The opening ceremony for the First Macau Tournament of Champions BP Invitational 2018 was held today (6 July) in the University of Macau (UM) Student Activity Centre Theatre. Co-organised by UM and the Macau English Debating Association, the three-day event provides an opportunity for debaters to participate in British parliamentary debates and make friends at the same time.

The Macau Tournament of Champions BP Invitational 2018 is the first global English debating competition held in Macao. The event aims to promote cultural exchange and English debating in the local community. This invitational tournament attracted a total of 44 top debating teams from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. They are champions of international debating competitions and come from various universities, including Peking University, Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, the University of Tokyo, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, UM, the University of Sydney, and the University of Auckland. The adjudication core members of the competition are also world-renowned individuals.

Guests who attended the opening ceremony included Paul Pang, dean of students of UM; Luís Gomes, representative of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau; Vong Iut Peng, representative of the Tertiary Education Services Office; David Peterson, partner and executive director of LearningLeaders; Elvo Sou, head of the Student Counselling Section of UM; Loke Wing Fatt, executive director of the tournament; Nicole Ng, president of the Macau English Debating Association; and Florence Choy, director of the Macau English Debating Association.