News

The Macao Historical Archives will organize a lecture in the Cultural Affairs Bureau Auditorium (Edifício do Instituto Cultural, Tap Seac Square, Macao) at 6:30pm on Friday, 5 February 2010. Mr. Danny Chin of The Genealogical Society of Utah, will give a lecture on “Genealogy in China”. Chinese genealogies record a clan's history and lineage. Genealogical records are a unique part of Chinese cultural heritage and they are regarded as one of the three important forms of documentation of the Chinese nation. Since genealogical records document the origins and story of extensive families, they are instrumental in building up family identity and unity. These records are now an important topic for researchers. Interest in China’s genealogy is thriving, with websites, articles, books and academic seminars on the topic becoming increasingly popular. More and more Chinese people around the world are engaged in tracing their roots while family and clan activities have become more frequent and extensive in Mainland China in recent years. Danny Chin, Area Manager (Asia) of the Genealogical Society of Utah, is also a Research Fellow of the Centre of Asian Studies of The University of Hong Kong, Associate Editor of Diepuxue Lunchong [Studies on Genealogy] and member the Editorial Board of Zhongguo Jiapu Zongmu [The General Catalogue of Chinese Genealogy]. The latter ten-volume work is available for consultation in the Historical Archives of Macao. The lecture will be given in Cantonese with Portuguese and English simultaneous interpretation. Entrance is free. For further details, please contact Ms. Chu of the Macao Historical Archives of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at 85986537.
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The Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) has been participating in regional cooperation with other countries or places for the purpose of sharing resources. Among the cooperation projects with the aeronautical authorities of mainland China and Hong Kong was the Cooperation Arrangement of Mutual Acceptance of Approval of Aircraft Maintenance Organizations (AMO) signed in 2002. The three parties have then worked in close cooperation. On 28 and 29 January, the three parties held the yearly Joint Maintenance Management (JMM) Steering Committee Meeting and discussed two focused issues on the mutual acceptance of aircraft maintenance training organizations and aircraft maintenance licensing. The Steering Committee Meeting was held in AACM’s office. The three aeronautical authorities reviewed the progress of the AMO cooperation project as well as exchanged information on the difficulties encountered in practice and discussed the policy for amending the Joint Maintenance Procedures in order to carry out the relative work more effectively. In addition, the three aeronautical authorities have started the planning for the mutual acceptance of approval of aircraft maintenance training organizations between mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao since 2008. A series of discussions have been held to compare the regulations between the three places; Visits to the aeronautical authorities to observe their oversight work as well as to the maintenance training organizations to check their operations have also been conducted between the three parties to each other. The three parties have now finished the drafting of the cooperation arrangement, which is expected to be signed in 2010. The three parties also held preliminary discussions on the mutual acceptance of aircraft maintenance licensing. On this issue, the standards and the procedures for license category, examination syllabus, question bank and so on must be harmonized between mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao before conditions for mutual acceptance can be fulfilled. But given the fact that there is a discrepancy between the practice of aircraft maintenance licensing in the three places, the aeronautical authorities will therefore need a longer time for studies. On the basis of the present mutual acceptance cooperation, the three aeronautical authorities agree to aim for harmonized airworthiness standards and procedures between the three places to be the direction for future cooperation. The objectives of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao in having mutual acceptance cooperation were to reduce the economic burden resulting from the duplication of inspections and testing on the industry and to enhance cooperation and increased efficiency in matters relating to civil aviation safety. The three parties established JMM following the signing of the mutual acceptance cooperation arrangement in 2002 with members from the airworthiness disciplines from the three places. The JMM meets every year to discuss the progress review of the cooperation projects in place as well as any other new projects. The JMM Steering Committee Meeting is chaired by the three aeronautical authorities in turn. AACM has been the chairman since 2006. The meeting in these two days saw the handover of chairmanship for 2010 to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). In addition to holding the JMM Steering Committee Meeting in the week, AACM conducted a pre-audit in preparation for Macao’s participation in the Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP) which will take place this year. Following the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme which is conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to its 190 member States which Macao participated in 2009, the USAP is another big audit programme that Macao is committed to. With the coordination between CAAC and ICAO, Macao will take part in the USAP in June. A working group has been set up by AACM which has already initiated all sorts of preparation. To evaluate the preparedness of the present state, AACM invited the Programme Coordinator of the ICAO Technical Cooperation Group, Mr. Graham A Lockwood to visit Macao from 27 to 29 January for conducting a pre-audit to the Macao aviation security systems to look for possible findings. On the three-day pre-audit, Mr. Graham A Lockwood followed the USAP documentation to review the Macao Civil Aviation Security Programme, the Security Training Programme, the Quality Control and Facilitation Programme, as well as the security crisis management arrangement. In addition, Mr. Lockwood reviewed the Macau International Airport Security Programme and visited the airport to check the passenger, baggage and cargo screening and access control procedures. Mr. Lockwood has already presented the pre-audit findings to AACM. AACM will analyse those findings and adopt appropriate measures for improvement, ensuring that the security systems further comply with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices by the time the audit will take place.
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The “Macau Incentive Product Assessment Forum”, which was organised by the Macau Business Tourism Centre (MBTC) of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) from 25th – 28th January, concluded successfully in Macau yesterday. The Forum invited 18 leading industry experts flying in from Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, who are CEOs and Senior Management of leading incentive houses, Destination Management Companies (DMCs) and event companies that operate in Asia, to participate in a series of incentive designed programs and presentations. The Forum is one of many projects being undertaken by the MBTC to help develop Macau’s MICE product offering. The objective of the “Macau Incentive Product Assessment Forum” is to obtain an assessment of Macau’s incentive product from the leading industry experts to help facilitate future product development. The program consisted of three components providing participants with a first hand experience of Macau’s key incentive venues, products and services as well as the opportunity to brief the local industry on specific market needs and requirements. Participants were also asked to provide their assessment and views on how Macau could develop its incentive product further. Around 90 companies of the MBTC’s Industry Partners Program attended the presentation and panel discussion on the third day (27th January) of the Forum program. Ms. Isabel Augusto, Head of Business Tourism of MGTO, in her opening remarks said that, “Macau is a relatively new player in the MICE market. We have built some of the world’s finest hotels, resorts and infrastructure and we also must provide the best in service, standards and product delivery. We greatly value your ideas, expertise and experience to help us achieve this.” “The purpose of this Forum is to help Macau evaluate and develop its incentive product so that you and your clients may confidentially choose Macau as incentive destination. It will also provide a range of opportunities for our overseas guests and the Macau MICE industry to interact and learn from each other so that there is a mutual understanding of needs and expectations.” The Forum was fruitful, especially for the presentation and panel discussion sessions, in which the overseas participants and local industry partners had a great time in exchanging their views on Macau’s incentive products and future developments. Although most of the speakers pointed out that Macau still had room for improvement in terms of accessibility, flexibility and new product development, they unanimously admitted that Macau is pursuing in the right direction and will be a keen competitor in Asia as an ideal MICE destination.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of licensed vehicles reached 189,350 at the end of 2009, a year-on-year increase of 4%, of which 54% (102,566) were motorcycles and 39% (73,215) were light private cars. New registration of vehicles decreased by 21% year-on-year to 15,815 in 2009, with motorcycles and light private cars accounting for 66% and 28% respectively. For the whole year of 2009, the total number of traffic accidents dropped by 1% over 2008 to 12,643 cases, resulting in 4,685 victims and 14 of them were killed. Traffic flow by land between Macao and Mainland China decreased by 7% year-on-year to 3,508,159 vehicle trips in 2009, with vehicle traffic through the Border Gate (81% of the total) registered a 7% drop. Commercial flight movements at the Macao International Airport fell by 19% year-on-year to 37,177 in 2009. The major routes were Taiwan, China; Mainland China; Thailand; and Malaysia, accounting for 39%, 24%, 10% and 9% of the total commercial flights. Helicopter flights between Macao and Hong Kong dropped by 9% year-on-year to 15,905 whereas those between Macao and Mainland China increased by 15% to 3,382. Passenger transport by sea between Macao and Hong Kong rose by 30% year-on-year to 109,797 ferry trips and that between Macao and Mainland China totalled 21,798 trips, up by 4% compared with 2008. For the whole year of 2009, seaborne container throughput totalled 88,548 TEU or 64,195 containers handled, down by 30% and 29% respectively over 2008. Gross weight of seaborne containerized cargo fell by 45% to 180,413 tonnes, with 12,051 tonnes of transshipment goods. Gross weight of containerized cargo by land dropped notably by 50% to 51,694 tonnes, including 13,080 tonnes of transit goods. Outward air cargo fell by 31% year-on-year to 28,729 tonnes in 2009. The main destination was Taiwan, China that accounted for 73% of the total. Concurrently, inward air cargo decreased by 21% to 13,257 tonnes, with those from Taiwan, China taking a predominant share of 85%. In addition, transit air cargo tumbled by 75% year-on-year to 10,478 tonnes. At the end of 2009, the number of mobile telephone users rose by 11% from a year earlier to 1,037,380 whereas fixed-line telephone users decreased by 3% to 171,360. As regards internet services, number of subscribers reached 143,353 and the cumulative duration of usage totalled 340 million hours for the whole year of 2009, up by 12% and 35% respectively.
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Starting from 1 February 2010, the processing time after completion of registration for using Hong Kong e-Channel at the self-service kiosk is reduced from five working days to three working days. In other words, residents can use the e-Channel to enter and exit Hong Kong on the third working day from the next day after successful registration. Besides the ground floor of China Plaza, departure halls of Macao Ferry Terminal and Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal, the self-services kiosks are installed at the Macao SAR Government Service Center and have been in service since 13 January 2010.
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“Tak Seng On”, Macau’s Urban Best Practices Area case in the Shanghai World Expo, will be the first pavilion to complete all exterior construction works in the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). Tak Seng On is a permanent building built in the UBPA at the Puxi Section of the 2010 World Expo. While other pavilions in that section are still undergoing interior and exterior construction works, Tak Seng On is poised to complete construction on schedule and become the first ever self-built pavilion within the section to complete all constructions, including interior fittings. The final completion date is targeted in March 2010. 2010 Shanghai World Expo’s TSO will retain the original design and consist of three buildings. Being larger in size and sporting a fresher image, it highlights Macau’s efforts in preserving and reusing historical buildings. The ground floor of the pavilion features an exhibition on pawnshop operations. There will also be an exhibition on Jin Yong on the first floor, which runs mainly on the theme of “In Search Jin Yong’s Inkprints”. Jin Yong’s novels and manuscripts will be among the exhibits, while his much loved characters will be also brought to life, with an injection of spirit of Macau’s martial arts, through multimedia technology. Finally, the second floor introduces visitors to Macau’s current cultural and creative industries.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that job market situation showed continuous improvement, with the unemployment rate for October-December 2009 decreasing further by 0.2 percentage point over the previous period (September-November 2009) to 3.1%, back to the same level before the occurrence of the global financial crisis. The underemployment rate was 1.9%, same as that in the previous period. Total labour force was 322,000 in October-December 2009 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.0%, with the employed population decreasing slightly by 500 over the previous period to 312,000. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Gaming and Manufacturing Sectors increased from the preceding period, while that of Transport, Storage & Communications Sector and Real Estate & Business Activities registered a decrease. In October-December 2009, number of the unemployed decreased by 800 over the preceding period to about 9,900, with 10.7% (1,100) being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 2.8 percentage points from the previous period. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the unemployment rate of local residents stood at 3.7%, down noticeably by 0.9 percentage point quarter-to-quarter; meanwhile, the labour force participation rate of local residents dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 66.0%. For the whole year of 2009, the overall unemployment rate was 3.6%, up by 0.6 percentage point over 2008; the unemployment rate of local residents rose by 0.8 percentage point year-on-year to 4.4%.
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Chief Executive Chui Sai On was present at the welcome dinner of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Interim Marketing Meeting which is kicked off on January 25 in Macau. In the same afternoon, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U and Chief of Office for the Secretary Cheung So Mui met with MGTO officials and its 50 representatives from around the world.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U met with Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes, Deputy Director Manuel Gonçalves Pires Júnior, department heads and 50 representatives of MGTO. Speaking at the dinner, Cheong U expressed that the number of visitor arrivals to Macau has grown from 7.5 million in 1999 to 21 million in 2009. The “Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta” consolidates Macau’s position as an international tourism and leisure destination. Tourism is a vital industry in Macau and the SAR Government will advance with the objective of moderate economic diversification through tapping potential source markets, enriching tourism products, nurturing MICE industry and participating proactively in the regional development of the MICE industry. At the same time, more cultural resources will be explored and more cultural tourism products will be developed to support tourism development. He also pointed out that under the guidance of the Central Government’s policy and in line with the SAR Government’s policy direction, the diversification of tourism will be boosted with a higher and wider perspective and vision. Following the macro policy and direction, the Government will fine tune and advance the marketing promotional strategies while cooperating with the travel trade to improve the overall service quality of the tourism industry to achieve a healthy and moderately diversified development of Macau’s tourism industry, from which other related industries as well as the economy of the region will benefit. Director Antunes reported last year’s tourism development of Macau at the meeting, revealing that visitor arrivals to Macau in 2009 amounted to 21.75 million, a slight drop of 5.2%. However, the overnight stay visitors increased by 1.5 percentage point. In addition, from January to November last year, the number of overnight guests rose by 1.6 percent while the average length of stay also increased by 0.05 percentage point to 1.5 nights.
He continued that despite negative growth in many source markets in Asia, Japan, Indonesia and India saw positive gain of 3.4%, 6.2% and 30.5% respectively. Spain, with a rise of 5.6 percent in arrivals, is the only market recorded positive growth among the European markets. Furthermore, Vietnam and Russia, two targeted potential markets of MGTO, showed a 20.1 percent and 9.6 percent growth respectively. Currently, there are a total of 20,316 rooms in accommodation premises in Macau. At the Interim Marketing Meeting, MGTO hosted a Travel Trade Networking Luncheon with over 300 people attended. On the other hand, representatives of MGTO visited the newly opened hotels, the Mandarin's House and the Macau Science Center during their stay. Moreover, mini marts for MICE and leisure tourism were held for local travel trade to meet with representatives of MGTO to discuss business opportunities to attract more visitors to Macau.
On January 27, Director Antunes will lead a delegation of MGTO management team and the 50 representatives to Guangzhou and Shenzhen through the Lotus Bridge (border gate to China) for a 3-day visit. This will help the representatives to understand more on the development and tourism resources of Pearl River Delta region, so to promote regional tourism. The itinerary includes Baomo Yuan Garden in Panyu of Guangzhou, Guangdong Science Center and Lingnan (South China) Impression Garden. Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality hosted luncheon and dinner for the delegation respectively.
At present, there are 17 representation offices of MGTO around the world, Australia and New Zealand; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Japan; Mainland China; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan, China; Thailand; Belgium; Germany; Portugal; United Kingdom and Ireland, United States. Each year, MGTO capitalized the Interim Marketing Meeting to discuss with its representatives about strategies and tactics for this time of adversity. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U delivers a speech at the meetingInterim Marketing Meeting of MGTOMGTO hosts a Networking Luncheon with 300 attendeesDirector of MGTO delivers a speech at the meetingMini marts for MICE and leisure tourism are held at the Macau TowerGroup photo of Chief Executive with MGTO officials and representatives
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of visitor and non-resident arrivals was 2,531,550 in December 2009; visitor arrivals for December 2009 increased by 6.7% year-on-year to 2,035,857. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China grew by 17.8% year-on-year to 1,010,689 (49.6% of total visitor arrivals), with 397,907 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, down by 13.2% from December 2008 (458,312). Visitors from Taiwan, China (114,207) and Indonesia (28,899) rose by 10.8% and 29.9% respectively; however, visitors from Hong Kong (601,932), Malaysia (45,963), Singapore (39,559) and Japan (38,292) decreased by 6.9%, 4.9%, 3.7% and 6.5% respectively. Same-day visitors (985,135) accounted for 48.4% of the total visitor arrivals, with 487,142 coming from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals totalled 21,752,751 for the whole year of 2009, down by 5.1% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (10,989,533), Hong Kong (6,727,822), Taiwan, China (1,292,551) and Malaysia (332,529) dropped by 5.4%, 4.1%, 1.8% and 22.4% respectively, while those from Japan (379,241) registered an increase of 3.4%. In 2009, same-day visitors accounted for 52.2% of the total visitor arrivals, at 11,350,852. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 8,684,809 in 2009, down by 5.3% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour decreased by 17.5% to 5,997,964 whereas those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa rose by 56.3% to 2,403,344. Visitor arrivals by land decreased by 5.3% year-on-year to 11,448,843 in 2009; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 10,623,814 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (77.7%) and Hong Kong (14.2%). Visitor arrivals by air went down by 2.8% year-on-year to 1,619,099 in 2009. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport dropped by 2.9% to 1,583,933, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (38.2%), Mainland China (25.6%), Malaysia (8.1%) and Thailand (6.7%).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (102.28) for December 2009 increased by 0.78% year-on-year. Price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 12.64%, 6.89%, 4.81%, and 4.09% respectively, attributable to dearer prices of Autumn/Winter clothing, gasoline, gold jewellery, fresh fish and vegetables. On the contrary, 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 2.47% and 2.01% respectively. The CPI-A (101.79) for December 2009 decreased by 0.24% year-on-year, while the CPI-B (102.34) increased by 1.0%. The Composite CPI for December 2009 increased by 0.61% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; and Recreation & Culture rose by 4.88% and 2.41% respectively on account of dearer prices of new arrivals of Autumn/Winter clothing and higher charges for outbound package tours in the Christmas holidays. However, price index of Housing & Fuels decreased slightly by 0.14% due to lower rentals for housing. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.43% and 0.66% month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2009 fell by 0.14% over the same quarter of 2008, with decrease in the price indices of Education (-18.95%), Housing & Fuels (-2.77%), and Communication (-2.0%) but increase in the indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+13.79%) and Clothing & Footwear (+9.02%). The average Composite CPI for the whole year of 2009 was 101.48 and the annual inflation rate was 1.18%. Price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 9.80%, 9.50% and 5.53% respectively, while the indices of Education; Transport; and Communication decreased by 10.53%, 5.79% and 1.74%. The CPI-A and CPI-B for 2009 rose up by 0.80% and 1.25% over 2008. 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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