Opening Ceremony of the Pan-Asian Seminar on “Security Documents”

Included in the Programme of Cooperation in the Area of Migration and Asylum between the Macao SAR and the European Union, the Secretary for Security will preside over the opening ceremony of the Pan-Asian Seminar on Security Documents, which will take place at 17H00, on 27 May 2007, at the Macao Grand Prix and Wine Museum, of the Tourism Activities Centre(CAT). This Seminar is part of the MigraMacau Project, which is technically and financially assisted by the European Union, under the AENEAS Programme. With an overall budget of 626.131 Euros, the MigraMacau Project is supported in 80% by the European Union (500,904, 80 €) and the remaining 20% by the Macao SAR. The training activity will start on 28 May in the Congress Hall of the Tourism Activities Centre (Rua Gonzaga Luis Gomes, N.º 431) and will run daily, from 09H00 to 17H00, until 8 June.
The Seminar will count on the participation of highly qualified trainers from Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Macao and Hong Kong SARs, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, as well as 30 trainees from the Macao, and Hong Kong SARs, PRC, ASEAN countries and 5 observers from the Asia-Pacific region. The Seminar will last for 2 weeks and the main objective is to provide all the participants with up-to-date training on security documents as well as with the latest tools in verification and control of travel documents and fraud detection at border control points.
It includes a theoretical and a practical part and will offer the trainers and trainees, the opportunity to handle security documents and to use the technical tools to analyse genuine documents and detect possible frauds. To achieve these goals, all the participants will have the chance to: - Handle all types of document samples, substrates of paper and polymers used in the production of security documents; - Familiarize themselves with the most recent trends of fraud in security documents. - Handle the most recent technical equipment for document examination; - Visit the Macao Identification Department (DSI), the Portuguese Consulate, where security documents are issued, and the Macao Government Printing Bureau. - Exchange information so that they can adequately combat the use of fraudulent travel documents at their border control. In this Seminar, participants will get the opportunity to see and handle the most modern equipment for security document analysis available in the market today. For this purpose, companies specialized in this field are invited to participate in the “workshops”, to demonstrate their latest Technical Equipment. The Cabinet of the Secretary for Security is responsible for the coordination of the Seminar, which is being implemented by the Macao Immigration Department in partnership with the Portuguese Immigration Service (SEF), and being supported by other Macao SAR government departments and also the collaboration of the Portuguese Consulate General in Macao.