Sands China Honours Suppliers and SMEs at Sands Supplier Excellence Awards and Sands Procurement Academy Graduation
Outstanding suppliers and recently trained local SMEs recognised
(Macao, Jan 22, 2024) – Sands China Ltd. recognised some of its most outstanding suppliers at the Sands Supplier Excellence Awards Jan. 19 at The Londoner® Macao. The awards were part of a joint event where Sands China also honoured the 13th and 14th cohorts of local SMEs graduating from its Sands Procurement Academy training programme, highlighted some of the success stories of Sands China's ongoing partnerships with its local SME suppliers, and held a cocktail and business networking session to connect local SME suppliers with representatives from various Sands China departments, including the procurement and supply chain team.
Sands Supplier Excellence Awards
An annual initiative of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Sands China's parent company, the Sands Supplier Excellence Awards acknowledges the cooperation and services of some of the company's most noteworthy suppliers worldwide. A judging committee composed of Sands China executive management selects Macao's award winners in several categories each year.
At Friday's ceremony at the Londoner Theatre, Sands China awarded seven winners:
Aon Hong Kong Limited - Macau Branch
Angel Macau Ltd
YH Engineering Company Limited
Matrix Event Planning and Exhibition Limited
China Construction Engineering (Macau) Company Limited
Maxtime Food (Macau) Limited
Iat Lei Stationery Limited
Sands Procurement Academy Graduation
The Sands Procurement Academy training programme is a component of Sands China's Local Small, Medium and Micro Suppliers Support Programme – part of the company's longstanding support of Macao's SMEs.
With Sands China holding the academy's graduation ceremony together at one event with the Sands Supplier Excellence Awards, the graduating SMEs are able to gain encouragement and inspiration by seeing local SMEs among those getting awarded by Sands China as outstanding suppliers.
At Friday's graduation ceremony, Sands China recognised 69 local SMEs for completing the academy's training programme. Since the academy was founded in 2017, a total of 524 suppliers have enrolled and 485 have graduated, including Friday's group.
The Sands Procurement Academy is a first-of-its-kind industry training and is co-organised with the Macao Chamber of Commerce and the Macau Productivity and Technology Centre (CPTTM). It helps local SME suppliers gain experience and capacity for working with large-scale international corporations by sharing practical business knowledge and skills to promote the development of their businesses.
The academy has been open to all local SMEs in Macao since 2019, after initially targeting a few key categories of local suppliers. This has allowed a broader range of SMEs to benefit from the skills and knowledge offered by the academy's professionals.
Local SME Success Stories
Sands China also used the opportunity presented by Friday's event to highlight the success stories of some of its local SME suppliers. Since 2016, Sands China has collaborated with local newspapers to publish a series of inspiring stories about SMEs who have forged partnerships and grown together with Sands China.
The more than 120 stories that have been published reveal how, in the quest for success and self-improvement, local SMEs have elevated their capabilities by working with a large international corporation like Sands China. Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd. and Wong Cho Wai, assistant chief editor of Macao Daily News, presented framed copies of the stories that were published in 2023 to the SMEs as souvenirs, congratulating them on their successes.
Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd., said: "In 2023, Macao saw a robust recovery in the economy with its tourism industry thriving, thus providing a tremendous opportunity for our future development ahead. We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our outstanding local SME suppliers for their dedication to fulfilling our operational policies and arrangements, and walking alongside us to help enrich the city's offerings as a world centre of tourism and leisure. Our company remains unwavering in our commitment to support the growth of SMEs, as we have continuously launched various programmes through the Sands Procurement Academy – in a bid to help them gain greater knowledge in terms of requirements and standards for working with international corporations. Congratulations to all the award winners and the graduates of the Sands Procurement Academy, and we wish our local suppliers continued success."
Friday's event concluded with the graduates of the Sands Procurement Academy attending a cocktail and business networking session, where they met representatives from various Sands China departments, as well as procurement team members from Las Vegas Sands, Sands China, and Marina Bay Sands.
Guests of honour at the joint event were Sun Yaohua, director of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR; Victoria Kuan, director-general of the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center; Pong Kai Fu, deputy director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau; U Kin Cho, vice president of the board of directors of the Macao Chamber of Commerce; Wong Cho Wai, assistant chief editor of Macao Daily News; Dr. Wong; various Sands China executives; and representatives of local suppliers.
As part of its corporate social responsibility efforts, Sands China has remained committed to procuring locally and helping Macao's SMEs grow. Sands China had a total procurement spend of MOP 8.4 billion in 2023, with 26 percent going to local SMEs.
Photo caption: Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd., speaks at a joint event for the 2023 Sands Supplier Excellence Awards and the graduation ceremony for the Sands Procurement Academy Jan. 19 at The Londoner Macao.
Photo caption: Graduates of the 13th and 14th intake of the Sands Procurement Academy attend their graduation ceremony Jan. 19 at The Londoner Macao. The academy helps local SMEs gain experience and capacity for working with large-scale international corporations like Sands China by sharing business knowledge and skills to promote the development of their businesses.
Photo caption: Winners of the 2023 Sands Supplier Excellence Awards, Sands Procurement Academy graduates, and guests of honour gather at The Londoner Macao Jan. 19.
Photo caption: Graduates of the Sands Procurement Academy attend a cocktail and business networking session Jan. 19, where they met representatives from various Sands China departments, as well as procurement team members from Las Vegas Sands, Sands China, and Marina Bay Sands.