The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Dr. Chui Sai On, led a delegation to promote Macau as a tourism destination in Singapore and departed tonight (July 2) on board the inaugural flight of SilkAir from Macau to Singapore. Before his departure, Dr. Chui Sai On participated in the reception at the Macau International Airport to celebrate the inaugural flight of SilkAir that now directly connects Macau and Singapore. With effect from today, SilkAir, wholly subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, will operate two return flights between Singapore and Macau per week, on Tuesday and Friday.

The accompanying delegation includes representatives from the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture; the Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Mr. João Manuel Costa Antunes; the Head of MGTO's Product Development and Special Projects Department, Mr. Licénio Cunha; MGTO's Chief of the Public Relations Division, Ms. Kathy Iong; MGTO's Chief of the Marketing Division, Ms. Betty Fok and other MGTO staff. Further participants include the Coordinator of the Commission of Tourism Development, Mr. João Manuel Sousa Moreira, accompanied by members of the commission Mr. Yeung Ka Ming and Mr Yip Wing Fat; the President of the World Trade Centre Macau, Mr. Alberto Expedito Marçal; the Deputy Coordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Committee, Ms. Chu Miu Lai, the Technical Assistant of the Macau Grand Prix Committee, Mr. Mário Ferreira Sin, and the Coordinators of the Sporting Subcommittee, Mr. Chong Coc Veng and Mr. Lo Keng Chio.

In Singapore, the delegation will take part in a banquet dinner and launch a series of promotional activities that focus on Macau as tourism destination. The group will return to Macau on July 5th, accompanied by the Chief Executive of NATAS, Mr. Robert Khoo; the Chief Executive of SilkAir, Mr. Subhas Menon; representatives of Singapore travel agents, cargo agents as well as a group of international journalists, who will visit Macau for a 5-day study mission.

The Macau Government Tourist Office and SilkAir signed a Memorandum of Understanding on May 8th, 2002, to jointly develop the Singapore-Macau route and to encourage visitors from Singapore and other South East Asian countries to travel to Macau and vice versa. The existence of this connection will also help to facilitate the market development in Southeast Asian countries.