News

The “Forum on Chain and Franchise Business Opportunities of International Brands” will be held on the opening day of the 2016 Macao Franchise Expo (2016MFE) – 29 July – in the Sicily Room of the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. The Forum aims to encourage local brands to “go global” and help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enhance their respective brand images and understand the new challenges brought about by the Internet regarding chain and franchise business. The Forum is being held under the theme “New Horizons for Chain Operations and Franchising in the Internet Era”. The Forum organisers have invited experts and senior managers from international franchising associations from around the world to meet representatives of the local industry and young entrepreneurs. This is in order to expand the horizons for chain operations and franchising locally, in a bid to seize opportunities brought by the development of the initiative “Internet+”. Experts to Share Experience on Market Trends Emerging in New Internet Era The Forum is divided into two sessions. In the first session, representatives of leading associations within the industry will take part, including experts from Brazil, Mainland China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. The experts will share their experiences in market development trends emerging in the new Internet era in their respective markets. During the second session, senior managers and experts from around the world will be invited to discuss the new challenges they have had to deal with and how to explore business opportunities under the O2O (Online-to-Offline) platform, a new type of operation model that has become popular in recent years. The Forum will introduce senior managers from several renowned enterprises, including a Hong Kong-based representative of VIPSHOP, a leading Chinese online discount retailer that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and collaborates with more than 18,000 brands. Also attending the Forum will be: the founder of MORE Group, a Portugal-based company with several years of experience in chain operations and franchising, and assisting companies to transform their business; and the Chief Executive Officer of iFood Macau, a local O2O platform that partners with food and beverage brands and provides a one-stop franchising service to help promote the development of Macao’s culinary culture and e-commerce. The Forum serves as a platform that allows international experts, industry representatives and participants – in particular, young entrepreneurs – to exchange opinions and share experiences on the direction and trends in development of the franchising and chain store business models. The aim is to expand the network for the industry and to inspire the Forum’s participants to even greater success. The Forum will be conducted in Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese, English, Japanese and Korean, with a simultaneous translation service. All are welcome to participate (in particular young entrepreneurs and young business starters). For registration and enquiries, please contact us via, telephone: +853 8798 9127; or fax: +853 2872 8208; or email: ipimpcom@ipim.gov.mo. For more information about the guest speakers and the Forum schedule, please visit the official website at: http://www.mfe.mo/
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The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) “Step Out, Macao” Mobile App with eight suggested walking tour routes for visitors and residents to explore the city has been awarded by the 2016 PATA Gold Awards in the category of Marketing Media – Mobile Travel Application, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) announced. “The PATA Gold Award is a great encouragement for MGTO’s work. The App has been specially designed to allow visitors and residents to enjoy easy access to information about the eight walking tour routes of our ‘Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities’ project on smart phones, and explore the routes more conveniently. We hope that the PATA endorsement can attract more visitors to download the App and do the suggested walking tour routes, for a more in-depth and rewarding visit to Macao”, said MGTO Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes. The winners will receive the prestigious award at a PATA Gold Awards Luncheon and Presentation on September 9, during PATA Travel Mart 2016, to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia. MGTO’s “Step Out, Macao” Mobile App is among the 31 Gold Awards and Grand Awards presented this year by PATA to recognize exceptional achievement in seven broad categories: Marketing Campaign, Environment, Corporate Social Responsibility, Heritage and Culture, Education and Training, Marketing Media and Travel Journalism. This year’s awards attracted 212 entries from 71 organizations and individuals worldwide, with the winners voted by a judging panel of tourism industry experts. The “Step Out, Macao” Mobile App was first launched in December 2013 with four walking tour routes, then upgraded in February 2015 to include eight redesigned walking tour routes, covering Macao, Taipa and Coloane. The Mobile App is an important tool to promote MGTO’s “Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities”, aiming to encourage visitors and residents to know the diversity and hidden gems of the city, while also diverting the flow of visitors from the most visited spots and fostering community tourism development. Available in Chinese (traditional and simplified), English and Portuguese, the Mobile App offers maps of the eight walking tour routes, descriptions of the tourism spots, including The Historic Centre of Macao, listed by UNESCO, schedule of cultural performances, restaurants, bus routes, Wi-Fi, public washrooms, and other useful information, along the routes. Users can also scan the QRcodes on direction signs along the themed routes and obtain the tourist information offline. The Mobile App can be downloaded for free from App Store or Google Play. Since the launch of the first version of the App with four walking routes until July 24, a total of over 49,500 users downloaded the App on its iOS and Android versions. The top five download regions are (according to number of downloads) Hong Kong, Taiwan region, Mainland China, Thailand and Macao. This is the fourth time for MGTO to be distinguished with the prestigious PATA accolade. MGTO received a 2002 PATA Grand Award for Marketing with the "Macao Welcomes You Passport Campaign", was granted a 2007 PATA Grand Award for Heritage with its "Macao World Heritage Year Campaign", and a 2008 PATA Gold Award for Travel Advertisement Print Media for its “Experience Macao” campaign. Founded in 1951, PATA is a non-profit membership association dedicated to building responsible development of the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry, including among its members government tourism bodies, travel trade operators and tourism educational institutions. Macao has been a PATA member since 1958. For decades, PATA has been a valuable platform for Macao to promote its tourism image and connect local travel trade stakeholders to the world.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, will attend a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly tomorrow (27 July) and answer legislators’ questions on Government policy and social issues. The session will start at 3pm and will be broadcast live on television and radio channels of public broadcaster Teledifusão de Macau (TDM). Members of the public also have the option of watching the proceedings online via: the website of the Legislative Assembly (http://www.al.gov.mo); the Macao SAR Government Portal (http://www.gov.mo); the website of the Office of the Chief Executive (http://www.gce.gov.mo); the website of the Government Information Bureau (http://www.gcs.gov.mo); official channels on YouTube; and Government apps for mobile devices. The Chief Executive pays great attention to communication with the Legislative Assembly. Besides attending plenary sessions of the Assembly every year in order to deliver the Policy Address relating to the following fiscal year, the Chief Executive also attends two similar sessions each year. This is in order to update the public with the progress of Government work; to enhance communication with legislators; and to optimise administrative transparency.
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in July on 25 July for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Horte e Costa, Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga and Rua da Emenda areas in Santo António 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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Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has completed its two-month public consultation for the "Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan” and collected over 1,100 opinions in total. The public consultation on the Master Plan was held from 23 May to 22 July. During the period, two public consultation sessions, two exchange sessions for local trade and organizations as well as two special sessions for relevant advisory committees were held, registering over 180 participants. Over 1,100 opinions were collected through public consultation sessions, email, phone and website, etc. The opinions were given mainly with regard to tourism product development, tourism quality and service, urban development regarding transportation and facility, tourism source markets and target segments, goals and strategies for tourism development, etc. MGTO will organize and analyze the public input to compile a summary report of the public consultation. The 12th Five-Year Plan has clearly stated the Central Government’s support for Macao to position itself as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure along its future development, and the positioning was further confirmed in the 13th Five-Year Plan. In early 2015, MGTO invited public tenders for the "Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan Service Provision”, to propose an integrated scheme for Macao’s tourism development in the short, medium and long run. The ultimate objective is to formulate a comprehensive Master Plan for the development of Macao’s tourism industry and lay a key foundation and direction for its future development in the next 15 years. The "Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan” will analyze the current situation of Macao’s tourism industry on a variety of aspects including city competitiveness, tourism resources and products, tourism source markets and target segments, tourism branding and city positioning, innovative technology and smart tourism, tourism quality and service, regional tourism cooperation, city development, transportation and accessibility. Based on detailed analysis on the above aspects, the Consultation Paper proposes 4 overall goals of the Master Plan and 14 strategies along with various measures to carry out in the short, medium and long term, in line with the goals set in the “Draft of the Macao SAR’s Five-Year Development Plan” (2016-2020) as guiding principles. The Master Plan serves the aim to promote sustainable tourism development in Macao and realize the city’s vision in the tourism field as it strives to become a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. The tasks involved in the Master Plan are proceeding along three stages. At the first stage, data was first collected followed by an analysis made on the current tourism situation, and a preliminary draft of the Master Plan was prepared by November 2015. Second-stage tasks mainly comprise launch of public consultation and formulation of a detailed Master Plan, expected to be completed this September; third-stage tasks will then begin at the third quarter of 2016 to amend and complete the final Master Plan, which is expected to come out in mid-2017.
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The University of Macau (UM) will host the Third Forum on ‘Education of Modern Residential Colleges’ on 29 and 30 July. Nearly 300 scholars, faculty members, student affairs staff, and students from more than 40 universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan will participate in the event. During the forum, half of the participants will stay at UM’s residential colleges. This year’s event is organised by a residential college alliance and hosted by UM. The alliance was formed in 2014 by residential colleges at eight universities, namely Beihang University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Chengchi University, Fudan University, Tsing Hua University, East China Normal University, and UM. The theme of this year’s forum is ‘Student Development in a Residential College and the Shaping of Its Educational Character’, which includes four sub-topics: 1) the assessment of residential college’s learning outcomes; 2) the collaboration between residential colleges and faculties; 3) educational programmes for student development; and 4) developing the characteristics of residential colleges. The keynote speakers are Prof David Ibbetson, president of Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Prof Trevor Cairney, master of New College at the University of New South Wales, Australia; Dr Gong Hui, deputy Party secretary at XJTU, mainland China; and Prof Haydn Chen, vice rector (student affairs) at UM, Macao In addition to the four keynote speeches, 61 papers, 10 thematic reports, and a book collection of 34 papers selected by an editorial panel formed by UM and XJTU scholars will also be presented at the forum.
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“Brand Expansion Continues, Business Opportunities To Be Seized” – 2016 Macao Franchise Expo (2016 MFE) will be held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, (Hall A) from 29 July to 31 July this year. This is the eighth year that the event has been held and it continues to play a role as a regional franchise platform by helping brands to “Bring in” and “Go Global”, MFE is also preparing a series of activities which are keeping pace with current global economic trends. MFE hopes to assist enterprises to open up new ways of thinking and creating new business opportunities through exhibitions, forums, experience sharing, business matching, brand consultancy, professional presentations and competition for start-ups. Portuguese speaking Countries and more than 180 franchise, chain operators and brand agencies have been invited to participate in this magnificent event 2016 MFE is jointly organised by IPIM, the Brazilian Franchise Association, Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan, Macao International Brand Enterprise Commercial Association, Macao Chain Stores & Franchise Association and Licensing & Franchising Association of HK. This year the exhibition space is over 1,900 square metres with nearly 220 stands. It has attracted more than 180 exhibitors participating from Brazil, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Mainland China, Mozambique, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, of which East Timor and Mozambique are exhibiting for the first time. The expo will cover businesses within the food and beverage industry, retail, education, entertainment, finance, real estate, accessories, consulting service industries, as well as branding agencies. Business opportunities emerging from diversified activities The “Forum on International Franchise Business Opportunities” will be held on 29 July, the first day of the expo. Themed as “New Horizon for Chain and Franchise in the Internet Era”, experts and senior executives from several countries and regions have been invited to share the Internet development of local franchise industries and to explore how to achieve broader development under the “Internet +” thinking pattern. This forum will help business circles and youth start-ups comprehensively and correctly grasp the operating mode of “Internet +”, as well as allow them to understand how to take advantage of the opportunities to make the industry more international and open up new business opportunities. In addition, on 30 July, Mr. Robert Chua, the general agent of Tim Ho Wan Dim-Sum, Hong Kong and TV producer has been invited to be a guest speaker at the experience sharing seminar. The Franchise & Chain Award Ceremony hosted again to encourage diversified development of local franchise industry Moreover, with the aim of promoting friendly exchanges between Macao and the international franchise industry, Macau Chain Stores & Franchise Association will again hold the 2016 Macau Franchise & Chain Award Ceremony during the event. It acknowledges the outstanding enterprises in different sectors of the franchising business and encourages the diversification of the Macao’s franchise industry. Launching Online Business Matching Self-service Platform This year, with the aim of providing exhibitors and visitors with professional talks and matching services, the expo is launching the Online Business Matching Self-service Platform. Using the Online Platform, enterprises can look for and make appointments with appropriate chain brands prior to the expo, which will increase the matching abilities and provide business opportunities for the development of enterprises, the transition of enterprises and start-ups. Furthermore, building on its preceding reputation, the Band Re-packaging Pavilion will once again be at the expo and provide Consultancy Service to people who intend to start up or expand business through the franchise mode. At the expo site, there will be Professional Promotion Seminar as well as Products Presentation from Korean and Taiwanese exhibitors, where exhibitors will get the opportunity to present their brands or franchise business models. “Competition on chain business for youth start-ups” making youth’s business dreams a reality In order to help youth start-ups and improve the popularity of the chain business mode, 2016 MFE will specifically hold a “Competition on chain business for youth start-ups” and invite energetic youngsters who are dedicated to start a business to prepare investment plans for the brands involved in MFE this year and promote their investment plans to representatives from the venture capital fund sponsors. The competition will be held over three days. On the first day, experts will explain to competitors the skill of writing an investment plan as well as points to pay attention to; subsequently, the competitors need to talk to the exhibitors about co-operation opportunities and write a plan; later the competitor and the representative from the exhibitor need to introduce the project to the venture capital fund, which will decide the outstanding investment plan as the winning team. The “VIP Buyer Forum”, which is a new addition this year, provides a meeting opportunity for venture capital fund investors and MFE exhibitors to discuss the possibilities of investment projects. Golden opportunities created by concurrent events 2016 MFE will be held at the same time as 2016 Guangdong & Macao Branded Products Fair, in order to create golden opportunities for enterprises. Entry into 2016 MFE is free and on the first day (29 July) MFE is open to professional visitors only. On 30 and 31 July it is open to the public. Furthermore, MFE provides a free shuttle bus services with several bus pick up stops in Macau Peninsula and Taipa to transport visitors to and from the expo site; MFE also provides parking spaces at Hall D and Hall E of the exhibition centre with parking spaces limited and available on a first-come-first-served basis. For any further information regarding MFE this year, one can visit the official website at www.mfe.mo or telephone: 853-82946777, fax: 853-82946701, e-mail: expo@mfe.mo, or add the Wechat account of MFE: MFEMacau.
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Due to waterproofing maintenance in the roof and pavilion of the Church of Our Lady of Penha, the pavilion of the Church will be closed on Tuesday, 26 July. Between mid-August and the beginning of September, painting work will be undertaken in the pavilion of the Church, which will be closed for approximately three weeks. The specific dates will be announced later. During the maintenance period, the courtyard of the Church and the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes will remain open to the public.
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The 2016 GMBPF, jointly organised by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, and Department of Commerce of the Guangdong Province, will be staged in Exhibition Hall B, at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 29 -31 July 2016. This year, the GMBPF, will be held in a new location, and with a more diverse programme, integrating the ‘Belt and Road’ and ‘Nostalgic” elements. The event will also be staged with the Macao Franchise Expo (2016 MFE), tapping the concerted effort to create golden opportunities for enterprises. Exhibition floor extended to 9,000 square metres with a wide array of merchandise Guangdong and Macao have always complimented each other in co-operation, and in recent years, more so on economic and trade, medicine, finance, and e-commerce. In terms of the convention and exhibition industry, Guangdong and Macao have in place a long-term co-operation mechanism, which has achieved pleasing results. The GMBPF is in fact, a successful case. This year, at the 8th GMBPF, both governments of Guangdong and Macao have placed a great deal of emphasis and support, in the enhancement and innovative nature of the event. The carnival style GMBPF will encompass trade, cultural exchanges, shopping, leisure and entertainment. Exhibition floors will be extended to 9,000 square metres, with 357 exhibition booths, translating into a two-fold increase in the number of booths. Major pavilions are: Guangdong Products Exhibition and Sales Area, Macao Products Exhibition and Sales Area and Indonesian Products Exhibition and Sales Area. The Guangdong Products Exhibition and Sales Area takes on 195 exhibition booths, with 148 participating enterprises, to showcasing food, daily necessities and gifts, hotel supplies and home appliances. Participating enterprises were all carefully selected by the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, many of which have obtained the titles of Famous Chinese Brands, Notable Trademarks of China, Famous Brands of Guangdong Province, and ensuring confidence in the quality of the products. Whereas the Macao Featured Products Exhibition and Sales Area has 112 exhibition booths from 112 participating enterprises. These products are mainly “Made in Macao’, ‘Macao Brands’, ‘Designed in Macao’, or Macau Cultural and Innovative Products, and products handled by Macao agents. To encourage the establishment of the ‘Three centres’ and the trade and economic service platform of China and Portuguese speaking countries, there is a dedicated area for food from Portuguese speaking Countries, as well as for sales of products and food with Portuguese characteristics. Newly added Indonesian Exhibition and Sales Area China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative has created greater opportunities for Macao’s economic development. This year, the Indonesia Products Exhibition and Sales Area has been added to GMBPF, to strengthen the trade and economic exchange between mainland China, Portuguese speaking countries and Macao, and the coastal areas along the ‘Belt and Road’. Forty three Indonesian exhibitors and 50 exhibition booths were invited to set up in this dedicated area to Indonesia, featuring local Indonesian food, jewellery and accessories, gifts, fashion, leather goods and handicrafts. Vintage ’Topside down’ Every year, the GMBPF comes up with surprises. This year, the central point of the premises is designed as a ‘Vintage Shopping street, where all are invited to gather at the Banyan Tree to roam about the streets of the 60-80s, have fun watching shows and play games, for a burst of nostalgic memories of Macao. The Celebrity’s kitchen - with famous TV host Maria Cordero demonstrating her cooking skills, classic sing-songs, sugar art, flour dolls making, and street magicians, nostalgic fun games, classic animation, and the old days’ savoury food. Of course, the GMBPF will not be complete without mobile phone games, online prize giving games, where more than 60,000 prizes will be given away in the grand lucky draw. Free entry to the venue “Macau Characteristics Finance and Economic Forum” will be staged to explore how to make use of Macao’s advantages to develop its own finance industry with local features and how to actively help make use of the opportunities presented in the co-operation mechanism with Mainland China. At this forum, the Guangdong and Macao Federation Industry and Commerce intends to sign agreement on the ‘reciprocal setup of co-operation links office’ between the Federation and various prefecture-level cities in Guangdong province. This carnival-style GMBPF, with unlimited business opportunities, and fun event, is something you should not miss. Admission to the event is free with opening times as follows: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, 29 July, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both 30 July (Saturday) and 31 July (Sunday). In terms of transportation, the organiser has arranged a free shuttle bus service for the public. For pick up points on the Macao peninsula, and Taipa island, please refer to the attachment. The organiser has also provided a parking area in Exhibition Hall D and E, but with a limited number of parking spaces on a first-come-first-served. For further information on GMBPF 2016, please contact +853-87989636, or the website at www.guangdongmacaofair.com or via social media wechat : gdmofair.
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The Macao Orchestra (OM, from the Portuguese acronym) of the Cultural Affairs Bureau presents its 2015-16 Concert Season Closing Concert “Così fan tutte” on Saturday, 30 July, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. The concert is led by Lü Jia and OM invited young singers Jinxu Xiahou, Yunpeng Wang, Louise Kwong, Xiao Yi Xu, Ao Li and Xi Wang to collaborate in the performance of Mozart’s two act opera Cosi fan tutte. Tickets are available through the Macau Ticketing Network. Cosi fan tutte is one of three of Mozart’s well-known operas, side by side with “The Marriage of Figaro” and Don Giovanni. It portrays the story of two brothers who, in order to prove their loved ones’ devotion, make a bet and exchange brides, putting their love and fidelity to the test. “There is no difference between 18th century love and 21st century love. Men and women are still the same...”, “The prelude of this opera quickly intensifies carried out by men and women’s considerations on love, ending on a cheerful note and expressing love’s wisdom and philosophy”. From a modern perspective, this work’s plot seems somewhat absurd, however, thanks to Mozart’s astoundingly perfect music, this has become one of the composers most often staged operas. Six renowned young singers from Mainland China and Hong Kong, each with their own solo, interpret the six characters of this opera where music and arias are beautifully interwoven. Through Mozart’s extraordinary composition technique, not only does music gracefully carry a dramatic action and vividly portray the characters nature but also deeply reflects, reveals and provides insight into the different layers of human psyche, human nature’s grey areas and even ethical and moral paradoxes. In the current times, this work offers even more room for interpretation and has been increasingly hailed by the critics as one of Mozart’s most profound opera buffa. The concert will be led by OM’s Principal Conductor, Lü Jia, and marks the closing of the Orchestra’s 2015-2016 Concert Season. Tickets for OM’s Concert Season Closing Concert “Cosi fan tutte” are on sale at the prices of MOP350, MOP250 and MOP150 and there are several discount plans available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. The full programme of OM’s 2015-2016 Concert Season is available at www.icm.gov.mo/om.
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