News

The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will present “Henning Plays Mozart” on Saturday, 12 November, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. Under the baton of the Music Director of Macao Orchestra Lü Jia, the outstanding Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud will present his solo performance. Tickets are available for sale through the Macau Ticketing Network. As one of the most outstanding musicians in Northern Europe, the Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud is reputed for his precise and keen performance. The Arts Desk hailed that “Kraggerud’s playing is consistently marvellous”. Henning has been invited in collaboration with many of the world’s most significant orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. His interpretation of Mozart’s works has been highly acclaimed in music sector, and his performance was hailed by one critic as “the high point of the night. It was Mozart as, one suspects, Mozart himself would have wanted it played.” He is bringing with him two of his favourite classics of Mozart, namely Adagio in E Major for Violin and Orchestra and Violin Concerto No. 5, “Turkish”, offering music fans a rare concert not to be missed. In tandem with the theme of this concert season “My Time with Music”, the activity “Music Hour with Henning Kraggerud” will be held exclusively for Friends of the Macao Orchestra, which will allow the audience to understand the perseverance and devotion behind musicians. The sharing session will be held on Friday, 11 November, at 7pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Conference Room. Admission is free. All interested parties can register from today through tel. no. 2853 0782 during office hours or through the WeChat official account of “Macao Orchestra”. Tickets for the concert “Henning Plays Mozart” are available for sale through the Macau Ticketing Network, with various discount packages available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. The electronic version and complete concert season programme can be downloaded at the OM’s webpage www.icm.gov.mo/om.
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The 21st Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (21st MIF) will be held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 20 to 22 October. Yesterday (19h October) the 2nd Young Entrepreneurs Forum of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was held before the fair opens today and attracted more than 250 academics, entrepreneurs and representatives from institutions within the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking Countries and Macao. Many associations and institutions signed letters of co-operation intent. Jackson Chang, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institution, mentioned in his remarks that during the “5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries”, the central government had issued “18 new measures” which include supporting Macao in establishing “the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries” and is believed to be in favour of the establishment of “the commercial and trade co-operation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries” in Macao. He encouraged today’s youths who intend to start their own businesses to grasp the advantages of the platform and explore the development opportunities, so as to promote the joint development of the Mainland, Portuguese-speaking Countries and Macao. Xu Yingzhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat to the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macao) mentioned in her remarks that, last year value of trade between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries nearly reached US$100 billion, China had become one of the most important trade partners of Portuguese-Speaking Countries and the fastest growing main export market for Portuguese-Speaking Countries. At present, Portuguese-Speaking Countries have set up nearly one thousand enterprises in China and China’s overall investment in Portuguese-Speaking Countries is almost US$50 billion. She thought that, this year’s Forum would not only provide a platform for young entrepreneurs to look for business opportunities, but also provide conditions for exchanging advanced management and operation ideas, which would have positive significance on the communication between young entrepreneurs from Macao and Portuguese-Speaking Countries. The Forum set up two special topics which were “the role of Macao in the creation of one platform and three centres for co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries” and “Presentation of Linking Projects between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries – information/internationalisation”. Association representatives, young entrepreneur leaders, academics and experts from Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries shared their respective development situations, ongoing difficulties and challenges and expressed their insights on the joint search for business opportunities. In addition, during the Forum, Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association, SINO Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Countries Federation, FIJE – Federação Iberoamericana de Jovens Empresários, CONAJE – Confederação Nacional dos Jovens Empresários, Bloque Mercosur, Câmara de Comércio de Moçambique, China Europe International Business Association, Association of Sino Portuguese Youth Entrepreneur signed letters of co-operation, in order to better promote the collaboration and development between all the parties. This Forum was jointly organised by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Association of Sino Portuguese Youth Entrepreneur, Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association, China Europe International Business Association, SINO Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Countries Federation. Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao SAR, Jackson Chang, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institution, Xu Yingzhen, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat to the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries (Macao), Vicente Manuel and Cristina Morais, Deputy Secretary-Generals of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, Glória Batalha Ung, Executive Director of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Sofia Pegado da Silva, the Consul General of Angola in Macao, Rafael Custodio Margues, the Consul General of Mozambique in Macao, Maria João Bonifácio, the Macao head of Portugal’s trade and investment agency, AICEP Portugal Global/Trade Advisor in the Consulate-General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong all attended the Forum.
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Judite Nascimento, rector of the University of Cape Verde, recently visited the University of Macau (UM) and was warmly received by UM Rector Wei Zhao and Vice Rector Rui Martins. Both parties had an in-depth discussion on how to increase collaboration between the two universities. Nascimento said that UM is the bridge between UM and Portuguese-speaking countries in the training of professionals in various fields, adding that he hopes the two universities will continue to increase collaboration in education in Chinese and Portuguese languages and cultures. During the meeting, Martins told the guests about UM’s educational philosophy, latest developments, and plans for the future. He said that UM vigorously promotes collaboration and exchange with overseas universities in order to broaden students’ horizons. Nascimento said that in recent years the University of Cape Verde has actively initiated research on Chinese culture. For example, the university recently launched a Confucius Institute to promote courses in the Chinese language and culture. Nascimento added that as an important bridge for collaboration between universities in Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries, UM has a rich cultural heritage and provides a very good language learning environment. Therefore, he hopes the two universities will further increase collaboration in summer exchange programmes, in particular in the Chinese language and culture, as well as exchange visits for faculty members and students. After the meeting, Nascimento toured UM’s campus and met with students from Cape Verde to learn more their language and cultural courses at UM. Nascimento also thanked Rector Zhao for donating 93 UM-published books to the University of Cape Verde. In 2015, UM signed a collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation of Cape Verde at the 25th annual meeting of the Association of Portuguese Speaking Universities (Associação das Universidades de Lingua Portuguesa, AULP), with the aim of promoting academic collaboration between the two universities, particularly in the training of bilingual professionals.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP155.0 billion (USD19.40 billion) at the end of September 2016. The reserves decreased by 0.5% from the revised value of MOP155.8 billion (USD19.50 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-September 2016 represented 12 times the currency in circulation or 100.8% of Pataca M2 at end-August 2016. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca rose 0.21 points month-to-month but fell 0.03 points year-on-year to 105.76 in September 2016, implying that overall speaking, the exchange rate of pataca grew against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners on a monthly basis but dropped on an annual basis.
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The Macao Cultural Centre, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presents the world-renowned cellist Mischa Maisky in recital, to be staged on December 2, 2016, at the Grand Auditorium. Regarded as a true heir of Russia’s delicate poetry and technical brilliance, Mischa Maisky was the sole disciple of master cellists Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. Born in Latvia and repatriated to Israel, Maisky embarked on a long, prolific, international career which led him to become an exclusive artist for Deutsche Gramophon. Frequently collaborating with renowned pianists such as Martha Argerich, Boris Berman or Radu Lupu, amongst many others, his recordings won numerous awards, such as the Record Academy Prize in Tokyo. Besides his prizes and studio work, Maisky has been playing with many of the best orchestras in the world, such as the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics. Accompanied by his daughter Lily Maisky on the piano, at CCM’s recital the virtuoso will be performing Gabriel Fauré’s well-known cello work Elégie, César Franck’s Sonata in A major and Astor Piazzolla’s everlasting Le Grand Tango, as well as other arranged compositions by Camille Saint-Saëns and Francis Poulenc. For those who wish to find more about Maisky, there will be a free admission pre-show talk. Presented in Cantonese, the session takes place at CCM’s Conference Room one hour prior to the concert with the speaker sharing insightful views on Mischa Maisky’s background and on the recital’s repertoire. CCM is presenting Mischa Maisky’s Cello Recital on December 2, 2016 (Friday). Tickets will be available from October 23 at CCM’s box office and Macao Ticketing Network outlets at various prices and discounts. For further information on promotional offers and ticketing, please visit www.ccm.gov.mo or call (853) 2870 0699. Credit card ticketing hotline (853) 2840 0555.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that 20% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year increase in receipts in August 2016, down by 14 percentage points from July. Chinese restaurants achieved comparatively better performance, with 30% of the interviewed Restaurants recording a year-on-year rise in receipts. On the other hand, 61% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year decrease in receipts, with 94% of the interviewed Japanese & Korean Restaurants and 79% of the Western Restaurants recording decrease. As regards retail trade, 26% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year growth in sales in August, similar to the proportion in July. Analysed by industry, all of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers recorded a year-on-year sales increase; however, 89% of the Department Stores, 79% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and 78% of the Motor Vehicle Retailers registered year-on-year declines. With respect to business prospects, 15% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments anticipated a year-on-year growth in receipts in September, similar to the proportion in the previous month, with 22% of the Chinese Restaurants expecting an increase. Meanwhile, 47% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments anticipated a year-on-year decrease in receipts in September, up by 6 percentage points from the previous month. Retailers were cautious about their business prospects. The proportion of interviewed retailers that anticipated a year-on-year increase in sales in September rose by 2 percentage points from the previous month to 17%, with 60% of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers expecting a growth in business. On the other hand, 57% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year drop in sales in September, remaining unchanged from the previous month; 74% of the Clocks, Watches & Jewellery Retailers and 70% of the Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers predicted a sales decline, and all of the Motor Vehicle Retailers expected a decline of more than 20%. The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results reflect only the business performance and the expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers, where no extrapolation of results has been conducted.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said today that a comprehensive judicial system is indispensable to, and a foundation of, law-based governance. Safeguarding judicial independence and fairness is one of the core values of the community, added Mr Chui. Mr Chui made the remarks this afternoon during the ceremony – held at the Macao Cultural Centre – to mark the start of the 2016/2017 Judicial Year. Since the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region, judicial bodies have fully adhered to the Basic Law in exercising their powers, ensuring fairness and impartiality in the dispensation of justice. Firmly adhering to the rule of law is a fundamental principle of the Government, said Mr Chui. The Government would spare no effort to produce legislation in a scientific manner; to strengthen law enforcement activity; to abide by the rule of law; and to join hands with the sector and the public to foster better and more efficient governance; thus ensuring Macao is a society based on adherence to law. In his speech, Mr Chui stated the Government continued to provide support for development of local judicial bodies, such as the training of a greater number of legal professionals, and the construction of buildings to house judicial premises. The Government was pushing ahead with plans in Zone B – a land reclamation area – for buildings to house administrative and legal bodies. The President of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Sam Hou Fai; the Public Prosecutor-General, Mr Ip Son Sang; and the President of the Macau Lawyers Association, Mr Jorge Neto Valente, each gave a speech during today’s ceremony. Approximately 400 officials attended the event, including: the President of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho Iat Seng; the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan; the President of the Independent Committee for the Nomination of Judges, Mr Lau Cheok Va; representatives respectively of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, and the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR; principal officials of the Macao SAR; members of the Executive Council; officials of judicial authorities; members of the Legislative Assembly; and other officials of the Macao SAR.
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Consumer Council conducted its third ‘Supermarket price survey’ in October on 19 October for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 14 supermarkets in Toi San, Ilha Verde and Fai Chi Kei areas in N. Sra. de Fátima Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. With reference to the local seven parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Manuel Caldeira Cabral, Portugal’s minister of economy, recently visited the University of Macau (UM) and was warmly received by UM Rector Wei Zhao and Vice Rector (Research) Rui Martins. Both parties had an in-depth discussion on how to nurture bilingual language professionals to promote the economic development of Macao and Portugal. Cabral praised UM for its contributions to the training of bilingual language professionals, adding that he will help to increase collaboration between UM and higher education institutions in Portugal. During the meeting, Vice Rector Martins told Cabral and his colleagues about UM’s latest developments, the ‘4-in-1’ model of education, and recent achievements in the training of bilingual professionals in Portuguese and Chinese. He also noted that UM is an important member of the Association of Universities of Portuguese Language and has been working hard to increase collaboration among all member universities. Cabral praised UM for its policy on Portuguese language education, adding that the university provides a very good environment for teaching and learning Portuguese, which can help Macao residents to improve their Portuguese language skills and understanding of the Portuguese culture. In addition, Cabral noted that Portuguese-speaking countries highly recognise Macao’s advantages in education and its role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Therefore, he plans to vigorously promote collaboration in student exchange programmes as well as teaching and learning between UM and Portuguese universities, including the University of Lisbon, University of Porto, University of Minho and Nova University of Lisbon.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) both increased in August 2016. With regard to the outstanding balance, RMLs and CRELs both witnessed monthly increases. New lending approved In August 2016, new RMLs approved by Macao banks increased by 6.0% month-to-month to MOP3.7 billion. Of which, new RMLs to residents, accounting for 95.6% of the total, rose by 3.2% to MOP3.5 billion while those to non-residents increased by 156.5% from a lower comparison base in the previous month. When compared with the same period of 2015, new approvals of RMLs dropped by 33.6%. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) increased by 26.9% from the preceding month to MOP296.8 million. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 98.8% of the total, increased by 32.3% to MOP293.3 million. Attributable to the higher comparison base in the same period last year, new equitable mortgage approved dropped by 74.6% on an annual basis. New CRELs surged by 111.4% month-to-month to MOP7.4 billion; of which, new CRELs to residents, accounting for 98.0% of the total, increased considerably by 230.9% to MOP7.3 billion, mainly attributed to larger loan amounts recorded for a number of approvals. In contrast, new CRELs to non-residents dropped by 88.9% from the previous month. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs declined by 23.6%. Outstanding balances As at end-August 2016, the outstanding value of RMLs was MOP177.9 billion, an increase of 0.4% from one month earlier or 5.3% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.6% of the total. When compared with the previous month, outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents rose by 0.3% and 1.6% respectively. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs rose by 0.2% month-to-month or 13.1% year-on-year to MOP170.0 billion. Residents accounted for 89.0% of the loans. Compared with a month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents increased by 2.1% whereas those to non-residents dropped by 12.4%. Delinquency ratios At the end of August 2016, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.15%, up 0.03 percentage points from a month ago or 0.06 percentage points from a year earlier. The ratio for CRELs was 0.11%, up 0.07 percentage points from a month ago or 0.06 percentage points from end-August 2015.
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