(Macao, August 27, 2008) A ceremony was held today to mark
construction commencement of the ‘Adelson Advanced Education Center of
University of Macau’. The Center is a
collaborative project between Venetian Cotai Limited (VCL) and the University of Macau (UM) aimed at providing advanced
education and management skills for local talent in non-gaming business
disciplines.
Mr.
William P. Weidner, President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands
Corp. and Professor Iu Vai Pan, Rector of UM presided over the ceremony held at
the Center located within The Venetian Macao-Resort Hotel. The Center’s three-dimensional scale model
was unveiled for the first time in the presence of other guests.
“This
Center is an important project for developing local talent in Macao’s critically growing non-gaming
business areas including entertainment, conventions and exhibitions, retail,
and integrated resort management. These
talents who will be equipped with theoretical and practical management
experience are crucial to Macao’s
transformation from a gaming center into Asia’s
premier business and leisure destination.
We strongly support the Government in this strategic direction and are
glad to contribute to Macao’s
growth and transformation,” said Weidner.
“Within
our company, we have been actively developing the local workforce. We have recently submitted data and plan of our
localization efforts for Venetian Macau Limited to the Government. About 92 percent of our employees in the
gaming operations are locals. Since we
started our Macao
operation in 2004, all our dealers are local.
About 80 percent of gaming management positions are held by local people,”
he added.
“After
its completion, the Center will chiefly facilitate the academic programs in
hospitality and MICE at both undergraduate and graduate levels as a component
of the development plan of the University.
It will also provide a “state-of-the-art” venue for the university to
offer professional training relating to business education and management. We
anticipate that the Center will help drive the development of Macao’s higher education and human
resources, and become a premier education hub for hospitality and related
disciplines,” said Iu.
The
15,446-square-foot Center which will be operational in 2009 will consist of a
100-seat lecture hall, six multi-function classrooms with seating capacity for
30 to 48 people, two meeting rooms, and a Small & Medium-sized Enterprise
Resource Center
accessible to the public.
VCL
will invest approximately MOP 100,000,000 for the infrastructure development
and operations of the Center. The VCL-funded Center
is a milestone to demonstrate the ongoing commitment of VCL and UM to
developing local talents for Macao.
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About Venetian Cotai Limited
Venetian
Cotai Limited (VCL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
(NYSE.LVS) and is creating Cotai Strip®, a master-planned
development of resort-casino properties in Macao. There will be seven resort hotels
with 14 world-class brands when the project is completed in 2011.