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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the rate of usage of Information Technology (IT) in the business sector reached 47% in 2008, up by 4 percentage points from 2007. Analyzed by industry, rate of IT usage of Wholesale and Retail Trade (43%) surged significantly by 7 percentage points year-on-year; besides, that of the Gaming Sector stood at 100%, Travel Agencies at 97%, while Restaurant sector was 29%. Analyzed by size of establishment or enterprise, rate of IT usage of those with 100 or more workers reached 99%, as against just 42% of the small-size establishments or enterprises with less than 10 workers. In 2008, among the establishments or enterprises using IT, 80% have connected to the Internet and the major purposes of accessing the Internet included information search (39%) and purchasing (17%). In addition, 76% of the households possessed IT equipment or devices such as computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), etc., with 55% of the male aged 3 or over were computer-users and 51% had access to the Internet. Analyzed by gender, the respective rates of the female were lower, at 51% and 47% respectively. Analyzed by age group, 90% of those aged 15-24 were computer-users and 89% had access to the Internet. Analyzed by educational attainment, the rate of computer usage and Internet usage for those with tertiary education was 88% and 86% respectively. In respect of the location of accessing to the Internet, the majority were at home (91%) or at work (26%); the major purposes of accessing to the Internet included information search (87%), communication (84%) and government services (46%). Data on IT usage in the business sector is obtained from the annual survey on different economic activities; data on the IT usage of household is collected by using a supplementary questionnaire in the Employment Survey, interviewing all individuals aged 3 or above. Respective data on IT usage helps to obtain better understanding on the popularity and development of IT in the community.
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With the objective to raise public awareness of the population census and encourage innovative ideas, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) launched a Logo and T-shirt Design Competition of the 2011 Population Census from July to November 2009. The Competition has been well received by the public, drawing altogether 120 entries. The panel of judges of the Competition consisted of Mr. Dirco Fong, President of Macau Designers Association; Prof. Stephen Chung, Associate Professor of Design at the School of Arts of Macao Polytechnic Institute; Ms. Ana Cheng, Deputy Director of DSEC; Mr. Mak Hang Chan, Chief of the Demographic, Social and Employment Statistics Department of DSEC; and Ms. Cheang Lai Seong, Chief of the Promotion and Dissemination of Information Division of DSEC. After careful review and discussions, the judges selected the Winner, Prizes of Distinguished and Creative Designs among the high quality of entries in accordance with the criteria stated in the prospectus: thematic relevance, creativity and aesthetics. Winner of the Competition is Un Ka Yiu. Prize winners of the 10 Distinguished Design are Chan Chi Iong, Lao Weng Hong, Ana Maria Chan Noras, Choi Ching Pou, Iong Chon Man, Chan Sok Fan, Lao Mei I, Wong Nga Oi, U Ka Kit and Si Tou Peng Ip. Prize winners of the 5 Creative Design are Si Tou Peng Ip, Kok Chong Na, Wong Io Chu, Leong Ka Hong and Zhang Zhen Hui. The above winners will receive notification from DSEC; meanwhile, the list of winners of the Competition will also be posted on the DSEC website: www.dsec.gov.mo.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP145.8 billion (USD18.26 billion) at the end of November 2009. The reserves rose by 2.5% from the revised value of MOP142.2 billion (USD17.81 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP19.3 billion or 15.3%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-November 2009 represented 31 times the currency in circulation or 246.5% of Pataca M2 at end-October 2009. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, fell by 0.31 points month-to-month and 4.17 points year-on-year to 88.79 in November 2009. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042) 發放日期 / Data de divulgação / Release Date: 30/12/2009
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP635 million in November 2009, down by 40.4% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports falling by 65.4% to MOP195 million and that of re-exports dropping by 12.5% to MOP440 million. The value of total imports of goods registered an increase for the first time in 2009, up slightly by 0.4% to MOP3.41 billion, attributable to a 42.0% surge of the consumer durables, namely jewellery, watches and etc.. A trade deficit of MOP2.78 billion was recorded for November 2009. From January to November 2009, total value of merchandise exports fell by 53.7% year-on-year to MOP6.99 billion, of which the value of domestic exports and re-exports declined by 69.5% and 30.1% respectively; meanwhile, total value of merchandise imports slid by 16.9% to MOP33.03 billion. The trade deficit for the first eleven months of 2009 widened by 5.6% year-on-year to MOP26.04 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down by 16.8 percentage points year-on-year to 21.2%. Analyzed by destination of Macao’s exports, in the first eleven months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 79.6%, 60.1% and 44.5% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 73.1% year-on-year to account for 33.4% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 27.5%. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, the value of merchandise imports from Mainland China dropped by 35.2% year-on-year, but that from the EU rose by 8.8%. The value of imports by Broad Economic Category registered year-on-year decrease, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Fuels & lubricants fell by 39.1% and 24.0% respectively; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a mild decrease of 2.5%, with that of Food & beverages rising by 17.3%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for September-November 2009 was 3.3%, down further by 0.2 percentage point over the previous period (August-October), and reduced to the same level as recorded in the same period of 2008. Total labour force was 323,500 in September-November 2009, with an employed population of 312,800 and unemployed of 10,700, decreasing by 2,100 and 600 respectively compared with previous period. Among the unemployed, 13.5% (1,400) were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 1.5 percentage points over the previous period. Analysed by industry, the number of persons working in Hotel Sector and Retail Trade increased from the preceding period, while that in Restaurants & Similar Activities and Transport, Storage & Communications registered a decrease. The labour force participation rate for September-November 2009 (71.2%) fell by 0.5 percentage point from the previous period and 1.5 percentage points year-on-year. The underemployment rate was 1.9%, same as that in the preceding period, but up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year.
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The Macau SAR Government has decided to extend the "Plan to Support Macau Tourism Industry" to the end of March, 2010 to stimulate leisure tourism, business tourism and the aviation industry so as to maintain the momentum and competitive edge Macau has been building as an international destination.
The Macau SAR Government spares no effort to promote the development of the tourism industry and support the travel trade in tackling the current challenges. To be in line with the celebrations of the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR, Macau Government Tourist Office initiated the "Plan to Support Macau Tourism Industry" on May 18 and launched a revision committing more resources from August to the end of the year. All the program under the plan will be extended from December 31, 2009 to March 31, 2010.
Support to Leisure Tourism The key projects under "Support to Leisure Tourism" are Celebrate Macau Tours and World Heritage "Historic Centre of Macau" Free Guiding Service. Results from the launch of the plan on May 18 till December 28 show that more than 33,000 Celebrate Macau Tours have been organized (29,803 groups staying one night and 3,258 groups staying two nights or more) involving 807,604 visitors and a budget of over MOP$68 million, while 26,670 visitors had enjoyed the Free Guiding Service.
From August till December 28, over 30,000 guiding services were supported by the plan, involving a budget of close to MOP$6.8 million.
The budget for Support to Leisure Tourism from January to March 31 of 2010 is MOP$72.75 million. Support to Business Tourism The "Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program" that MGTO introduced in May included three categories: Meetings and Conventions, Exhibitions and Incentives. From May 18 to December 23, the program has supported 31 meetings and conventions, 19 exhibitions and 26 incentive travel events, involving a budget of MOP$18.6 million. In addition, the program has also received 22 applications for events to be held between 2010 and 2012, involving a budget of MOP10.4 million. A total of 98 events have been supported by the program, with a total budget of MOP$32.6 million.
The budget for Support to Business Tourism from January to March 31 of 2010 is MOP$21.83 million.
Support to Aviation Industry In the tourism aspect, MGTO focuses on supporting the marketing activities of the airlines. The budget for Support to Aviation Industry from January to March 31 of 2010 is MOP$20.75 million.
Support to Revive Sichuan's Tourism Industry MGTO will continue its efforts in supporting the recovery of Sichuan’s tourism industry. The budget for the support plan to Sichuan tourism from January to March 31 of 2010 is around MOP$8 million.
Support to Industry Training MGTO supports training initiatives organized by travel trade associations for tourism employees to enhance the service quality of the industry. The amount of support will depend on proposals submitted to MGTO for evaluation by the travel trade associations. MGTO has received proposals submitted by two travel trade associations involving an amount of MOP$2.26 million.
The overall budget of the "Plan to Support the Macau Tourism Industry" from January to March 31, 2010 is MOP$126.4 million.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, on a monthly basis, money supply M2 continued to grow in October. Although total deposits with banks exhibited a rise, the loan-to-deposit ratio still increased from a month ago on a strong growth of external loans. Money supply
Currency in circulation noted a decline of 1.3% whereas demand deposits increased 5.1%. M1 thus rose 4.0% compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, quasi-monetary liabilities edged up by 0.8%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, grew 1.3% to MOP211.0 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 40.5% and 11.3% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 28.0%, down slightly by 0.1 percentage point over a month ago and stayed flat when compared with the same period last year. Concurrently, the share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 53.8%, up 0.4 percentage points month-to-month or 2.2 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits
Resident deposits rose 1.3% from the previous month to MOP206.2 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and HKD deposits grew at respective rates of 1.0% and 2.1%, while other foreign currency deposits dropped by 0.4%. Concurrently, non-resident deposits edged up 0.2% (to MOP72.8 billion) while public sector deposits with the banking sector dropped slightly by 0.1% (to MOP13.4 billion). As a result, total deposits with the banking sector increased 1.0% from the previous month to MOP292.4 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 22.0% and 45.6% respectively. Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector grew 0.7% month-to-month to MOP97.1 billion. Among which,
MOP23.0 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP67.4 billion was denominated in HKD, representing
23.7% and 69.4% of the total respectively. Meanwhile, external loans rose by 8.4% to MOP80.2 billion;
of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 1.3% and 48.0% respectively of the total, at values of MOP1.0 billion and MOP38.5 billion. Loan-to-deposit ratios
As resident deposits rose at a faster pace than domestic loans to the private sector, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-October 2009 decreased by 0.2 percentage points month-to-month to 44.2%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors, however, increased by 1.8 percentage points to 60.6%
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of visitor and non-resident arrivals was 2,387,522 in November 2009; visitor arrivals for November 2009 increased by 2.7% year-on-year to 1,890,252. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China grew by 14.6% year-on-year to 1,016,411 (53.8% of total visitor arrivals), with 385,256 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, fell by 18.7% from November 2008 (473,625). Visitors from Taiwan, China (115,468) and Malaysia (37,976) rose by 15.8% and 5.1% respectively; however, visitors from Hong Kong (506,464); Japan (34,308); and Singapore (27,259) decreased by 14.5%, 7.9% and 14.3% respectively. Same-day visitors (951,923) accounted for 50.4% of the total visitor arrivals, with 501,101 coming from Mainland China. The cumulative visitor arrivals totalled 19,716,894 in the first eleven months of 2009, down by 6.2% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (9,978,844), Hong Kong (6,125,890), Taiwan, China (1,178,344) and Malaysia (286,566) dropped by 7.2%, 3.8%, 2.8% and 24.6% respectively, while those from Japan (340,949) registered an increase of 4.6%. Cumulative number of same-day visitors accounted for 52.6% of total visitor arrivals, at 10,365,717. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 7,819,178 in the first eleven months of 2009, down by 5.8% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour decreased by 19.1% to 5,415,667 and those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa rose by 68.3% to 2,142,878. Visitor arrivals by land decreased by 6.7% year-on-year to 10,441,523 in the first eleven months of 2009; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 9,690,753 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (77.7%) and Hong Kong (14.3%). Visitor arrivals by air went down by 4.6% year-on-year to 1,456,193 in the first eleven months of 2009. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport dropped by 4.7% to 1,424,208, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (38.6%), Mainland China (25.6%), Malaysia (7.9%) and Thailand (6.8%).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (101.65) for November 2009 decreased by 0.11% year-on-year. Apart from the 18.95% decrease of the price index of Education, lower rentals for housing and reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price indices of Housing & Fuels; and Communication down by 2.31% and 2.0% respectively. On the contrary, price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 8.81%, 4.08% and 3.15% respectively, attributable to dearer prices of new Autumn/Winter clothing for men and women, gold jewellery, as well as fresh fish and seafood. The CPI-A (101.35) for November 2009 decreased by 1.08% year-on-year, while CPI-B (101.67) increased slightly by 0.08%. The Composite CPI for November 2009 increased by 0.49% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Housing & Fuels rose by 5.54%, 0.75% and 0.22% respectively on account of dearer prices of new Autumn/Winter clothing, higher gold prices and rising prices of LP Gas. However, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages decreased by 0.04% due to lower prices of fresh fish from October. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.35% and 0.54% month-to-month. The average Composite CPI for the first eleven months of 2009 went up by 1.21% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended November 2009, the average Composite CPI rose by 1.61% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 2008/2009 based CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, pledged today Macao would make the most of the advantages of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy and inherit good traditions and make innovations. Mr Chui said this as he delivered a speech at a reception at the Macau Tower to celebrate the anniversary of the Macao SAR, soon after he was sworn in as Chief Executive. The Chief Executive said that in the past 10 years, with the strong backing of the Central Government, the Macao SAR Government had earnestly implemented the policy of "One Country, Two Systems", “Macao people governing Macao”, and a high degree of autonomy. ‘This morning, President Hu Jintao delivered a very important speech, the essence of which we will profoundly grasp and thoroughly implement in the practice,’ he said. ‘In retrospect of Macao’s growth, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, as the first-term and second-term Chief Executive of Macao SAR, took up the historic responsibility of opening a new era of "One Country Two Systems" and wrote a new chapter in Macao history together with Macao people. ‘As the pioneer of a new era, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah sized up the then complicated and changeable social and economic situation and carried out his promises in spite of the difficulties. He and his team pulled Macao out of its slump and laid a firm foundation for the future prosperity of Macao’s economy. ‘In the past 10 years, with the comprehensive support from the motherland, the joint efforts of the SAR Government headed by Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and the Macao people, our internal environment has been continuously optimised. ‘At the ceremony this morning, the principal officials of the third-term Macao SAR Government were sworn into office. We will keep our oath, carry out our duties, and serve our motherland and our people whole-heartedly. ‘Macao’s achievements in the past 10 years are obvious to all. Looking to the future, there will be new opportunities as well as new challenges. Based on what we’ve already achieved, we will make the most of the advantages of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, inherit from good traditions and make innovations. ‘We will adhere to people-based governance, and continue to take the improvement of people’s lives as an important goal of economic growth and government reform. Priority will be given to Macao’s fundamental and long-term interests, so that the fruits of social progress and economic development can be shared by Macao citizens. ‘With the support from the people, my team and I have confidence and determination to shoulder the responsibilities. We will take into consideration the overall interests of Macao, implement scientific decision-making, collect people’s opinions widely and be committed to the construction of an efficient and clean government. ‘We will work hand in hand with Macao citizens to build a harmonious society where there is harmony among different groups and communities, where there is inheritance, mutual respect and tolerance,’ Mr Chui said. Guests attending the reception included the former Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region, Mr Bai Zhijian, the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in Macao SAR, Mr Lu Shumin, Commander of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison in Macao SAR, Major General Wang Yuren, the President of Legislative Assembly, Mr Lau Cheok Va, and the President of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Sam Hou Fai. In the morning, more than 200 guests attended the flag raising ceremony at Golden Lotus Square.
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