News

To comply with the policy of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, the Islands District Public Services Centre of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has been relocated to the “Municipal Affairs” Zone in Macao Government Services Centre in Islands situated in Rua de Coimbra, n.º 225, 3.˚ andar, Taipa from April 1, 2021, to continue with provision of services to the public.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the overall residential property price index for December 2020 - February 2021 decreased by 1.7% over the previous period (November 2020 - January 2021) to 263.1. The indices for the Macao Peninsula (262.8) and Taipa & Coloane (264.5) dropped by 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.
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Macao’s COVID-19 vaccination programme will – from 10am on Friday (9 April) – accept registrations either from non-locals studying in Macao tertiary education institutions, and those people that are not holders of Macao ID document but are permitted to stay in Macao.
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In order to enhance university students’ spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, Macao Polytechnic Institute has recently organised an entrepreneurial seminar named “Positioning Strategy for Startups: Made in Macao”. Chaired by the Managing Director of Macau 853 Mask Factory, Mr Jacko Lai shared his own entrepreneurship experience and escorted students to visit his mask factory to strengthen their understanding of Macao’s current entrepreneurship and business environment.
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The three-day (3 – 5 April) Ching Ming Festival Holidays of the Mainland fell between the Easter Holidays (2 – 6 April) this year. During the five-day holidays, Macao welcomed nearly 100,000 (99,568) visitor arrivals, with an average daily volume of almost 20,000 visitors (19,914). The average hotel occupancy rate was 53.1%.
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The University of Macau’s (UM) Centre for Macau Studies and Department of Economics today (7 April) released the 2021 Macao Macroeconomic Forecast. According to the forecast, the baseline forecast of Macao’s economic growth are between 21.4 per cent and 33.5 per cent; the baseline forecast of the growth in the exports of services are between 53.4 per cent and 82.1 per cent; the unemployment rate is projected to decline; government revenue (reimbursement from government reserve excluded) is projected to be between MOP 59.3 billion and MOP 73.9 billion.
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In order to enhance the protection and recording of the Ruins of St. Paul’s College (former Mater Dei Church), the Cultural Affairs Bureau conducts regular structural monitoring and maintenance of the former Mater Dei Church every year. The monitoring work in the first half of the year will be carried out from 12 to 16 April (Monday to Friday), from 9am to 6pm. During the aforementioned period, barricades will be temporarily placed in the forecourt and staircase of the former Mater Dei Church, separating the intervention area from the public. The respective area will remain partially open, without affecting the passage of pedestrians. In addition, the weeding of the façade of the former Mater Dei Church and inspection of the bronze statue will be carried out from 7am to 6pm on 13 April (Tuesday). In order to ensure public safety, the Ruins of St. Paul’s College (including the former Mater Dei Church, the Sacred Art Museum and Crypt) will be temporarily closed to the public on that day. For enquiries, please contact the Cultural Affairs Bureau through tel. no. 2836 6320 during office hours.
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On the second anniversary of the release of the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan Outline”, the Macao Polytechnic Institute, together with the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong (HKU SPACE), organized the “Cooperation and Innovation: Annual Conference 2021 of the Greater Bay Area Portuguese Language Education Alliance” on 30^th March through a combination of on-site and online methods. At the conference, the three parties discussed in depth the opportunities brought by the development of Portuguese-speaking education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and discussed and planned the joint strengths of talent training, scientific research innovation, education cooperation, innovation and development in the Bay Area. Experts and scholars interacted with each other and offered suggestions and strategies. The Macao Polytechnic Institute looked forward to cooperating with higher education institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, taking advantage of Macao as a Sino-Portuguese platform, and taking the Greater Bay Area as the starting point to actively connect with Portuguese-speaking countries, so that China and Portuguese-speaking countries would reach a new level of academic cooperation.
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Shi Youqi, President of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and his attendant delegation accompanied by Im Sio Kei, President of the Macao Polytechnic Institute, recently visited Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government. The two parties exchanged concerns on strengthening cooperation between the higher institutes of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and promoting the “Greater Bay Area Portuguese Language Education Alliance”, “Bay Area Campus Program” and other cooperation projects in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
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April is a contribution month of the Social Security Fund (abbreviated to FSS in Macao). In this month, employers are required to pay obligatory system contributions for their local long-term employees for the first quarter of 2021. If a non-resident worker is hired, the employer is required to pay the employment fee as well. In addition, beneficiaries of the arbitrary system are also advised to pay their contributions in April. The FSS calls on employers and beneficiaries of the arbitrary system who have already applied for the use of electronic filing service to use electronic payment channels as much as possible. If they need to visit a service point in person, they are also recommended to make an appointment in advance and get a ticket online in order to save waiting time.
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