News

Given the recent security situation in Turkey, the Consulate-General of China in Istanbul issued a travel security alert to Chinese citizens. Following is the translated version of the full text: “On the 13th of March of 2016 at 18:45, a terrorist attack took place in the center of Ankara, capital city of Turkey when a car bomb exploded causing many injuries and fatalities. In the last six months several terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey and the government has issued an order to strengthen national security and counter-terrorism measures. Considering that the security situation in that country has been worsening, the Consulate-General of China in Istanbul recommends Chinese citizens to cautiously consider their recent travel plans to Turkey. Chinese citizens already in that country should avoid leaving their residences and going to sensitive areas or where large gatherings of people take place. In case of emergency, they should contact immediately the police and the Chinese Embassy or Consulates for assistance. Emergency contacts: Turkish Police Services: 155; Emergency Services: 112; Embassy of China in Turkey for Consular Protection and Assistance: +90-5388215530” The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) will keep monitoring the latest developments and alerts Macao residents who intend to travel to Turkey to follow closely the situation, critically assess the security risks and cautiously consider their travel plans. Macao residents already in Turkey should strengthen security precautions to protect their personal safety. From information gathered through the Macao travel industry, there is currently no Macao tour group in Turkey. Until the present moment, GGCT has not received any requests 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 Government would launch a website for the recently established Urban Renewal Committee, in order to share information with the public about its work, said the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Raimundo do Rosário. The Secretary made the comments on Friday (11 March) after the first meeting of the Urban Renewal Committee. The session discussed internal rules of the committee and work arrangements for the body. The committee would shortly hold a second meeting, Mr Rosário told reporters. When asked to comment on the composition of the committee, the Secretary said the 29-member body had 21 representatives from outside government, including from the fields of architecture, property development, construction, banking, legal services and the tourism industry.
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The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has organised the “Promoting Honesty” video contest targeting secondary students and 15 entries from each of the Junior Secondary Group and the Senior Secondary Group were shortlisted and uploaded to the webpage of the contest in CCAC’s website (www.ccac.org.mo). From today onward till 25th March, all Macao citizens are welcomed to enter the website and click the hyperlinks of Youtube video to vote for the most favourite video by clicking the “Like” button. The entry with the most “Like” will be awarded the “Most Popular Video Award”. The contest received overwhelming response and the videos produced were overall unique and carried their own special characteristics. The participating teams managed to make flexible use of the scenarios in campus or their daily life from their point of views. Themes such as “fairness”, “incorruptibility”, “values about money” and “honesty and loyalty” were vividly displayed through the shots captured, so as to promote the message of honestly and law-abidingness. In addition, the jury, comprised of representative of the CCAC and professionals from Macao’s film and television industry, will select the three finalists and Merit Awards for each of the two groups from the entries shortlisted. Together with the “Most Popular Video Award” voted by the citizens, the list of awards will be uploaded to the CCAC’s website by end of this month and winning students will be notified of the prize collection.
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To facilitate the public and philatelists for ordering new philatelic products, please note the followings: 1)Issue Name: FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix– Macao 2016 Issue Date: 17/06/2016 Ordering Period: 01/04/2016–30/04/2016 Product Types Unit Price (MOP) Stamps Set 7.50 Sheetlet (5 sets/sheet) 37.50 Souvenir Sheet 12.00 FDC with stamps set 12.50 FDC with souvenir sheet 17.00 Information Brochure with stamps set 14.00 Information Brochure with souvenir sheet 18.50
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the fourth quarter of 2015. Survey coverage comprises Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities; however, own-account workers are excluded. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 55,812 persons engaged, up by 12.0% year-on-year, with 35,446 working in Retail Trade. In December 2015, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) of full-time employees rose by 4.3% year-on-year to MOP12,480. Transport, Storage & Communications had 10,319 persons engaged, up by 2.9% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in December rose by 1.0% year-on-year to MOP20,510. Security Activities had 10,621 persons engaged, up by 22.5% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in December rose by 11.6% year-on-year to MOP12,470. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 851 persons engaged, up by 8.5% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in December increased by 11.5% year-on-year to MOP16,350. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 3,780 vacancies (68.8% in Retail Trade), down by 996 year-on-year. Vacancies in Security Activities (1,250) and Transport, Storage & Communications (895) went down by 163 and 88 respectively year-on-year. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, about 86.6% of the vacancies in Security Activities only required junior secondary education or lower, while 48.2% of those in Transport, Storage & Communications required senior secondary education or higher; besides, 51.3% of the vacant posts in Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had no preference in educational attainment. As for language skills, 75.3% and 44.6% of the vacancies in Retail Trade required knowledge of Mandarin and English; the respective rate in Security Activities was 66.4% and 39.2%. In the fourth quarter of 2015, the vacancy rate (10.9%), recruitment rate (5.4%) and turnover rate (4.7%) in Security Activities fell by 3.6, 2.8 and 1.0 percentage points respectively year-on-year, indicating a decrease in demand for human resources. In addition, the recruitment rate (14.3%) in Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities increased by 11.5 percentage points, while the vacancy rate (4.4%) fell by 8.9 percentage points, suggesting that some of the vacancies had already been filled. As regards vocational training in the surveyed industries, a total of 13,417 participants attended 783 training courses provided by the establishments in the fourth quarter of 2015 (including courses organized by the establishments or in conjunction with other institutions, and those sponsored by the employer); 65.0% of the establishments in Security Activities provided vocational training to their employees. Wholesale & Retail Trade had the largest number of participants (7,486), attending a total of 492 training courses. Analyzed by course type, 66.6% of the participants from Wholesale & Retail Trade and 40.6% from Transport, Storage & Communications attended courses in “Business & Administration”. All the industries had over 80% of their participants attending courses paid by the establishments.
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On 10 March 2016, Fitch Ratings affirmed Macao SAR’s credit ratings (long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings) at “AA-” with a “stable” outlook, attributable to Macao SAR’s prudent fiscal strength, strong external financial position, credible policy framework and high per-capita income. On the other hand, Moody’s Investors Service today placed Macao SAR’s “Aa2” rating on “review for downgrade” and expected to complete the review for a final decision in three months. In a period of deepened economic adjustment, especially when Macao’s gross domestic product recorded a negative growth of 20.3%, Macao SAR still maintains its high investment-grade double-A ratings, which help stabilise financing costs of the SAR and its institutions, reflecting the recognition of international rating agencies on Macao’s fiscal and financial stability. At the moment, Macao’s fiscal and financial conditions are sound. Since the establishment of Macao SAR, the Government’s fiscal account has been in surplus. The fiscal surplus stood at MOP29.3 billion in 2015. The Government has assets of over MOP400 billion in the Fiscal Reserve and is debt-free. The employment situation remains stable as the unemployment rate stays below 2.0%. In the banking sector, profits and assets reached historical highs. Bank profits increased 16.3% to MOP12.8 billion in 2015 while their assets rose 14.2% to MOP1,340.8 billion at end-2015. Macao banks continue to maintain good asset quality and adequate capital. At end-2015, the non-performing loan ratio stayed at the ultra-low level of 0.12% and the capital adequacy ratio, mainly composed of tier-one capital, marked at 15.1%. In addition, the financial industry actively developed their businesses and won the approval by the People’s Bank of China in 2015 to conduct renminbi clearing business for the Portuguese-speaking countries. Macao banks successfully conducted the first batch of credit business with the Mainland’s Free Trade Zones. Amid the persistent downward pressure on the global economy, some international rating agencies have recently adjusted the rating outlooks for some financial institutions in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, and placed the credit ratings of some oil-exporting countries, within the same high-investment-grade double-A rating category as Macao’s, on “review for downgrade”. The Monetary Authority of Macao will continue to monitor the situation with close communications with the local financial industry and safeguard Macao’s financial stability.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) decreased whereas those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) increased in January 2016. With regard to outstanding balance, RMLs and CRELs both witnessed increases. New lending approved In January 2016, new RMLs approved by Macao banks decreased 35.8% month-to-month to MOP3.2 billion; of which, 95.1% was extended to residents. In terms of value, new RMLs to residents and non-residents decreased 35.3% and 44.0% respectively. When compared with the same period of 2015, new approvals of RMLs fell by 16.2%. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) increased by 32.5% month-to-month to MOP0.8 billion. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 94.4% of the total, rose by 38.1%. When compared with the same period of 2015, new RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units increased by 141.9%. New CRELs grew by 1.3% month-to-month to MOP5.3 billion; of which, 99.7% was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents rose 8.4% while those to non-residents decreased 96.2%. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs rose by 10.4%. Outstanding balances As at end-January 2016, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP174.0 billion, an increase of 0.4% from one month earlier or 12.7% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.8% of the total. Compared to end-December 2015, outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents rose 0.1% and 5.8% respectively. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs increased by 0.9% from end-December 2015 and was up 30.1% from end-January 2015 to MOP164.5 billion. Residents accounted for 88.7% of the loans. Compared with one month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents grew 1.5% whereas those to non-residents dropped 3.8%. Delinquency ratios At the end of January 2016, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.08%, down 0.01 percentage point from a month ago or up 0.01 percentage point from end-January 2015. The ratio for CRELs remained virtually unchanged from a month ago at 0.02% or down 0.04 percentage points from a year ago.
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Since its opening in 2006, it has been mainly serving residents and students of Macao. In order to continuously improve the quality of our services, the Museum has been paying close attention to opinions from different channels over the past ten years. We have also launched and revised our programs and service content at appropriate times so that visitors can benefit the most from our services. In this new issue of “Booking Service Guide for Visits”, the “Basic Guided Visit” and “Special Guided Visit” are maintained. For the Postal/Philately Gallery, there are 23 thematic guided visits under the areas of “History of Macao Post”, “Foundations of Communication”, “Postal Service”, “Stamps and Collection” and “General Mathematics”, as well as 3 hands-on workshops. For the Telecommunications Gallery, there are 6 thematic guided visits under the areas of “Electromagnetism”, “Transmission and Broadcasting” and “Telegraph and Telephone”. Besides, there are also 7 science demonstrations, 21 workshops and 8 electronic circuit courses. Schools and teachers are welcomed to select the programs most suitable for their students. Till to the end of year 2015, the museum recorded a total booking of 5,012 guided tours, workshops, electronic circuit courses and services provided at the schools. In the activities we organize or co organize with other government departments and associations, such as the Electronic Device Construction Competition, Science and Arts Activity for Primary Students, Stamp Poll - My Favourite Stamps of Macao, Draw My Story of Stamps Contest, Summer Activities, Science Express Camp, etc, we have witnessed a steady growth in the number of participants. This recognition from schools and the community gives us tremendous encouragement. No matter whether we are complementing formal education of schools, or stirring interest of participants in extra-curricular activities, we shall continue to be active and work hard in our role by organizing more activities related to science popularization and stamps appreciation that are suitable for children, teenagers and families.
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Museums and Cultural Landscapes is the theme of International Museum Day 2016. This theme highlights the responsibility of museums not only on their collections, but also their environment, including the cities, villages and communities to which they belong, and calls on them to promote and communicate about both their own collections and the cultural and natural heritage around them. Museums of all kinds can contribute to sustainable development by strengthening ties between people and their environment. In response to the theme of the International Museum Day, and to achieve the objective of museums in Macao going into the community so as to enlarge the public space of service provision, the Maritime Museum, Macao Museum and Communications Museum cooperate to promote the photography contest with the theme “The Mobile Museum – The Blending of Chinese and Western Cultures in Macao”. Full-time students of Macao schools and residents can individually participate in the Primary Student Category, Secondary Student Category or the General Category (no age limit). Each participant can only submit a maximum of three photos. All the works will be exhibited in the Monte Fortress Corridor of Macao Museum during the Macao International Museum Day Carnival in May. The winners will obtain prizes as follows: Read attachment! Works can be submitted by email only. Please send you Registration form and work(s) to the mailbox: webmaster@museums.gov.mo, before 5:30pm on 14/04/2016 (Thursday). Late submissions will not be evaluated. At the same time, all museum fans are invited to vote online for their favourite photos from the participating works of the photography contest. All Macao residents, 6 years old or above on/before 01/01/2016 are eligible for participation, during the period of 18/04/2016 ~ 02/05/2016 (terminated at 22:00:00). Each participant can elect only one photo for each category at www.museums.gov.mo. The photo that received the highest number of votes in each category – Primary Student, Secondary Student and General, will win the “Best Popularity Award”. The authors of the three winning photos will each be awarded book vouchers valued at MOP500. All voting participants will automatically enter the Grand Lucky Draw. The three winners drawn will each obtain book vouchers valued at MOP200.00. For details of the contest and e-voting, please call the inquiry number of Communications Museum or browse the website of Museums in Macao (www.museums.gov.mo).
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Please be informed that the office hours of Carmo Post Office located at Avenida de Carlos de Maia in Taipa, with effect from 24th March, 2016 (Thursday), will be changed as follows: Postal Services (Posta Restante) and PO Box Services : Monday to Friday 11:30 ~ 19:00 Saturday 09:30 ~ 14:00 Easy Payment Services : Monday to Friday 11:30 ~ 18:00 Saturday 09:30 ~ 13:00
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