News

The 2017 Macao-Guangzhou Fine Products Fair, co-organised by IPIM and Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce, will be held from 6 to 8 January 2017 at the Poly World Trade Centre in Guangzhou. This event plays a very important role in Guangzhou-Macao trade and economic co-operation. The 2017 Macao-Guangzhou Fine Products Fair will cover a wide range of products and service including MinM, Macao souvenirs, cultural and creative products, consumer goods, food products, wine, products from Portuguese-speaking countries, commerce of cross-border e-commerce as well as other merchandise. During the fair, fine products from Macao and Guangzhou will be showcased and sold to residents of and visitors to Guangzhou. There will also be diverse activities, including business matching sessions, product procurement and promotional events for Macao and Guangzhou companies during the fair, which will serve as a platform for companies from Macao and Guangzhou to network and co-operate, thereby promoting economic and trade ties between the two places. In order to encourage companies from Macao to participate in the exhibition, IPIM is providing an incentive programme for companies from Macao. The incentives cover a standard booth, accommodation, transportation, round-trip freight transportation, storage area and temporary staff. Eligible enterprises only need to pay a participation fee of MOP$2,000.00 for a booth or MOP$1, 800.00 for raw space. The scope of exhibits will include: products manufactured in Macao, Macao brands and overseas products with an agent in Macao (priority will be given to products from Portuguese-speaking countries). All Macao enterprises are welcome to participate in the event and explore new business opportunities. Local companies interested in participating may obtain an application form from IPIM, located on Avenida da Amizade, 918, World Trade Centre Building, 4th Floor, Macao or Alameda Dr. Carlos d’Assumpção, 263, China Civil Plaza Building, 19th floor, Macao during office hours until 10 November. As the number of booths is limited, applications will be processed on a first-come first-served basis with the organisers reserving the right of final decision. Registration and enquiry hotline: 8798 9267 / 8798 9274.
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Cultural heritage is a valuable cultural resource of the city. In order to strengthen the educational promotion of cultural heritage and optimize the website’s service, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) launched a new cultural heritage webpage today, 31 October. This new webpage is based on a user-friendly design concept, focusing on the release of cultural heritage’s information and activities, hoping to build an online communication bridge for enhancing the public’s awareness to the protection of cultural heritage. The “Cultural Heritage” webpage (www.culturalheritage.mo) will replace the Macau heritage webpage (www.macauheritage.net), the former becoming a platform for the release and update of IC’s information on cultural heritage. The webpage covers classified immovable heritage and intangible cultural heritage, offering not only daily news but also the relative legislation, guidelines and public consultation information, among others. Likewise, the “Macau World Heritage” page (www.wh.mo) also has a new version, keeping its URL unchanged, featuring the functions of releasing news related to the world-heritage classified “Historic Centre of Macao” and promoting education about the latter. Both above-mentioned Webpages are available in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Portuguese and English, respectively. The new WebPages are compatible with the browsing functions of electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets, and the new page layout and design interface is based on a user-friendly design concept. While improving its security, availability and compatibility, the page makes it easy to search for latest news about cultural heritage, and provides links to thematic websites such as the Mandarin’s House, the Lou Kau Mansion and the Dom Pedro V Theatre, among others, providing clear indications on using various services and applications as well as promotional videos about cultural heritage. IC will continue to improve the site functions and information, and actively develop all kinds of communication channels in order to strengthen even further the public’s knowledge on Macao’s cultural heritage and, thereby, protect Macao’s cultural heritage in collaboration with all local social sectors.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours decreased by 20.0% year-on-year to 596,000 in September 2016. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (482,000) and Taiwan (33,000) dropped by 23.0% and 11.1% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (25,000) recorded an increase of 44.9%. In the first three quarters of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 5,420,000, down by 27.8% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 93,000 in September 2016, down by 16.1% year-on-year. Residents travelling on package tours decreased by 26.8% year-on-year to 32,000; residents travelling to Mainland China (23,000) dropped by 36.8% while those travelling to the Republic of Korea (3,300) soared by 220.8%. In the first three quarters of 2016, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 910,000, down by 17.2% year-on-year. There were 107 hotels & guesthouses operating at the end of September 2016, up by 4 year-on-year and 2 month-to-month. Number of guest rooms increased by 20.7% year-on-year to 36,000, with 3-star hotel rooms (5,500) surging by 116.9%. With new hotels commencing operations, number of guests of hotels & guesthouses in September 2016 increased by 20.2% year-on-year to 1,025,000. Guests from Mainland China (644,000), the Republic of Korea (29,000), Hong Kong (152,000) and Taiwan (47,000) recorded double-digit growth, up by 20.9%, 75.5%, 12.5% and 40.6% respectively year-on-year. The average length of stay of guests held stable as in September 2015, at 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 82.1% in September 2016, up by 3.7 percentage points year-on-year, and 4-star hotels took the lead at 86.5%, up notably by 10.5 percentage points. In the first three quarters of 2016, guests of hotels & guesthouses totalled 8,585,000, up by 12.9% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 81.2%, up by 1.2 percentage points; the average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 0.1 night year-on-year. Visitor-guests accounted for 71.0% of the total overnight visitors, up by 3.0 percentage points year-on-year.
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“Hosting large-scale conventions and business events attracts professional visitors and business delegations to Macao, promoting the local economy”. This is an idea that is materialising gradually as more and more international conventions and meetings are coming to Macao. In September, Macao hosted three high-profile conventions, attended by more than 20,000 visitors. In addition to boosting the economy in the Cotai area, those events also contributed to increasing trade for businesses in Taipa village and in the northern part of Macao. According to the organiser of the “Greater China NU Skin Academy”, the stay of the 5,000 attendees and their families contributed a total expenditure of approximately 40 million patacas. Estimating an average per capita spending of 5,000 patacas, the three events contributed an aggregate of about 100 million patacas in consumption in different areas of the city – a very encouraging figure. The organisers of the three events agree that the well-established hotels, venues and other infrastructure in Macao – together with the diversified activities surrounding these venues – make it easy to tour the city and arrange sightseeing activities: something convenient for organisers planning events in Macao. The three organisers say Macao continues to be the first choice for large-scale meetings and conventions; they expect to hold other events in Macao. Macao, the perfect match for work and entertainment In September, Macao hosted three large-scale events, each with more than 1,000 attendees: “Nu Skin SouthEast Asia Star Academy Macao 2016” (1,000 participants), early in the month; “Amway Diamond Recognition Meeting” (14,000 participants), in mid-September; followed by the “Greater China NU Skin Academy” (5,000 participants). Evita Quiambao Singson, Regional Vice President of Sales for Asia Pacific of Nu Skin, said her event in Macao was “a perfect match of work and entertainment”. According to Ms Singson, Macao is well equipped with facilities for large-scale conventions, having also attractive tourism landmarks and a unique history, with a diversified suit of products. Visitors that love to shop have a very enjoyable experience in Macao, she noted. “If you only sit in the conference room without walking around, then your trip to Macao will be meaningless,” said Ms Singson. With such a unique combination between the convention and exhibition industry and the tourism sector, Ms Singson said she expects to host more large-scale events in Macao in the future. Large-scale conventions promote community-based economy With co-ordination from the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the organiser of the “Nu Skin SouthEast Asia Star Academy Macao 2016” worked with industry representatives; and trade associations from the Islands District, the Central and Southern District and the Macao Northern District; as well as travel agents, in order to organise tours of the city for the event’s participants. The attendees visited famous landmarks in Macao, such as the Macau Tower, the Ruins of St. Paul's, and Rua da Felicidade, among others. The visits were a good opportunity for the participants to enjoy scenic spots of Macao, and helped stimulate consumption in different communities across the city. Hsu Min-Che, General Manager of Fulin International Limited, the organiser of the “Amway Diamond Recognition Meeting”, said the event attracted a total of 14,000 attendees from over 40 countries and regions. Since the meeting took place in the afternoon, participants were able to enjoy other time on their own, going shopping or exploring the city and sampling some traditional gastronomy products. Mr Hsu said that without doubt the conventions and exhibitions industry attracts professional visitors to Macao, helping to propel a community-based economy. Patrick Yeung, President of Hong Kong & Macau and Regional Vice-President of Leaderships at Nu Skin Enterprises, said most of the 5,000 participants of the “Greater China NU Skin Academy” came to Macao with their families. According to Mr Yeung, a large number of the participants extended their stay for one or two days after the event, so as to visit some of the city’s landmarks, such as the Ruins of St. Paul's, Rua do Cunha and other attractions; with some of them even exploring the city’s Northern District, as well as trying local delicacies. The estimated tourism consumption figure reached approximately 40 million patacas, said Mr Yeung. Estimating an average spend of 5,000 patacas per attendee – based on 20,000 participants in the three events in September – the total consumption associated with these events is expected to have reached 100 million patacas – an amount spent in the community. Such an outcome shows that the volume of business grows whenever there is a large-scale event in Macao, said merchants in the Islands District, adding they hoped that the city welcomes further large-scale events. More Large-Scale Events to Come Macao is to host a number of large-scale events in the fourth quarter of 2016. These include the “9th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia (with more than 5,000 participants expected). Several other events are each expected to attract more than 7,000 participants. For more information, please visit the official website of IPIM: http://www.ipim.gov.mo
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in October on 28 October for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Taipa and Coloane area. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps. 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 over 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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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in October on 28 October for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Taipa and Coloane area.
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In order to enrich the population’s cultural life and broaden its cultural horizons, the Cultural Affairs Bureau organizes the “Lectures by Masters of Culture” programme. This year’s “Lecture by Masters of Culture”“ will be held on Sunday, 30 October at 3pm, at the Macao Science Centre Convention Hall. Hosted by the British keynote speaker Charles Landry, an international authority on the use of imagination and creativity in urban change, known as the “innovator of the creative city concept”, the lecture is entitled “Macao: A Culture of Ambition and Creativity as Catalysts for a Sustainable City”. Charles Landry is an international authority in the use of imagination and creativity in urban change. In the late 1980s, he renewed the concept of “creative city”, focusing on how cities can create conditions for people and organizations to think, plan and act with imagination in solving of problems and in the development of opportunities. The notion, which became a global movement, changed the way cities think about their capabilities and resources. Charles Landry has worked and given talks in over sixty countries and helped change the way to assess and harness the possibilities of reinventing cities. His “Creative City Index” is a powerful tool to measure the creative eco-system of places. His works such as The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators and The Digitized City have met great public demand. In this lecture, Charles Landry will share successful cases in famous cultural cities across the world, and will prove that ambition and creativity are the keys to establish a creative city, in addition to cultural events, imagination and creativity he advocates for urban change. Charles Landry opens new perspectives for all those interested in the establishment of a creative, energetic and liveable city. The Cultural Affairs Bureau launched the “Lectures by Masters of Culture” in 2013, inviting world famous scholars, artists and individuals from cultural circles to come to Macao and, through the exchange of experiences and the sharing of knowledge, stimulate thoughts with an international outlook, and deepen Macao’s culture, thereby creatively and vigorously contributing for Macao’s cultural development. The lecture will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation to Mandarin and Portuguese. Registration for the lecture opened in the end of September. The public responded with enthusiasm and the 300 seats have already been reserved. Applicants who have received a confirmation message are advised to arrive at the venue 15 minutes prior to the lecture. Interpreting equipment (headsets) are available on a first come, first served basis. For enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6699 during office hours. For more information, please visit www.icm.gov.mo/deippub/masters/2016.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for September 2016 amounted to MOP821 million, down by 3.5% year-on-year; value of re-exports (MOP589 million) dropped by 17.4%, with that of Clocks & watches falling by 35.5%; value of domestic exports (MOP232 million) soared by 68.8%. Total merchandise import decreased by 8.5% year-on-year to MOP6.32 billion, of which imports of Motor cars and Construction materials declined by 57.9% and 48.4% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP5.50 billion. In the third quarter of 2016, total value of merchandise export (MOP2.63 billion) and merchandise import (MOP18.83 billion) fell by 2.8% and 10.0% respectively year-on-year, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP16.21 billion. From January to September 2016, total value of merchandise export dropped by 5.2% year-on-year to MOP7.73 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP6.25 billion) decreased by 8.1%, but that of domestic exports (MOP1.48 billion) increased by 9.3%. Total value of merchandise import fell by 17.8% to MOP52.19 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP44.46 billion for the first three quarters of 2016. Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Mainland China decreased by 1.3% year-on-year to MOP1.34 billion in the first three quarters of 2016, of which exports to the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.26 billion) fell by 3.9%, and exports to Hong Kong (MOP4.30 billion) dropped by 13.0%. Meanwhile, exports to the EU (MOP140 million) and the USA (MOP110 million) reduced by 17.7% and 26.2% respectively. Exports of Non-textiles declined by 4.6% year-on-year to MOP7.19 billion, of which value of Clocks & watches (MOP740 million) dropped by 30.1%, but that of Tobacco & wine (MOP621 million) grew by 45.8%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP545 million, down by 12.6%. By place of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP18.92 billion) and the EU (MOP12.75 billion) in the first three quarters of 2016 decreased by 19.4% and 10.8% respectively year-on-year. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Mainland China declined by 6.2% to MOP9.00 billion, of which imports from the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP8.52 billion) fell by 6.6%. Imports of Consumer goods dropped by 13.6% to MOP32.85 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP3.32 billion) and Motor cars & motorcycles (MOP911 million) decreasing by 31.9% and 55.6% respectively. Moreover, imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP4.66 billion), Mobile phones (MOP3.06 billion) and Construction materials (MOP1.51 billion) declined by 12.7%, 44.9% and 37.3% respectively. External merchandise trade totalled MOP59.93 billion in the first three quarters of 2016, down by 16.4% compared with MOP71.67 billion a year earlier.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) hosts the activity “Getting to know the Archaeology of Macau”, integrated in the event “Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in Macao”, on Sunday, 30th of October, featuring an introductory presentation on archaeology and a visit to an archaeological site. Admission is free and participants aged fourteen and above are welcome to join. The presentation included in the activity “Getting to know the Archaeology of Macau” held in Carmo Hall (Taipa), will introduce the subject of archaeology, the archaeological works conducted in Macao and how archaeological heritage is protected by the “Cultural Heritage Protection Law”, allowing participants to gain a general understanding of these topics. The presentation is followed by a site visit to the Museum of Taipa and Coloane History and its archaeological site, so as to increase the public's awareness and understanding on archaeological work. The activity is divided in two sessions: a session in Chinese to be held from 10:30am to 1pm; and a session in English, to be held from 3pm to 5:30pm. This activity is integrated in the event “Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in Macao”, which is part of a wider event entitled “New Frontiers for Promoting the Law - Month for law promotion among teenagers”. Registration can be made online through the webpage www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event and is available on a first come first served basis. On the day of the activity, on-site registration is also possible if there are seats available. For enquiries, please call IC through tel. no. 8399 6424, during office hours, or visit the IC webpage www.icm.gov.mo.
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Consumer Council conducted its ‘Supermarket price survey’ in October on 27 October for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets in São Lázaro and São Lourenço Parishes. 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. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. 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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