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The Government would give great weight to all projects relating to the enhancement of local residents’ livelihoods and push forward policies for the adequate diversification of the economy, said the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today. Mr Chui made the remarks during his annual Policy Address session at the Legislative Assembly this afternoon. The Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2016 was entitled “Focusing on livelihoods, boosting the economy and ensuring stable development”. Enhancing local people’s livelihoods is at the centre of policy, and that would continue in the policy programme for the coming year, by observing the principles of “putting the people first” and “scientific decision-making”, Mr Chui said. The Government is dedicated to: pressing ahead with projects relating to livelihood and welfare; to improving mechanisms on social security; to stepping up efforts to address local people’s housing needs; to enhancing healthcare service quality; and to upgrading the quality of education in an effort to cultivate even greater numbers of talented local residents. Welfare is one of the most important elements in establishing a long-term mechanism for improving livelihoods, and is a pragmatic way of sharing the fruits of economic development, Mr Chui said. The Government would use short- and medium-term measures to ensure: construction of such a welfare mechanism; that sources for such welfare are used appropriately; and that projects relating to the improvement of local people’s livelihoods are optimised, he added. Mr Chui said the Government would continue implementing the Welfare Partaking Scheme. Under the current arrangements, each permanent resident receives 9,000 patacas and each non-permanent resident gets 5,400 patacas. The Government would inject 10,000 patacas of seed capital into the Central Provident Fund savings account of every eligible resident. In 2016 the Government would inject an additional 7,000 patacas from the fiscal surplus into those eligible accounts, he added. Mr Chui said that in the coming year the Government proposed to increase public subsidies on a number of relief measures. The minimum subsistence index would be raised to 4,050 patacas; the Government-disbursed elderly pension to 3,350 patacas per month, and the old age allowance to 8,000 patacas per year. Mr Chui announced there would be an extra allowance, equivalent to one month’s-worth of financial assistance, to eligible families for certain relief measures. Relief measures such as the special living allowance, special subsidy to disadvantaged families, the short-term food assistance programme, disability gratuity and health voucher programme would be continued in the coming year. For eligible students, the Government would increase allowances for meals and textbooks. The Continuing Education Programme, which offers study allowances for Macao residents enrolled in a tertiary education programme or training programme, will continue supporting the development of local talent. For employed residents, the first 30 percent of annual income from employment will continue to be tax free, up to a ceiling of 144,000 patacas. There would be also a 60 percent rebate on the personal income tax paid by each tax-paying Macao resident. That would be subject to a ceiling of 12,000 patacas and rebates to be received in 2017, he said. The Government would continue to subsidise low-income full-time employees with up to 5,000 patacas per month. For residents that are first-time homebuyers, the Government would waive real estate stamp duty for the first three million patacas of a home’s value. The Chief Executive said the Government would expedite the establishment of a comprehensive social security mechanism, which includes a social security fund, social aid and welfare payments. The Government would foster the building of a long-term mechanism on social security that was based on a multi-pronged and multi-dimensional model. To realise this goal, Mr Chui said the Government would inject 37 billion patacas into the Social Security Fund in order to maintain its sustainability. It would also strengthen its efforts in promoting a two-tier social security system. He said the Government would act in line with the 10-year (2016 to 2025) Action Plan for Elderly Services and would set up an interdepartmental committee on a mechanism for protective services for the elderly. Regarding housing policy, Mr Chui stressed the Government would rationally allocate public resources and press ahead with public housing construction projects. He announced the Government would initiate an overall plan for urban planning in order to monitor closely the manner of the city’s development. Next year, the Government would form an urban renewal committee to conduct related research and push forward redevelopment in old districts. Undeveloped land – plots previously classified as “idle” and that might revert to the Government – would be identified as priority sites for building public housing, said Mr Chui. The Government would foster allocation of public housing and strengthen management of such housing resources and would introduce effective measures to maintain a healthy development of the housing market. Regarding healthcare, Mr Chui said the Government attached great importance to improving local people’s health. To realise that aim, Mr Chui suggested special health care services for the elderly should be introduced at health centres and that traditional medicine should be provided at primary healthcare services venues. The Government would also strengthen cooperation with non-governmental organisations in order to broaden healthcare services provided to local residents. The Government would launch a mechanism encouraging continuous learning by healthcare specialists, and also optimise ways of protecting frontline medical personnel. The Government has been actively promoting the inclusion of traditional medicine in its primary healthcare system, since the establishment in Macau in August this year of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine. The Government supports via its education policies the visions of “letting Macao thrive through education” and “building Macao with talented individuals”. In the coming year, the Government would continue to optimise education-related regulation and planning in order further to improve Macao’s economic competitiveness and the overall qualification of the residents. The Government would also: complete an interim review for the 10-year Plan for Non-tertiary Education; commence research on what level of demand for qualified professionals would exist in Macao in the coming three to six years; train sufficient people to meet that demand so improving upward mobility of local residents; and introduce policies to attract back to the city talented Macao people that are currently living overseas. The Full Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2016 and pamphlets in Chinese and Portuguese summarising it will be available at the following locations: the Government Head Office Auxiliary Bureau; the Government Information Bureau; the Government Printing Bureau; the Public Information Centre; the headquarters of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau; the Macao Central Library; and at the Macao Post. The materials are also available for download on the websites of these public bodies.

Video:【GCS】Chief ExecuitvePlease go to GCS YOUTUBE Channel for more video clips: http://youtube.com/macaogcs

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A research team from the University of Macau (UM) recently received the Best Paper Award at the European Solid-State Circuits Conference (ESSCIRC) 2015 held in Graz, Austria. The ESSCIRC is considered ‘Europe’s “Chip Olympics”’. This year’s conference attracted 200 high-quality papers from around the world. The UM team is comprised of assistant professor Zhu Yan and PhD student Chan Chi Hang from the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI; Prof U Seng Pan from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology; and Vice Rector (Research) Rui Martins. The research project covered in the award-winning paper, titled ‘11-bit 900MS/s Time-Interleaved Subranging Pipelined-SAR ADC’, proposes three key innovations, in ADC architecture, sampling front-end, and digital calibration techniques, which can help ADC achieve excellent energy efficiency, linearity, and accuracy even at an extremely high speed. Compared to the designs published at this year’s IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the design by the UM team not only can avoid complex timing-skew calibration, but can also achieve a much better dynamic performance with extremely small area and low power consumption. This high-speed, high-resolution ADC can have many applications, including in wireless communication, high-speed Ethernet, broadband satellite, and power line communication. The outcomes of the project also increases the possibility of technology transfer in the future. Prof U Seng Pan says that UM’s microelectronics team has gained increasing international recognition for its achievements in chip design, and is influential in different fields, particularly in the field of ADC with low power consumption and high performance. UM is now ranked No 2 in the world in terms of the number of papers published in journals and at conferences which are the most renowned in the field of integrated circuits and which only accept results with successful measurements from fabricated silicon chips. Dr Zhu Yan has been involved in research in ADC with high speed and low power consumption and digital calibration for many years. She has published ten journal papers and 26 conference papers, and holds four US patents. Zhu says that the award is a result of the challenging yet farsighted research goals set by the supervisor, the joint effort of all team members, and, more importantly, the support of UM and the Science and Technology Development Fund, which allowed the team to work in a first-class research environment. Launched in 1974, the ESSCIRC is one of the most influential conferences in the field of electrical and electronic engineering. It is considered ‘Europe’s Chip Olympics’. This year’s conference attracted experts and scholars from around the world.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the number and value of real estate transactions in the third quarter of 2015 decreased by 24.7% and 30.7% respectively quarter-to-quarter as per Stamp Duty record, of which pre-sale residential units dropped by over 40% in both number and value terms. A total of 2,323 building units and parking spaces were purchased and sold at MOP12.49 billion in the third quarter. Purchase and sale of residential units totalled 1,537 at MOP8.62 billion, down by 17.5% and 26.6% respectively quarter-to-quarter. Among them, transaction of pre-sale residential units totalled 246 at MOP2.34 billion, down substantially by 46.1% and 47.7% respectively; existing residential units dropped by 8.3% to 1,291 with the total value falling by 13.6% to MOP6.29 billion. The average price of residential units decreased by 11.5% quarter-to-quarter to MOP84,342 per square metre of usable area in the third quarter. The average price of pre-sale residential units also dropped at a similar pace to MOP113,857 per square meter, with that in Taipa, Coloane and the Macao Peninsula falling by 9.2%, 4.5% and 1.7% respectively. Many of the pre-sale residential units purchased and sold were in Coloane, Novos Aterros da Areia Preta (NATAP) and Guia, and the average price was MOP105,786, MOP103,619 and MOP103,210 respectively per square metre. The average price of existing residential units decreased by 6.2% quarter-to-quarter to MOP76,711 per square meter, with that in Coloane, Taipa and the Macao Peninsula dropping by 9.1%, 8.8% and 4.9% respectively. Many of the existing residential units purchased and sold were in Baixa da Taipa, NATAP and Areia Preta & Iao Hon, and the average price was MOP86,647, MOP90,408 and MOP72,851 respectively per square meter. Analysed by year of completion, there were 812 residential units built more than 20 years ago (111 in Areia Preta & Iao Hon, 92 in Barca) and the average price was MOP64,770 per square metre, down by 4.5% quarter-to-quarter. For the 277 residential units completed between 11 and 20 years ago (83 in Baixa da Taipa, 39 in NATAP), the average price decreased by 8.8% quarter-to-quarter to MOP76,087 per square metre. The average price of the 105 residential units completed within 5 years or less (32 in NATAP, 15 in Doca do Lamau) dropped by 7.3%, at MOP108,429 per square metre. Analysed by usable floor area, there were 744 residential units having a floor area of 50 to 99.9 square metres, and the average price fell by 5.2% quarter-to-quarter to MOP84,926 per square metre. Among the 547 small-sized residential units having a floor area of less than 50 square metres, the average price dropped by 19.5% to MOP73,993 per square metre. The average price per square metre of office units decreased by 13.0% quarter-to-quarter to MOP102,967, while that of industrial units dropped by 9.1%, at MOP50,205. In the third quarter of 2015, there were 2,734 real estate sale contracts signed, involving 2,747 properties, up by 8.6% quarter-to-quarter; meanwhile, 2,949 mortgage contracts were signed, involving 3,989 properties, down slightly by 0.9%. As regards construction in the private sector, gross floor area of construction of new buildings totalled 465,456 square metres, providing 2,815 units (2,757 are residential units), 1,572 parking spaces for cars and 896 parking spaces for motorcycles upon completion. Meanwhile, gross floor area of buildings completed totalled 106,285 square metres, altogether providing 524 units (491 are residential units), 396 parking spaces for cars and 198 parking spaces for motorcycles.
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The Macao Orchestra under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau brings the first New Year’s Concert in Viennese style, one of the special production series, Starry Vienna - New Year Concert, which will be held on 30 December, Wednesday, at Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. The prestigious conductor Martin Sieghart from Vienna has been invited to present the New Year’s concert in Macao, bringing refined music as blessings to aficionados and filling up the city with festive atmosphere. Tickets are now on sale from the Macau Ticketing Network. The tradition of the New Year’s Concert is originated in Vienna, the capital of Austria, signifying the commencement of a new year in relaxing and fascinating music. The annual New Year’s concert in Vienna is one of the most spectacular music events in the world. It not only enjoys great international popularity through the worldwide television broadcast over 40 countries, it also delights over a billion audience. Macao Orchestra collaborates with Martin Sieghart from Vienna to present the first New Year’s concert in a pure Viennese style. A number of masterpieces by Johann Strasuss II including The Bat, Overture to A Night in Venice, as well as other traditional works like Intermezzo from 1001 Nights, The Blue Danube waltz and Sphärenklänge waltz, will be presented, allowing audiences to enjoy themselves as in an actual Vienna concert. Tickets for the Starry Vienna - New Year Concert are now on sale at MOP350, MOP300, MOP200 and MOP100 with various discounts packages. Ticketing hotline: (853) 2855 5555. For more information and enquiries, please visit Macao Orchestra webpage: www.icm.gov.mo/om.
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The University of Macau (UM) will hold the Ceremony for the Conferment of Honorary Degrees and Higher Degrees 2015 on 28 November (Saturday) at 11:00am in the University Hall. Honorary doctorates will be conferred on the renowned entrepreneur Ma Iao Lai, the educator Prof Tsui Lap-Chee, and Prof Zhong Nanshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in the Division of Medical and Health Engineering, for their contributions to society. PhD degrees and master’s degrees will also be awarded at the ceremony. Dr Chui Sai On, chief executive of the Macao SAR and chancellor of UM, will officiate at the ceremony. At the ceremony, Ma Iao Lai, Tsui Lap-Chee, and Zhong Nanshan will receive the Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa degree, Doctor of Education honoris causa degree, and Doctor of Science honoris causa degree, respectively. More than 600 students of PhD programmes, master’s degree programmes, and postgraduate certificate/diploma programmes, from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, will receive their graduation certificates. In addition, UM will hold the Doctor honoris causa Lectures Series. The Doctor honoris causa forum on ‘Charting the Socio-Economic Course of Macao: Its Past and Opportunities Ahead’, by Ma Iao Lai, will be held on 27 November (Friday) in E22-G013, Faculty of Business Administration, starting at 11:30am. Tsui Lap-Chee’s lecture titled ‘Right Time, Right Place, Right People: A Scientist Turned Educator’, will be held on 28 November (Saturday) in Student Activity Centre theatre, starting at 3:00pm.
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The 2016 Macao-Guangzhou Fine Products Fair, co-organised by IPIM and Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce, will be held from 15 to 17 January 2016 at the Poly World Trade Centre in Guangzhou. This event plays a very important role in Guangzhou-Macao trade and economic co-operation. The 2016 Macao-Guangzhou Fine Products Fair will cover a wide range of products and service including MinM, Macao souvenirs, cultural and creative products, consumer goods, clothes, 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 4th Floor, World Trade Centre Building, 918 Avenida da Amizade, or Alameda Dr. Carlos d’Assumpção, 263, China Civil Plaza Building, 19th floor, Macao during office hours until 25 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 9274 / 8798 9267.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) has rolled out the “Experience Macau Carnival” in several cities in Guangdong Province including Zhanjiang, Qingyuan and Heyuan in different periods of recent months. The event aims to promote Macau tourism products as well as events and festivals, so that more residents from various Guangdong cities will opt for a longer visit and profound experience in Macau. The promotional event “Experience Macau Carnival” was organized by MGTO in the three Guangdong cities. Head of Destination Marketing Department of MGTO, Betty Fok attended the launching ceremony held in the first stop, Zhanjiang. A booth was set up after the theme “Touching Moments, Experience Macau” to showcase the World Heritage Site “The Historic Centre of Macao”, the eight walking tour routes themed as “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities”, Macau Grand Prix as well as other mega events. Photo zones were also available to visitors for photo opportunities. Local travel agencies were stationed at the Carnival to sell their tourism products of Macau. MGTO has been carrying out a range of promotion activities to cater for different tourism markets. Besides an endeavor to explore new markets, the Office makes a strong effort in retaining current sources of visitors. Following the road shows in Hong Kong and Zhuhai in September and October respectively, the Experience Macau Carnival was rolled out in Guangdong in late October and November. A variety of tourism elements were on display to attract visitors from various Guangdong cities to visit Macau for an exploration of cultural gems and to feel the vibe in spectacular events. With the Carnival held, the Office sought to boost their length of stay in Macau. In parallel with that, MGTO continues to organize other promotional events in Asia and long-haul markets to broaden the diversity of visitor source markets. This press release is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/en/
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP144.9 billion (USD18.16 billion) at the end of October 2015. The reserves decreased by 0.3% from the revised value of MOP145.3 billion (USD18.21 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-October 2015 represented 12 times the currency in circulation or 105.4% of Pataca M2 at end-September 2015. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca dropped 0.40 points month-to-month but rose 5.92 points year-on-year to 105.39 in October 2015, implying that overall speaking, the pataca depreciated against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners on a monthly basis but appreciated on an annual basis.
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The Macao SAR Government is profoundly shocked by the terrorist attacks in Paris, France. The Government expresses sympathy for the wounded and extends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The condolences were conveyed in a statement issued today by the Office of the Secretary for Security. The statement follows the terrorist attacks that took place on 13 November, Paris time. As an international tourism destination, Macao has well-established protocols for responding to large-scale crisis and emergency situations. These include staging regular simulation exercises to test and strengthen Macao’s inter-departmental coordination and rescue capacity. The terrorist threat level in Macao has always remained low. Nevertheless, Macao’s security forces are ready to deal with potential heightened security concerns, and are continuously improving their strategies to control potential threats to Macao’s security. The security forces regularly engage in counter-terrorism meetings, exchanges of intelligence and bilateral anti-terrorism exercises with their counterparts in neighbouring regions. These activities help the Government to take effective measures against potential terrorist threats, further protecting social stability, and the lives and properties of Macao’s residents and tourists. The Tourism Crisis Management Office has already issued a travel security alert for France. Macao residents who plan to travel to that country are advised to closely monitor the situation, assess the security risks and consider their travel plans carefully. Macao residents in France are urged to stay vigilant and strengthen security precautions.
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Given the recent security situation in France, the Embassy of China in France issued an urgent advice to Chinese citizens. Following is the translated version of the full text: “Some terrorist attacks took place on the 13th of November. President François Hollande has declared state of emergency in France. The borders are closed and the French government is taking emergency measures. The Embassy of China in France urges Chinese citizens in that country to strengthen security precautions, stay at home and avoid leaving their residences, follow closely the news issued by the media and advice issued by the authorities, and also cooperate with police inspections. In case of emergency, contact the Police at 17 or 197, the Embassy of China in France for Consular Protection and Assistance, Tel: 0033-615742537 or the Global Emergency Call Center for Consular Protection and Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel: 0086 10 12308.” The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) will keep monitoring the latest developments and alerts Macao residents who intend to travel to France to follow closely the situation, critically assess the security risks and cautiously consider their travel plans. Macao residents already in France should strengthen security precautions to protect their personal safety and avoid leaving their residences. From information gathered through the Macao travel industry there is currently no Macao tour group affected by the incident. Until the present moment, GGCT has received 1 request for information. 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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