Macao SAR Government Portal
News
Package tours and hotel occupancy rate for April 2016
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 575,000 in April 2016, down by 31.7% year-on-year but up by 2.2% month-to-month. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (451,000) decreased by 34.1% year-on-year, and those from the Republic of Korea (29,000) and Taiwan (29,000) dropped by 13.2% and 39.8% respectively; meanwhile, package tour visitors from Thailand (16,000) registered an increase of 34.3%. In the first four months of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 2,275,000, down by 34.0% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 89,000 in April 2016, down by 21.6% year-on-year and 16.9% month-to-month as the Easter holidays fell in April 2015 and March 2016 respectively. Residents travelling on package tours decreased by 27.6% year-on-year to 34,000; those travelling to Mainland China and Taiwan dropped by 36.4% and 37.6% respectively, while those to the Republic of Korea soared by 138.8%. In the first four months of 2016, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 402,000, down by 16.7% year-on-year. There were 106 hotels & guesthouses operating at the end of April 2016, an increase of 7 year-on-year. Number of guest rooms totalled 32,000, up by 3,800 (+13.6%) year-on-year; those of 5-star hotels (20,000) and 4-star hotels (7,700) accounted for 63.6% and 24.0% of the total respectively. A total of 917,000 guests checked into hotels & guesthouses in April 2016, up by 11.5% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (610,000) increased by 16.7%, while those from Hong Kong (115,000) decreased by 8.2% following the continuous year-on-year growth since April 2015. The average length of stay of guests decreased by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.3 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses was 79.0%, down by 0.7 percentage point year-on-year and yet up by 2.5 percentage points month-on-month; the occupancy rate of 3-star hotels (83.8%) and 4-star hotels (83.7%) was relatively high, up by 2.9 and 1.7 percentage points respectively. In the first four months of 2016, guests of hotels & guesthouses totalled 3,578,000, up by 12.9% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 77.6% and the average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 1.7 percentage points and 0.1 night respectively. Visitor-guests accounted for 71.2% of the total overnight visitors, up notably by 3.5 percentage points year-on-year.
…
External merchandise trade statistics for April 2016
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for April 2016 amounted to MOP755 million, down by 20.9% year-on-year; value of re-exports (MOP601 million) dropped by 27.1%, with that of Clocks & watches (MOP49 million) falling by 77.1%; value of domestic exports (MOP155 million) expanded by 18.0%, with that of Tobacco (MOP39 million) rising by 50.3%. Total merchandise import declined by 18.6% year-on-year to MOP5.57 billion, of which imports of Mobile phones and Motor cars decreased by 63.9% and 61.2% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP4.82 billion. In the first four months of 2016, total value of merchandise export fell by 5.6% year-on-year to MOP3.45 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP2.92 billion) and domestic exports (MOP534 million) decreased by 3.4% and 16.2% respectively. Total value of merchandise import fell by 21.6% to MOP22.78 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP19.33 billion for the first four months of 2016. Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Mainland China increased by 7.1% year-on-year to MOP565 million in the first four months of 2016, of which exports to the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP542 million) rose by 7.3%; exports to Hong Kong (MOP2.08 billion) decreased by 9.5%. Meanwhile, export to the EU (MOP58 million) and the USA (MOP49 million) reduced by 29.5% and 27.6% respectively. Exports of Non-textiles declined by 6.6% year-on-year to MOP3.17 billion, of which value of Clocks & watches (MOP433 million) dropped by 24.8% but that of Electronic components (MOP342 million) grew by 52.3%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP283 million, up by 7.5%. By place of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP8.23 billion) and the EU (MOP5.42 billion) in the first four months of 2016 decreased by 24.6% and 19.9% respectively year-on-year. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Mainland China declined by 10.6% to MOP3.53 billion, of which import from the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP3.34 billion) fell by 10.4%. Imports of Consumer goods dropped by 15.7% to MOP14.32 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP1.41 billion) and Motor cars & motorcycles (MOP434 million) decreasing by 37.1% and 52.1% respectively. Moreover, imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP1.80 billion), Mobile phones (MOP1.61 billion) and Construction materials (MOP674 million) declined by 16.1%, 54.7% and 37.1% respectively. External merchandise trade totalled MOP26.24 billion in the first four months of 2016, down by 19.8% compared with MOP32.72 billion a year earlier.
…
Participation of Macao’s cultural and creative entities in Shenzhen International Cultural Industries Fair achieved satisfactory results
The 12th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) was held from 12 to 16 May at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) set up the Macao Creative Pavilion, promoting the participation of Macao’s cultural and creative entities, in order to showcase and commercialise their cultural and creative products in the Fair. The officiating guests at the opening ceremony of the Macao Creative Pavilion included the Chief of the Department for Promoting Cultural and Creative Industries of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ho Ka Weng; the Acting Head of the Division for Planning and Developing Cultural and Creative Industries, Ho Hong Pan; the Deputy Inspector of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chai Fengchun; the Deputy Director of the Foreign Cultural Exchange Division of the Shenzhen Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Yu Zhi; the delegation of the Macau Shenzhen Economic and Cultural Promotion Association and the Cultural and Creative Industries Teaching and Research Centre of the Macao Polytechnic Institute. During the Fair, the Macao Pavilion attracted many visitors, thereby promoting Macao’s cultural and creative entities and their products efficiently. This year’s Macao Creative Pavilion is themed on handicrafts and design. The design of the pavilion featured multiple hues and irregular colour patches, which symbolize the urban vitality of Macao in a distinctive way. The participating cultural and creative entities from Macao included Native Ltd., JE Handcrafts Co. Ltd., Casa de Artesanato Nam Fan Lou, Soda Panda Product Design, Mobiliário Urbano Designers Limitada, San Seng Fung, Fuhong Society of Macau, Macau Creations Limited, Leathership Creation Limited Company and Follow Design Company Limited. IC has been organising the participation of Macao’s cultural and creative sector in the ICIF since 2006, and has launched the Macao Creative Pavilion in 2010, for these companies to showcase their products adequately. Through organising the participation of local cultural and creative entities in the Fair every year, it is hoped to promote Macao’s cultural and creative industries.
…
Consumer Council released latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in Taipa and Coloane area
Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in May on 30 May 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.
…
Announcement of the 34th Macao Young Musicians Competition schedule
Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the 34th Macao Young Musicians Competition, dedicated to the categories of Chinese and Western instruments, will be held between 27 July and 5 August at the Dom Pedro V Theatre and the Institute for Tourism Studies (main campus) concurrently, while the Competition for Special Prizes will be held on 7 August, at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. The provisional list of the Competition Schedule is available at the Macao Young Musicians Competition’s website (www.icm.gov.mo/cjmm). Applications for this edition of the Competition ended on 30 April, with over 600 applications received. The order of performance was decided through random electronic selection; all participants must perform according to the allocated order, unless exceptional circumstances are verified. In case of exceptional circumstances which require the order of the performance to be changed, participants must fill in the “Request for Change of Competition Order” and submit it between 6 and 8 June, from 10am to 7pm (including lunch hours), at the Cultural Affairs Building, located at Tap Siac Square; the change of competition order is subject to the approval of the organizer and notification of the participant. According to the Rules and Regulations of the Competition, a few categories were cancelled due to the fact of these categories having applicants less than the minimum number required. These applicants are requested to bring their Macao Identity Cards and go to the Cultural Affairs Building, located at Tap Siac Square on or before 17 June, from 10am to 1pm or 2:30pm to 5:30pm for the reimbursement of the application fees. The final list of the Competition schedule and the list of the members of the jury will be available on 17 June at the Macao Young Musicians Competition’s website. For enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6911 or 8399 6979 during office hours.
…
Government pays attention to nuclear safety in neighbouring areas
The Government has requested from the Guangdong Provincial Government more information regarding the Province’s nuclear power plant facility in Taishan Prefecture, in response to public concern over nuclear safety. Protecting public safety and health is the Government’s priority. The Government pays great attention to the public’s concern over these particular nuclear facilities. The Government noted recent media reports in Macao and in neighbouring areas regarding possible safety risks related to the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant. The Government has learned that the nuclear reactors have not yet started operation and understands that a portion of the facilities are awaiting acceptance by a third party. The Government pays close attention to the issue of the construction of the plant and its safety standards. The Government will keep in close touch with the mainland authorities for the latest information on the topic, and in order to update – where necessary – Macao’s response measures. – Macao’s security authorities have also requested more information from Guangdong’s Emergency Management Office. They have also relayed to Guangdong officials the public concern regarding these nuclear facilities, which are located near to Macao. The Government has a set of emergency response measures – developed since 1995 – to cope with any possible nuclear incident in neighbouring areas. Revisions to the response mechanism were made in 2011. To learn more about Macao’s response mechanism relating to nuclear safety matters, members of the public are invited to visit the website of the Security Forces Coordination Office at http://www.gcseg.gov.mo/en/index.aspx.
…
UM students win third prize at national English debating competition
The University of Macau’s (UM) English Debating Team recently won the third prize at the 19th FLTRP Cup National English Debating Competition, which was held at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Two debaters of the UM team, namely Jenny Wong Ka Kei and David Leong Ka Wai, were ranked No 2 and No 4, respectively, among all the 248 debaters in the competition. The FLTRP Cup National English Debating Competition is the largest and most influential English debating competition in China. This year’s event attracted 120 debating teams from 500 universities in China, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and China Foreign Affairs University. After placing first in the eight rounds of preliminaries, the UM team proceeded to the octo-final and eventually won the third prize in the grand final. Other debating teams in the final came from Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and China Foreign Affairs University. Members of UM team included Jenny Wong Ka Kei, a fourth-year student from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Chao Kuang Piu College, and David Leong Ka Wai, a fourth-year student from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The team leader was Lam Pek Kei, a third-year student from the Faculty of Social Sciences.
…
Results of survey on manpower needs and wages for the 1st quarter 2016
The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the first quarter of 2016. Survey coverage for this quarter comprises Manufacturing; Hotels; Restaurants; Insurance; Financial Intermediation Activities; Electricity, Gas & Water Supply; Child-care and Elderly Care. This survey excludes the self-employed, as well as insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies. At the end of the first quarter of 2016, Hotels had 49,606 full-time employees, up by 8.3% year-on-year; average earnings (excluding bonuses) of full-time employees in March fell by 0.5% to MOP16,350. Restaurants had 26,019 full-time employees, up by 3.0% year-on-year, with the average earnings rising by 3.2% to MOP9,130. Manufacturing had 9,074 full-time employees, a decrease of 3.5% year-on-year; average earnings in March fell by 3.1% year-on-year to MOP10,290. Electricity, Gas & Water Supply had 1,078 full-time employees, similar to a year earlier, and their average earnings increased by 1.6% to MOP28,970. Insurance had 513 full-time employees, up by 4.7% year-on-year; average earnings in March fell by 2.1% to MOP24,690. Financial Intermediation Activities had 397 full-time employees, an increase of 5.6% year-on-year, with the average earnings rising by 4.3% to MOP13,590. Child-care and Elderly Care had 1,197 and 661 full-time employees, up by 9.6% and 3.1% respectively year-on-year; average earnings in March increased by 8.4% and 13.9% respectively to MOP13,400 and MOP13,750. At the end of the first quarter, job vacancies in Restaurants (2,785) rose by 404 year-on-year, while those in Manufacturing (1,399) and Hotels (1,284) fell by 215 and 167 respectively. About 69.6% of the vacancies in Manufacturing and 65.0% of those in Restaurants merely required junior secondary education or lower. All of the vacancies in Financial Intermediation Activities required knowledge of Mandarin; meanwhile, 61.8% and 44.9% of the vacancies in Hotels required knowledge of Mandarin and English respectively. In the first quarter, the employee turnover rate (3.9%), the employee recruitment rate (3.4%) and the job vacancy rate (2.5%) in Hotels fell by 0.3, 0.7 and 0.6 percentage points respectively year-on-year, indicating that the manpower situation in the industry was relatively stable. In Restaurants, the job vacancy rate (9.7%) increased by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year, while the employee recruitment rate (6.5%) and the employee turnover rate (5.5%) were similar to a year earlier, implying that there were still vacancies available in Restaurants. In the first quarter, a total of 90,982 employee participants from the surveyed industries attended training courses provided by the establishment (including courses organized by the establishment or in conjunction with other institutions, and those sponsored by the employer), up substantially by 330% year-on-year. Hotels had 87,718 participants in vocational training, with the majority attending courses in Business & Administration (44.5%) and Services (42.9%); besides, 99.7% of the participants attended courses during office hours. Meanwhile, over 70% of the participants from most of the industries attended courses paid by the establishment, while the corresponding rate in Electricity, Gas & Water Supply and Child-care was 60.0% and 48.9% respectively.
…
Gross domestic product for the 1st quarter 2016
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the economy of Macao contracted by 13.3% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2016, mainly due to the continuous decline in exports of services and decrease in investment. External demand showed no sign of improvement, exports of goods and services fell by 24.6% and 13.7% respectively, of which exports of gaming services dropped by 17.1%. Domestic demand slackened, private consumption expenditure declined by 2.3%; investment and imports of goods shrank by 31.4% and 19.9% respectively whereas government final consumption expenditure rose by 1.5%. Meanwhile, the implicit deflator of GDP that measures changes in prices rose by 1.9% year-on-year. Private consumption expenditure receded. Despite the prevailing favourable employment conditions, pay growth remained subdued, dragging down private consumption expenditure by 2.3% year-on-year, with a notable decline in expenditure on durable goods. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market fell by 2.3% while that abroad rose by 3.9%. Government final consumption expenditure, the only expenditure component that registered growth, expanded by 1.5% year-on-year. Compensation of employees rose by 3.1% while net purchases of goods and services dropped by 1.0%. Investment declined apparently. Gross fixed capital formation, the gauge of investment, contracted by 31.9% year-on-year, owing to the substantial decline in private investment. Private investment in construction and equipment diminished by 35.0% and 18.9% respectively, bringing total private investment down by 33.0%, which was attributable to the slowdown in construction of major tourism and entertainment facilities, as well as the high comparison base last year driven by construction. On the other hand, government investment decreased by 5.5% year-on-year, of which public construction investment fell by 6.5% while equipment investment grew by 91.1%. Merchandise trade continued to deteriorate. Slowdown in investment, as well as decline in private consumption and visitor spending, drove imports of goods down by 19.9% year-on-year; meanwhile, exports of goods dropped by 24.6% year-on-year. Service trade stayed weak. Exports of services contracted by 13.7% year-on-year, of which exports of gaming services dropped by 17.1%; besides, decrease in visitor spending brought exports of other tourism services down by 11.0%. Total exports of services declined year-on-year, while imports of services shrank by 4.8%.
…
Fifteenth issue of C2 discusses the potential of documentary films in Macao
Published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and produced by 100 Plus Cultural Creative Development Ltd., the fifteenth issue of C2 magazine will be launched this Wednesday, 1 June. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of documentary film productions from the Cross-strait four regions. More and more exchange activities and video production competitions have been launched, promoting numerous of talents. In this edition, pioneers of the industry in Hong Kong and Macao are invited to share their visions and discuss the trends of the documentary film industry. In the column “Feature”, C2 interviews five producers of documentary films from Hong Kong and Macao. Local film producer Lam Kin Kuan organised the 1st Macao International Documentary Film Festival presenting documentary films from Macao and other places around the world to the public. Albert Chu, head of the Audio-Visual CUT Association and the co-organiser with the Macao Cultural Centre of the programme “Local View Power”, is pleased to see that the programme has promoted a number of local film talents. Local scholar Cheong Kin Man, whose production A Useless Fiction was shortlisted in some overseas film festivals. Recently, he has been coordinating the participation of local productions in international film festivals. James Jacinto is the director of Efficient Production, a company that produced a number of documentary films themed on Macao. Jacinto believes that the biggest challenge for local documentary filmmakers is to seek distribution channels for their works. Hong Kong director Cheung King Wai won Best Documentary prize at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards with his work KJ: Music and Life. He shares his interests in filming documentary in this column. The column “Opinion” invites Jose Tang Kuan Meng, a veteran practitioner in the fashion industry in Macao. He believes local talents are ready for success and that exploring the market is the strategy for this industry. “Extravaganza” highlights Hong Kong’s Art Basel. The trading in this art fair was active, creating a trend of visual arts activities. “Around the Globe” introduces the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART). This year, the Macao Government Tourism Office and the Cultural Affairs Bureau joined hands to set up the “Macao Pavilion” in the event. They also organised the participation of a delegation of the film and television industry from Macao in FILMART. “Blogs” columnists, Joe Tang, Ho Ka Cheng, Yi-Hsin Lin, Yap Seow Choong, Ron Lam, Ashley Chong and Cheong Sio Pang, give more perspectives on the development of the cultural and creative industries. C2 is a trilingual magazine (in Chinese, Portuguese and English). Readers are welcome to browse or download the magazine at www.c2magazine.mo. C2 is a bimonthly magazine issued on the first Wednesday every two months. The next issue will be launched on 3 August 2016. The email subscription function is now available. Please simply click the “subscribe” button on the right corner of our webpage and enter your email address to subscribe to C2 magazine. For the latest updates, you may also visit the magazine’s page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/c2magazine.macau, or on WeChat, by clicking “add friend” and inputting “c2magazine” in the ID column. For enquiries, please send an email to c2magazine.macau@gmail.com.
…