Distinguished guests, parents, teachers, and students:

It is my great pleasure to be present here today at the annual Graduation Ceremony of Macao Polytechnic Institute. First of all, please allow me to express my warmest congratulations to all the 2010 MPI graduates on successful completion of your college education.

Since the founding of the Macao SAR, Macao’s system of higher education has made great strides, producing a large contingent of high-caliber personnel serving Macao’s society. Nevertheless, in order to build a more harmonious community, and to achieve the goal of an appropriately diversified economy in Macao, we need to set up a much higher standard for the higher education institutions in Macao. The Macao SAR Government will consistently implement the priority policy of human resource development as it has always done, and not only that, it will commit more resources to higher education so as to cultivate a larger number of talents with higher education for the local community’s needs.

Macao is faced with various challenges and opportunities posed by its rapid economic growth and intensified regional integration; a large reserve of talented personnel holds the key to its future success. Therefore, the Macao SAR Government has adhered to the guideline of ensuring Macao’s prosperity through the development of its education system; not only has the SAR enlarged its support to Macao’s non-tertiary education systems so that young people in Macao may enjoy the right to basic education, but has also created more favorable conditions for those who aspire to higher education. To encourage Macao citizens to pursue higher education, the SAR has embarked on a study programme for the establishment of a Higher Education Fund, and has continued to provide scholarships to post graduate students in support of their studies. In the years to come, the SAR will commit greater resources to continued education, with the aim of encouraging life-long learning among Macao citizens for self-improvement and a more fruitful life.

While providing abundant education opportunities to Macao’s young people, the SAR Government hopes, through the diversified higher education system in Macao, to instill a healthy values and integrity in Macao’s youth, tapping their potentials and providing new impetus for Macao’s further development.

In recent years, Macao Polytechnic Institute has made remarkable progress in uplifting its quality of teaching and research; it has put much emphasis on enhancing the all-round development of its students; moreover, it has proactively explored new modes of collaborative programmes with renowned universities in the mainland and overseas, and with research institutes and enterprises, which has yielded gratifying results, expanding the Institute’s function of higher education in the service of local community.

It is the expectation of the SAR Government that higher education institutions in Macao will continue to put emphasis on their triple functions of teaching, research and community service; in the meantime, the academic accreditation system should be introduced into Macao’s higher education system through inviting external bodies outside of Macao to implement accreditation of Macao’s higher learning institutions, with the aim of helping these institutions fulfill their mission of providing quality education and ensuing sustainable development for Macao’s higher education.

All the graduates present here today are the promise of Macao’s future. It is my sincere hope that, by unfolding into the next stage of your life, you would seize the opportunity, value your prime, and keep firmly in mind the historical mission entrusted by our age; Have your feet planted on solid ground and follow the age-old epigram “live and learn”, so that one day you could realize you lofty ideals and goals in life.

To conclude my speech, I would like to wish each of the graduates a bright future and every success in your life.

Thank you all!