as well as the nurturing of leaders in different aspects.

Finally, I would like to thank all distinguished guests for your being here today. I wish AAEC a great success and I look forward to more cooperation between Venetian Cotai Limited and the University of Macau.

Thank you!