BOC, Macau is banking on a bigger future with UMacau graduates
[Sponsored Article] Speaking as the deputy general manager of the Bank of China (BOC), Macau, Sio-kai Ip is keen to talk about the future of Macau, the impact that good educational institutions can have and his experience in working with graduates of the University of Macau (UMacau).
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Speaking as the deputy general manager of the Bank of China (BOC), Macau, Sio-kai Ip is keen to talk about the future of Macau, the impact that good educational institutions can have and his experience in working with graduates of the University of Macau (UMacau).
As a small city, Macau has its challenges, particularly because, currently, much of the economy is based around the gaming and entertainment industry and requires diversification. The city is a special administrative region of China and has various organisations and trade partnerships that build on the city’s history as a former Portuguese enclave and help it to serve as a vital link in relations between Portuguese-speaking countries and Mainland China.
“Good IT graduates are important for us but so are Portuguese speakers. We want to connect China enterprises with Brazil, Portugal and so on,” Ip explains.
BOC is the largest mainstream bank in Macau, receiving a third of the market share, and it is finding that cross-border transactions are more and more common.
Also on the increase are people who invest in Macau from elsewhere or invest internationally via Macau, which is a free port and tax haven. Taking Luxembourg as a model, BOC wants to expand, looking for more people from international backgrounds and a mixture of work disciplines to help it reach the goal of growing the finance industry in Macau.
“Lots of graduates come into the Macau job market every year. In fact, ten per cent of our workforce has graduated from UMacau. We feel as though we are working with UMacau towards a bigger future for Macau. Education is important and so is finance,” Ip says.
UMacau graduates at BOC work mostly in middle management posts, filling roles in risk management, IT, private and corporate relationship management, investment and so on. “We recently created a platform for businesses in Portugal – we had help from UMacau’s linguistics department,” Ip says. “Macau wants to establish a more international financial platform so we need graduates from all kinds of study backgrounds,” he explains. In fact, language graduates will become increasingly important as the market changes and diversifies.
Ip says UMacau graduates have a number of distinct advantages. “They really understand Macau and they understand Western and Chinese culture, so that fits us well,” he adds. “They have high integrity and are professionally skilled with extensive knowledge, despite being modest.” He also finds that UMacau graduates have a wide vision – another must.
In fact, a number of BOC staff are studying their master’s degrees at UMacau, in the evenings.
To help nurture the relationship with UMacau and its graduates, BOC have opened a small branch at the new campus. Up to four undergraduates can work there, part time, giving them the opportunity to experience working in the bank and the corporate culture. “We think of it like a lab,” Ip says. “Maybe after they graduate they will come to work for us at the headquarters.”
Meanwhile, the HR department communicates other part time jobs and internships with the University’s job centre.
Constitutionally and geographically, Macau is well situated as a platform for international financial transactions. “As finance changes, we need more diversity,” Ip notes. And with institutions like UMacau set to see sustained growth over coming years, BOC will be able to find the right employees to reach its vision.