The Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) will strengthen its effort to facilitate communication between the government and the media, and between the government and the public, the bureau’s new director Inês Chan Lou said this week.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng administered Chan’s oath of office on Wednesday. The chief-of-cabinet of the Chief Executive Office, Hoi Lai Fong, also attended the swearing-in ceremony, according to GCS statement.
Chan thanked Ho for his trust. She promised that she will perform her new job with dedication and modesty.
The statement quoted Chan as saying that maintaining close communication with the press would be her priority. She said that she planned to visit local news organisations and journalist associations, in order to hear their opinions and suggestions and to try to understand how to provide more support for the sector’s development.
Chan said the bureau would increase the use of new technologies and new media platforms to distribute official information to the press and the public, the statement noted.
Before joining GCS on Wednesday, according to the statement, Chan headed for 19 years the Licensing and Inspection Department of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO). Prior to that, and while at MGTO, Chan was also involved in research and planning, information technology, and administration and finance.
Chan joined the civil service in 1990. Before working for MGTO, she was employed by the Mapping and Land Registry Bureau (DSCC). While there, she was tasked with the development of information and technology systems.
Chan holds two bachelor’s degrees. One in Engineering and the other in Science. She also has a master’s degree in Public Administration – with a major in International Relations – offered jointly by the University of Macau (UM) and Portugal’s National Institute of Public Administration (INA).
Since the COVID-19 alert and until the end of last month, Chan attended, on behalf of MGTO, more than 100 press conferences held by the government’s Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, the statement pointed out.
Chan replaced Victor Chan Chi Ping who will work for a Macau government investment company in Hengqin. Victor Chan, a former journalist, had headed GCS for over two decades.
Undated handout photograph of new Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) Director Inês Chan Lou, released by the bureau on Wednesday.
