The government yesterday announced new appointments of the heads of several public entities, including a swap between president of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and president of the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT).
The appointments were announced in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
According to yesterday’s announcements, the government has appointed Vincent U U Sang, who had been the IPIM president since March 2023, as the fund’s president, while Che Weng Keong, who had headed the fund since August 2023, has been appointed as IPIM president.
U’s new appointment, which started on Tuesday, has been made through an executive order by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai published in the gazette yesterday.
Che’s new appointment, which also started on Tuesday, has been made through a separate executive order by Sam gazetted yesterday.
Sam signed both orders on Wednesday last week, according to which, U’s “temporary” appointment to his new post is scheduled to last two years, while Che’s “temporary” appointment to his new post is scheduled to last one year.
Before July last year, the institute was known as Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). Since the institute was restructured in July 2024, its official abbreviation has, however, remained unchanged as IPIM.
According to the gazette, U started to work in the banking sector in 1998, before joining the institute in 2002. U started to work as an advisor to the Secretariat for Economy and Finance (GSEF) in December 2014, before returning to the institute in September 2019, when he became an executive director of the institute’s board of directors, its top management body, where he was promoted to its president in March 2023.
The Macau government’s secretary for economy and finance was Lionel Leong Vai Tac from December 2014 to December 2019.
U holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, both in Economics from Jinan University in Guangzhou. U also holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (specialising in Marketing) from the University of Macau (UM), and a doctoral degree in Management from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).
According to Sam’s executive order gazetted yesterday, Che worked for a tech company between 2000 and early 2016, after which he joined the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI (VLSI stands for very-large-scale integration) run by the public University of Macau (UM).
Che holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a doctoral degree, all in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University (NTU).
Che joined the public administration in May 2019 when he was appointed as a department head in the now-defunct Higher Education Bureau.
Che was appointed as the head of the Technology Department of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) in February 2021 when the Higher Education Bureau was abolished by the current Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ).
Che had been a DSEDT acting deputy director since May 2023 until August that year when he was appointed as the president of the Science and Technology Development Fund.
Public Administration & Civil Service Bureau gets new chief
Moreover, the government has appointed Leong Weng In, who had headed the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) since May 2023, as the director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) effective from yesterday.
Leong’s appointment has been made through an executive order by Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, gazetted yesterday. Cheong signed the order on Wednesday last week, according to which, Leong’s appointment to her new post is scheduled to last one year, and can be renewed upon expiration.
Since Ng Wai Han, who had headed the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau since September 2023, became the director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) in early May this year, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau’s director position had been left vacant before Leong’s appointment to her new post started yesterday.
Leong, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from the University of Macau, joined the public administration in 2005, where she worked in several different bureaus before joining the Legal Affairs Bureau in August 2016.
Leong was promoted to a DSAJ deputy director in October 2021 before she was appointed as the bureau’s director in May 2023.
Chan leaves GCS, reappointed TDM board member
Meanwhile, an executive order by Sam gazetted yesterday reappointed Inês Chan Lou as a member of the Board of Directors of TDM, on a temporary service commission basis. The appointment is valid until August 31, 2026. Chan was previously director of the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS), a position she had held since 2020, appointed by Macau’s then chief executive Ho Iat Seng.
Chan joined the civil service in 1990, having worked for the Mapping and Land Registry Bureau (DSCC), for the Provisional Commission of the Macau Special Administrative Region Delegation in Beijing, and also for the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO). Her position as GCS director expired on June 30 when it was not renewed.
Chan holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Engineering and another in Science, as well as a master’s degree in Public Administration, a course co-organised by the University of Macau and the National Institute of Administration of Portugal, with a specialisation in international relations.
Louie Wong Lok I is now the acting director of GCS.
Newly appointed Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) President Che Weng Keong (right), Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip (centre), and Lo Chi Fai, Tai’s chief-of-cabinet, pose for a photo yesterday after Che was sworn in by Tai. – Photos: Tai’s office
Newly appointed Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) President Vincent U U Sang (right), Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip (centre), and Lo Chi Fai, Tai’s chief-of-cabinet, pose for a photo yesterday after U was sworn in by Tai.
Newly appointed Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) Director Leong Weng In (right) and Deputy Director Chan Sok Cheng (left), Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (second from right), and Lam Chi Long, Cheong’s chief-of-cabinet, pose for a photo yesterday after Leong and Chan were sworn in by Cheong. – Photo: SAFP
