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Consumer Council conducted its second ‘Supermarket price survey’ in September on 19 September for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Areia Preta, Mong Há and Avenida de Venceslau de Morais 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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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that number of establishments in the hotel sector increased by 8 year-on-year to 107 in 2015. Nevertheless, Receipts of the hotel sector decreased by 6.6% year-on-year to MOP 26.04 billion, mainly due to a 10.6% drop in receipts from Room Sales (MOP 12.21 billion) that accounted for 46.9% of the total; receipts from Food & Beverages (MOP 5.49 billion) fell by 2.4% while receipts from Rental of Space (MOP 5.65 billion) rose by 1.0%. Expenditure of the hotel sector increased by 1.6% year-on-year to MOP 23.44 billion. Compensation of Employees (44.6% of total) rose by 8.9% to MOP 10.45 billion, while Operating Expenses (MOP 10.35 billion) and Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 2.65 billion) dropped by 1.4% and 11.6% respectively. Meanwhile, Non-operating Expenses such as depreciation and interest paid amounted to MOP 8.83 billion, up by 21.9% year-on-year. Analysed by classification of establishments, receipts of five-star hotels decreased by 7.1% year-on-year to MOP 21.43 billion, of which receipts from Room Sales (MOP 9.74 billion), Rental of Space (MOP 5.24 billion) and Food & Beverages (MOP 4.55 billion) recorded decline. Receipts of four-star hotels edged down by 0.1% year-on-year to MOP 2.72 billion, with Room Sales (MOP 1.63 billion) falling by 9.9% and Rental of Space (MOP 292 million) rising by 22.6%. Receipts of three-star and two-star hotels decreased by 9.7% year-on-year to MOP 1.83 billion on account of a 19.4% drop in Room Sales (MOP 780 million). Moreover, receipts of the hotel sector from online business (including online room reservation and ticketing) decreased by 9.9% year-on-year to MOP 703 million; online business receipts of five-star hotels (MOP 497 million) dropped by 19.1% while those of four-star hotels surged by 39.9%. Meanwhile, expenditure of five-star hotels decreased by 4.0% year-on-year to MOP 19.13 billion, of which Compensation of Employees (MOP 8.68 billion) rose by 5.7% while Operating Expenses (MOP 8.22 billion) dropped by 9.5%. On the contrary, expenditure of four-star hotels surged by 68.3% to MOP 2.94 billion, with Operating Expenses (MOP 1.59 billion) soaring by 86.7%. Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy totalled MOP 13.20 billion, down by 9.2% year-on-year. Gross Surplus of the hotel sector dropped notably by 44.4% to MOP 2.76 billion; four-star hotels recorded a deficit of MOP 171 million as the annual receipts of the new hotels were lower than their annual expenditure (including pre-opening expenses). Gross Surplus Ratio decreased by 7.2 percentage points to 10.6%. With the opening of several five-star and four-star hotels in 2015, Gross Fixed Capital Formation leaping by 944.1% year-on-year to MOP 28.85 billion due to a significant increase in expenditure on construction and acquisition of property, as well as major renovation projects. A total of 107 hotels and guesthouses were operating in 2015, comprising 74 hotels and 33 guesthouses. Total number of persons engaged rose by 14.7% year-on-year to 45,271, of which 28,991 (64.0%) were working in the 12 large-scale hotels having 800 or more persons engaged, up by 8.6%.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities for the second quarter of 2016. This Survey aims to collect information on participation of individuals aged 16 and above in cultural activities in the six months prior to the date of interview. Cultural activities include going to the cinema, going to a library, visiting a museum or World Heritage site, and attending a performance or art exhibition. In the second quarter of 2016, a total of 302,300 individuals participated in cultural activities; the cultural activity participation rate (percentage of individuals participating in cultural activities in the population aged 16 and above) was 54.9%, up by 2.1 percentage points year-on-year. Local residents participating in cultural activities totalled 257,900, with a participation rate of 59.2%, up by 1.2 percentage points. Analysed by type of cultural activity, going to the cinema remained the most popular activity for local residents, with 169,800 participants, up by 7.6% year-on-year. As the government organised a number of film screenings in support of Macao films and videos, local residents who had watched locally produced films and videos rose notably by 58.5% to 35,100. Local residents going to libraries increased by 3.1% year-on-year to 114,400; the activity participation rate was 26.3%, up by 0.5 percentage points. Students had a higher participation rate than non-students, at 68.0% and 22.0% respectively. With the government’s efforts to promote Macao history and culture, local residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites increased by 19.1% year-on-year to 113,900. The average visit per participant was 2.8, the same as a year earlier. Specifically, 82,500 local residents visited World Heritage sites (72.4% of total) and 75,100 visited museums (65.9%). There were 90,500 local residents attending performances, down by 0.7% year-on-year. The average attendance per participant remained unchanged from a year earlier, at 2.3. Music/dance performances were more popular among local residents, with 65,500 participants (72.3%), while theatre performances had 45,200 participants (50.0%). There were 38,300 local residents attending art exhibitions, up by 5.2% year-on-year; 95.7% of them also participated in other types of cultural activities, and 51.6% took part in four or more types of activities, up by 3.0 percentage points.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau will carry out an inspection to the roof of St. Anthony’s Church between 26th September and 13th October. During the inspection period, scaffolding will be installed in certain areas inside the Church. Nevertheless the opening hours of St. Anthony’s Church will not be affected by the abovementioned works and the church will remain open to the public. For enquiries, please call IC through tel. no. 8399 6699, during office hours.
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The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) is paying close attention to the explosion incident occurred in Manhattan, New York. Until the present moment, GGCT has not received any request for information or assistance. If necessary, Macao residents can call: 24-hour Tourism Hotline (853) 2833 3000; The Chinese Embassy and Consulates or the Global Emergency Call Center for Consular Protection and Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 24-hour hotline: +86 10 12308 for assistance.
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The distribution work of 2016 Wealth Partaking Scheme finished on 16 September this year. In the course of implementation, 212,901 beneficiaries had received the cash premium by means of bank transfer, accounting for MOP$ 1,873,341,800, while 469,492 crossed cheques had been mailed, which summed up to MOP$ 4,045,590,000. Until the present time, 332,992 cheques were honoured, representing 70.9% of the total number of cheques issused. In line with the scheme, the Service Centre of Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau located in Avenida da Praia Grande, China Plaza, 2/F provides services for enquiries and deal with procedures related to the cash disbursement. As of 16 September, some 19,478 enquiries had been handled, with the majority of which being personal visit, summing up to 12,362 enquiries, around 63.5% of the total. The second most popular channel was telephone enquiry, which stands for 7,130 or 36.6% enquiries. Personal visits to the Centre were mainly for re-issuance of cheques, which totalled 2,884 cases. Although the distribution work has finished, residents can still go to the Service Centre of Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau for assistance regarding procedures associated with the present and pass years Scheme from 9am to 6pm straight, Monday to Friday, except public holidays. The service hotline 2822 5000, fax 2822 3000 as well as the official website of Wealth Partaking Scheme http://www.planocp.gov.mo will be retained to provide relevant information.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP155.8 billion (USD19.50 billion) at the end of August 2016. The reserves increased by 0.4% from the revised value of MOP155.2 billion (USD19.43 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-August 2016 represented 12 times the currency in circulation or 103.2% of Pataca M2 at end-July 2016. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca fell 0.84 points month-to-month and 0.17 points year-on-year to 105.54 in August 2016, implying that overall speaking, the exchange rate of the pataca dropped against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners.
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Macao and Zhuhai Consumer Council worked together to test 20 samples of tissue papers and 16 samples of food storage bags. Test result showed that all items pass the testing standard. To enhance monitoring on the quality of goods on the market, and to safeguard citizens in both areas for their consumer rights and safety, Macao and Zhuhai Councils work together according to their protocol to conduct tests on consumer goods. The two Councils co-operated earlier to test 20 batches of tissue papers and 16 batches of food storage bags for their hygienic condition, ingredients, and quality. All samples passed the quoted national standard. The two Councils held a press conference at Zhuhai on 13 September to announce the test and the relevant report, as well as released reminders to consumers on purchasing the said products. President of Consumer Council’s Executive Committee, Wong Hong Neng, indicated that transregional co-operation fully utilizes the advantage of sharing resources, and Macao Consumer Council works together with different consumer organizations in the Mainland to enhance consumers’ confidence and safeguard consumer rights. As 1 October is approaching, Consumer Council released a set of advices to tourists traveling to Macao on buying jewelries, watches, and electrical products, and introduced the Council’s ‘Certified Shop’ mechanism on the press conference held earlier. The Council also explained how tourists could seek for assistance when consumer dispute arises in Macao.
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The Cinematheque．Passion, under the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), hosts a talk entitled “Film Marketing: How to Sell Your Story”, conducted by Zheng Dawei, Secretary-General of the Guangdong Motion Picture Industry Association, to be held on Saturday, 24 September, from 3pm to 5pm. Online applications are now accepted. Admission is free. Zheng Dawei will discuss the creation of screenplays based on different film genres and analyze the key elements of best-selling commercial films. In addition, he will introduce the application for film production in Mainland China, the procedures for selection, analysis, assessment and approval of film projects, as well as the revenue sharing model for the distribution of public screenings. As a graduate of the film literature programme at the Research Institute of Television and Movie Art of the Chinese National Academy of Arts (Beijing), Zheng Dawei has a rich work experience both before and behind the scenes, having served the film and television industry for over three decades in the capacities of executive producer, producer, screenwriter, director and chief editor of the Guangdong Television. He is now the Secretary-General of the Guangdong Motion Picture Industry Association, member of review committee of the Guangdong Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and member of the Guangdong Film Production Review Committee. He has also been a member of the adjudication panel for the call for submissions of Macao film projects for the 2016 Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Film Production Investment and Trade Fair. There are sixty seats available for this talk on first-come, first-served basis. All interested parties are welcome to enrol through IC’s Activity Registration System (www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event). For enquiries regarding the talks or the Cinematheque, please contact Mr. Leong, staff member of IC, through tel. no. (853) 2892 4040 during office hours. For details, please visit the Cultural Affairs Bureau website (www.icm.gov.mo) or Macao Cultural and Creative Industries Website (www.macaucci.com).
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, met the Ambassador of the People Republic of China to the Portuguese Republic, Mr Cai Run, in Lisbon on 12 September. They exchanged views on issues related to promoting China–Portugal relations, Macao–Portugal relations, and enhancing Macao’s function as a cooperation platform between China and Portugal. The Chief Executive expressed his gratitude for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ long-term support and care about the Macao SAR. He also expressed thanks to the Chinese Embassy for the coordination and assistance that helped make his visit to Portugal a success. The Chief Executive said that during his visit, he and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, co-chaired the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee meeting; he also met with the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Luís Santos da Costa, to exchange views on maintaining a good relationship between Portugal and Macao. He described his trip to Portugal as solid and fruitful, deepening various aspects of cooperation between Macao and Portugal, and benefiting and strengthening Macao’s function as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Mr Cai Run welcomed the visit to Portugal by the Chief Executive and the MSAR delegation. He believed the Chief Executive’s visit could further consolidate the relationship between Macao and Portugal, and help to enhance the cooperation between China and Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. He recognised Macao’s role and contribution as a business and trade cooperation and services platform for China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Officials attending the meeting also included the Political Counsellor of China’s Embassy to Portugal, Mr Nie Cun; Military Officer, Mr Mao Zhixin; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms O Lam; and the Director of the Macao Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon, Ms O Tin Lin.
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