News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 213 MICE events were held in the third quarter of 2015, up by 32 year-on-year. Total number of participants and attendees rose by 40.8% to 1,009,794 attributable to an increase in large-scale exhibitions. The average duration of events was 2.4 days, and total floor area used for the events was 178,122 m2. There were 184 meetings and conferences held in the third quarter, up by 29 year-on-year; number of participants decreased by 27.1% to 15,946. Meetings and conferences with 200 participants or more increased by 7 year-on-year to 29, but number of participants (8,264) dropped by 43.5%. The average duration of events was 2.3 days, and floor area used for the meetings and conferences totalled 82,244 m2, up by 26.1%. Concurrently, 29 exhibitions were held, up by 3 year-on-year. Number of attendees soared by 42.9% year-on-year to 993,848. The average duration of events was 3.3 days, and floor area used for the exhibitions totalled 95,878 m2, up by 25.9%. There were 27 exhibitions organized by non-government organizations, of which 17 exhibitions with 20,000 attendees or more drew 756,024 attendees, accounting for 76.1% of the total. In accordance with information collected from organizers of 28 exhibitions in the third quarter, receipts of these exhibitions amounted to MOP 44.26 million, of which those organized by non-government organizations accounted for 97.6%, coming primarily from rental of exhibition booths and financial support from government or other organizations. Expenditure of the exhibitions amounted to MOP 65.29 million, of which those organized by non-government organizations shared 80.6%, which was mainly incurred on production, construction & decoration services and publicity & public relations. The 28 exhibitions attracted a total of 1,842 exhibitors, and most of them came from Macao (42.5%) and Hong Kong (24.4%); meanwhile, there were 52,325 professional visitors, with 67.5% coming from Macao. Exhibitors and professional visitors attending the exhibitions organized by non-government organizations constituted 75.2% and 97.1% of the respective total. Information from 767 interviewed exhibitors indicated that sales of products took up a predominant share (94.3%) of the receipts, while rental paid for exhibition booth and booth decoration accounted for 68.5% and 14.2% respectively of the expenditure. Regarding comments about the MICE venue and services, over 70.0% of the interviewed exhibitors were satisfied with the professionalism, language skills and attitude & efficiency of the venue staff, up from the respective percentages in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 71.8% were satisfied with the services rendered by local companies, down by 6.1 percentage points quarter-to-quarter. As regards planning and organization of the exhibition, 6.9% considered that the arrangements of the exhibition should be improved, down by 3.3 percentage points quarter-to-quarter; moreover, 48.5% were satisfied with the promotion of the exhibition, an increase of 6.3 percentage points, while 18.9% considered that improvement was needed. In the first three quarters of 2015, a total of 637 MICE events were held, up by 77 year-on-year; total number of participants and attendees increased by 8.7% to 1,663,956. There were 582 meetings and conferences, up by 79 year-on-year, but number of participants decreased by 20.4% to 56,313. Meanwhile, there were 55 exhibitions, down by 2 year-on-year, and number of attendees increased by 10.1% to 1,607,643; exhibitions organized by non-government organizations totalled 52 and number of attendees (1,456,472) shared 90.6% of the total. Information was collected from organizers of 53 exhibitions in the first three quarters. Receipts of the exhibitions amounted to MOP 122 million, with 63.6% coming from rental of exhibition booths. Expenditure of the exhibitions amounted to MOP 152 million, which was mainly spent on publicity & public relations (26.5%), production, construction & decoration services (24.0%), accommodation, food & beverages (16.2%) and rental for venue (13.6%). A total of 3,591 exhibitors and 87,922 professional visitors were attracted to these exhibitions. Receipts (MOP 120 million) and expenditure (MOP 113 million) of the 50 exhibitions organized by non-government organizations accounted for 98.3% and 74.2% of the respective total; exhibitors and professional visitors of these exhibitions constituted 74.4% and 93.5% of the total.
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Macao Post will issue a Christmas card with the image of “Our Lady of Penha”. This card will be available for sale at the Macao Post Headquarters, all post offices and postal kiosks on the 3rd November, 2015. This greeting card priced at MOP12.00 each, can be sent to every corner of the world without stamp. It’s saving your time and money.
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The Identification Services Bureau has set up a special website on fundamental rights and duties of residents, consular protection and consular services (www.dsi.gov.mo/frdcp). The website was launched on 1 December 2015 for the public. The special website aims at enriching the knowledge of Macao residents on their fundamental rights and duties under the protection of the Basic Law; introducing consular protection and consular services; and providing tips on the preparation before going abroad, safely reminders and emergency contact information for travelling overseas. Moreover, video and online game are available on the special website, creating a lively environment for citizens to enhance their knowledge on the fundamental rights and duties of residents, consular protection and consular services. In addition, the Identification Services Bureau will introduce a prize-winning online game on the special website on 1 December 2015 and welcomes citizens to participate. Citizens who finish the game successfully can join a lucky draw for a special gift.
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Consumer Council conducted its eighth ‘Supermarket price survey’ in November on 30 November 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), ‘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 six 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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The 20th EU-Macao Joint Committee meeting was held in Macao on 27 November 2015, in accordance with Article 16 of the EC-Macao Trade and Co-operation Agreement of 15 December 1992. The previous meeting was held in Brussels on 15 July 2014. The Delegation of the Macao SAR was led by Mr. Raimundo Arrais do Rosário, Secretary for Transport and Public Works. The Delegation of the European Union (EU) was led by Mr. Ugo Astuto, Acting Managing Director for Asia and Pacific, the European External Action Service. During the meeting, delegations of the Macao SAR and the EU reviewed the latest developments in their relationship, took stock of ongoing bilateral co-operation activities and explored new areas for further co-operation. Both sides welcomed the continued cooperation between the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau of the Macao SAR and the Directorate-General for Interpretation of the European Commission for the training of qualified interpreters for the Macao SAR. A memorandum for a new phase of the 5-year training programme for interpretation was signed on 5 November 2015, following fruitful conclusions of two protocols for the periods of 2010-2014 and 2013-2016 respectively. The interpreter training programme meets the mutual needs of the Macao SAR and the EU for qualified interpreters for Chinese and Portuguese. The Third Macao SAR-EU Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field was adopted in the context of the Joint Committee meeting. The programme is aimed at strengthening the Macao SAR's legal system and improving training for the Macao SAR's legal practitioners. The first and second legal cooperation programmes were successfully completed in 2007 and 2013 respectively. Both sides agreed that legal cooperation was an important element of the Macao-EU bilateral relations. The Macao SAR and the EU authorities expressed their willingness to explore new areas of co-operation in areas of mutual interest, including cooperation and know-how exchange on combating human trafficking. The two sides launched a new phase in Macao-EU cooperation in research and innovation by promoting the participation of the Macao SAR’s research institutions and researchers in the EU's large Horizon 2020 programme. The Macao SAR side announced the set-up of a matching fund for financing the costs of the Macao SAR’s researchers participating in the Horizon 2020 programme. Finally, during the working luncheon the two sides discussed the economic developments in the Macao SAR and in the EU.
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A team of University of Macau (UM) students recently won the championship at the Third Macau Model European Union (EU). Co-organised by the European Union Academic Programme Macao (EUAP-M) and UM’s Youth Association of International Affairs (YAIA), this year’s event attracted 56 students of 12 nationalities from six higher education institutions in Macao. The topic of this year’s Model EU was the European migrant crisis. Participants discussed current issues in Europe from the perspective of heads of states and governments in a simulated European Council meeting. Participants demonstrated a deep understanding of the functions of the EU and the positions of the countries they represented. At the end of the two-day discussion, students reached a consensus on many topics, including strengthening external border control, increasing financial support to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and adopting common legal instruments to combat illegal smuggling and human trafficking. A team formed by UM students Lin Shixiang and Leong Ka Wai won the championship in the group category. Exchange student Flaminia Venturi from Italy won the Best Individual Delegate Award. Another team formed by UM student Lv Chenge and Macau University of Science and Technology student Xin Xiaoyang won the second prize in the same category. A team formed by UM students Han Xiangzhi and Chen Cheng won the Best Position Paper Award. The 56 participants in this year’s Macau Model EU were selected from 160 applicants from UM, Macao Polytechnic Institute, the Macau University of Science and Technology, the Institute for Tourism Studies, the University of Saint Joseph, and the City University of Macau.
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The 2015 UNCITRAL Emergence Conference on ‘Harmonising Trade law to Enable Private Sector Regional Development’ was held at UM today (30 November). This is the second joint conference of the University of Macau (UM) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Legal experts from around the world attended the conference to discuss the harmonisation of trade law, the regional development of the private sector, the latest trends in the unification and harmonisation of contemporary commercial laws, and the implications for regional business environment. Representatives from the UNCITRAL’s Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, the Macao SAR government, the Macau Lawyers Association, and UM addressed the conference. Prof Haydn Chen, UM’s vice rector for student affairs, said at the conference that the transmission of knowledge (teaching) and the creation of knowledge (research and scholarly work) are inseparable functions of academics in a university setting; therefore, UM has actively developed cooperative research with major research institutions around the world. He added that the Faculty of Law (FLL) at UM has established close cooperation with other law schools around the world, including those in the European Union and Portuguese-speaking countries. He hopes the FLL and the other faculties at UM will continue to leverage their strengths to promote collaboration between UM and international organisations in various areas. Trade Development Through Harmonization of Commercial Law, co-authored by Prof Muruga Perumal Ramaswamy from UM and Joao Ribeiro, head of the UNCITRAL’s Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, was launched at the conference. Joao Ribeiro delivered a keynote speech, in which he discussed the importance of the recently adopted 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development (the Sustainable Development Goals), and the important role of the UNCITRAL in the Asia Pacific region. Legal experts from around the world, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Canada, Mozambique, India, Sweden, the United States, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, as well as scholars from the University of Western Australia, the University of Canberra, Villanova University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Hong Kong, Eduardo Mondlane University, Kobe University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and South Asian University attended the conference and had in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics, including international contract law, the future of international commercial dispute resolution, e-commerce law, cross-border insolvency, and MSMEs. The proceedings of the conference will be published later.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter shrank by 24.2% year-on-year in real terms, a deceleration of the economic decline compared with the second quarter (-26.4%). In the first three quarters of 2015, the economy decreased by 25.0% in real terms. Economic contraction in the third quarter was attributable to the continuous decline in exports of services, of which exports of gaming services decreased by 37.4% year-on-year and exports of other tourism services dropped by 15.3%. Growth momentum of domestic demand weakened with a marginal increase of 0.7% year-on-year, where private consumption expenditure held stable, government final consumption expenditure expanded by 6.2%, while gross fixed capital formation dropped by 0.4%. External merchandise trade slackened, with imports falling by 0.1% and export growth slowing to 5.4%. The implicit deflator of GDP that measures changes in prices increased by 4.2% year-on-year. Private consumption expenditure remained stable. Private spending turned cautious amid the continuous adjustment of the economy, while stable employment situation and rising income alleviated consumer spending concerns; private consumption expenditure thus maintained at a level similar compared with a year ago. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market rose by 0.1% while that abroad dropped by 0.3%. Government final consumption expenditure expanded by 6.2% year-on-year, of which compensation of employees increased by 5.3% and net purchases of goods and services rose by 7.3%. Investment slowed down. Gross fixed capital formation declined by 0.4% year-on-year, mainly due to a 1.6% drop in private investment. Private investment in construction decreased by 0.7% on account of the slowdown in construction of buildings and major tourism and entertainment facilities, as well as a decrease in real estate developers’ margin; meanwhile, investment in equipment diminished by 8.2%. On the other hand, government investment went up by 17.1% year-on-year, of which public construction investment rose by 20.0% while equipment investment shrank by 2.4%. Merchandise trade remained stagnant. Merchandise imports declined by 0.1% year-on-year upon slower investment and continuous decrease in visitor arrivals and spending; meanwhile, growth in merchandise exports narrowed further to 5.4%. Service trade continued to undergo adjustment. Total exports of services declined by 32.4% year-on-year, of which exports of gaming services dropped by 37.4% and exports of other tourism services shrank by 15.3%. Imports of services contracted by 30.8% year-on-year amid sluggish exports of services.
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IFT Tourism Retail and Marketing Management final year students successfully completed a Visual Merchandising and Store Design project to support Number 55 Co. Limited and Number 81 Co. Limited. These companies are behind the development of various stores in the art and creative district in Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo and Patio de Chon Sau, and, also their latest development ‘One Creative Arts Department Store’. Students are lucky to have a store at the art and creative district in Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo and Patio de Chon Sau for them to identify business opportunity, developing business model as well as designing the store and its visual merchandising. This project is very important to Macau as the government and local industry need to be identifying ways to diversify our economy. The course instructor Dr. Fernando Lourenço and the creative director of Number 55 Co. Limited and Number 81 Co. Limited, Eurico Ao, congratulate the students for their effort and for the quality of work they produced. Number 55 Co. Limited and Number 81 Co. Limited are currently assessing opportunity to turn some of these ideas into reality by forming teams of IFT students once they graduate this academic year to lead these projects. This is a fantastic way to build a stronger link with the industry by offering our support to local enterprises with aims to support our local government’s strategic vision. For more information about the projects, please check out YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/iftdesigncourses.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 804,000 in October 2015, down by 19.8% year-on-year and yet up by 11.8% month-to-month. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (669,000) decreased by 17.9% year-on-year, and those from the Republic of Korea (23,000), Hong Kong (17,000) and Taiwan (40,000) dropped by 36.0%, 27.9% and 38.4% respectively; meanwhile, visitors from Japan (14,000) rose by 11.0%. Visitors arriving on package tours totalled 756,000, down by 9.5% year-on-year, while visitors joining local tours tumbled by 71.3% to 48,000. In the first ten months of 2015, visitors on package tours totalled 8,222,000, down by 9.0% year-on-year; those arriving on package tours (7,051,000) decreased by 5.3%. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 127,000 in October 2015, down by 4.6% year-on-year; those travelling on package tours increased by 1.7% to 51,000, and the main destinations were Mainland China (76.9% of total), Korea (5.7%) and Taiwan (5.1%). In the first ten months of 2015, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 1,260,000, down slightly by 0.5% year-on-year. There were 104 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of October 2015, providing 32,000 guest rooms, up by 13.1% year-on-year. With new hotels commencing operations, number of guest rooms in 4-star hotels increased by 38.7% year-on-year to 7,700, while 5-star hotels had 20,000 guest rooms, accounting for 24.4% and 63.0% of the total supply respectively. Number of guests checking into hotels and guesthouses totalled 896,000 in October 2015, up by 4.2% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (586,000) and Hong Kong (116,000) increased by 5.2% and 20.3% respectively. The average length of stay of guests rose by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.5 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses was 77.6%, down by 8.0 percentage points year-on-year, with 5-star hotels leading at 81.6%, down by 5.1 percentage points. In the first ten months of 2015, guests of hotels and guesthouses totalled 8,501,000 and the average occupancy rate stood at 79.8%, down by 4.8% and 6.4 percentage points respectively year-on-year. Visitor-guests accounted for 68.0% of the total overnight visitors, down by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year.
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