News

Having regard to the ATM cash withdrawal needs of citizens and visitors during the Christmas holidays (i.e. from 24 to 27 December 2016), the Monetary Authority of Macao has urged all banks that are providing ATM services to put pertinent arrangements in place, including enhanced surveillance of the functioning of ATMs for timely replenishment of banknotes and clear display on ATMs of the 24-hour customer service hotlines. If necessary, citizens and visitors can contact the relevant banks via these hotlines.
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The gaming industry might be the first to come to mind when thinking about the entertainment sector in Macao. The Macao entertainment sector is however diverse and has stimulated a wide range of economic activities. It includes the development of digital technologies, management systems and video games. The 4th MGS Entertainment Show – Creativity and Innovation, held in mid-November and organised by the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (MGEMA), has made Macao a platform to showcase to professional buyers from around the world the most up-to-date digital equipment and technology within the industry. MGS has also broadened the horizons of Macao residents and tourists in terms of how they think about the city. Apart from the exhibition, MGS organised a three-day summit that was also of great benefit to professional buyers, exhibitors and general visitors. Jay Chun, Chairman of the show’s organiser MGEMA, says he is satisfied with the overall achievements of MGS, adding that he hopes to see the trade show expand year-by-year and to enlarge its non-gaming elements. This, he says, would help other related sectors to grow in Macao. Steady development for MGS Entertainment Show The fourth edition of MGS showcased – in a single event – games, entertainment solutions, and leisure and related services. Under the theme “Creativity and Innovation”, the trade show incorporated a large range of non-gaming elements, including products and services from cultural and creative industries, and from science and technology industries. There were four main exhibition areas, covering: cultural and creative topics; future technology and innovation; visual media; and entertainment and tourism. The show attracted to Macao more than 750 senior managers and policymakers from around the world, who attended the event in order to gather information on the latest entertainment trends. The event also opened its doors to the public, welcoming 14,847 visitors during its three days. Mr Chun says that as well as hosting Macao’s six gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires, the show also drew exhibiting companies from several fields, including those of the entertainment, digital technology and cultural and creative industries. Such companies included exhibitors from Europe, North America, South Korea and the Philippines. There were a total of 170 exhibitors in this year’s show, a 20 percent increase compared to the previous year. Mr Chun also points out that MGS has been growing gradually, with increases year-on-year in the number of professional buyers attending the show. He hopes that MGS can continue growing steadily over the coming years. The three-day Summit at this year’s event covered three major topics, namely: “New Policy and Regulatory”; “Investment Opportunity”; and “Gaming/Creativity/Innovation/Culture”. The Summit proved to be a great platform to promote interaction and exchange among attendees. Keynote speakers at the Summit came from Mainland China, the United States, Australia, Vietnam and Macao. In addition, Paulo Martins Chan, Director of Macao’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, as well as professors from Macao Polytechnic Institute, and other industry experts, delivered speeches during the Summit. With the discussion centred on the future development of Macao’s gaming industry, the speakers focused their attention on the business model of the entertainment sector, including investment opportunities and technology innovation. Such discussion yielded benefits for all. Number of major MICE activities grows Macao is to host a number of international large-scale events in the first quarter of 2017, including the “13th China Expo Forum for International Co-operation (CEFCO 2017)”, which will be held for the first time outside Mainland China. Several international professional conferences will also be held in Macao during the first quarter of 2017, including the “International Forum for E-Commerce Industry Development” (with more than 10,000 participants expected); and the “10th International Conference on Computational Physics (ICCP10)”, which has invited a Nobel Prize winner to deliver a speech and share his important research achievements with the audience. For more information, please visit the official website of IPIM: http://www.ipim.gov.mo.
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Dr Lei Ka-Meng, a lecturer under the ‘Macao Fellow’ programme at the University of Macau, will be a visiting scholar at the Harvard University for a two-year term starting in mid-2017. During his stay, Dr Lei will explore a parallel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) platform combining advanced microfluidic, magnetic-sensing and integrated circuits technologies, with the aim of substantially reducing the cost and time of NMR experiments. Dr Lei was born and raised in Macao. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from UM in 2012, and he was among the first cohort to graduate from UM’s Honours College. He began to be involved in challenging research projects of the State-Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI in his third year of undergraduate studies. One of his research works led to a paper published in an SCI journal; another paper was presented at the Asia Symposium on Quality Electronic Design 2013, and was one of the three papers out of 57 to receive the Best Paper Award. Because of his outstanding research capability, after receiving his bachelor’s degree he was directly admitted for PhD studies at UM, under the co-supervision of Prof Mak Pui In, Dr Law Man Kay, and Prof Rui Martins. For his PhD research, Dr Lei worked on a new multi-disciplinary direction - CMOS nuclear magnetic resonance system for point-of-care diagnosis, which makes possible intelligent detection of biological targets on a handheld platform. The two prototypes he developed were reported in the most prestigious journals and conferences in the field. In October 2015, he made an oral presentation at the International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, which has an acceptance rate of 9% for oral presentations. At the Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), held in November of the same year, he presented a paper, demonstrated his work for the Student Design Contest, and received the Distinguished Design Award. Subsequently, he was invited to submit his work to a special issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC). In February 2016, he presented his work developed in collaboration with the University of Pavia, Italy, at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) and received the ISSCC Silkroad Award, which is given to outstanding students from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific region. In addition, this work was selected for live demonstration during the conference. It was the first time a work from Macao, Hong Kong, and mainland China had been selected for live demonstration at ISSCC. The related paper was selected as one of the ISSCC Technical Highlights of the conference. Because of the excellent performance of his work at the conference, he was invited to submit a full-length paper to a special issue of the JSSC. It is scheduled to be published in January 2017. In February 2017, Dr Lei will receive the prestigious Predoctoral Achievement Award from the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, which is awarded to an elite group of outstanding graduate students in the area of solid-state circuits. His PhD thesis will be expanded into a research book to be published by the Springer, the world’s largest science publisher, in 2017. Our pride is founded on the fact that such extraordinary student accomplishments are rare, perhaps unheard-of, even among prestigious universities of the world.
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Of the 2 hospitalized tourists from Shandong that were involved in the 20th of December traffic accident in Taipa, the one that was being accompanied by her family in Macau was already discharged yesterday, while the other remains in stable condition and is expected to be able to discharge in the next one to two days. Once the last tourist is discharged from the hospital, all three tourists will depart together from Macau. If necessary, affected tourists and their families can contact the 24-hour Tourism Hotline: (853) 2833 3000.
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For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council on 22 December collects prices of fresh pork from wet markets and supermarkets for consumers’ reference. The mentioned data collected during 14 December to 20 December are used for comparing the average selling price of the same products from Zhuhai and Hong Kong. The relevant data has been uploaded to the Council’s website for consumers’ reference. fThe specific price surveys on fresh pork and vegetables are now available on the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), iPhone & Android ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ app, and the Council’s WeChat Account page. The relevant surveys include the average selling prices of local fresh pork and vegetables, and comparison on the respective the average selling prices rom Zhuhai, HK, and Macao. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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The Public Security Police Force, the Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau and the Identification Services Bureau have been maintaining close communication and cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Korea on studying the technical requirements of using each other’s automated immigration clearance system, preparing for residents of the two places to use the automated immigration clearance system on a mutual basis for immigration clearance. Starting from 28 December 2016, Macao Special Administrative Region electronic passport holders can use the automated immigration clearance system of the Republic of Korea, which will expedite the process of immigration clearance for Macao residents. To be in line with the immigration facilitation that the Republic of Korea granted to the Macao residents, with effect on the same day, holders of the passport of the Republic of Korea can also use Macao’s automated immigration clearance system after successful enrollment. The enrollment is on a voluntary basis and is free of charge. For more information, please visit the website of the Identification Services Bureau (www.dsi.gov.mo/download/ep_autogate_e.pdf). Eligibility and formality for Macao residents to enter and exit the Republic of Korea with the Smart Entry Service (SES) of the Republic of Korea Macao residents aged 17 or above holding a valid Macao SAR electronic passport and have no adverse record in the Republic of Korea can register directly at the enrollment centers in the Republic of Korea. After successful enrollment, the registrant can use SES to enter and exit the Republic of Korea. The enrollment centers are located in the Republic of Korea. In total, there are 16 locations for registration including Incheon International Airport and Jeju International Airport. Eligible applicants can register at the enrollment center after entering the Republic of Korea through traditional counters. At the time of enrollment, eligible applicants have to provide their Macao Special Administrative Region electronic passports with its validity not less than 30 days from the date of enrollment. After successful enrollment, a sticker will be affixed to the visa page of the passport for identification. Moreover, successful registrants should note that they must conduct the enrollment again after renewing their passport. When using SES, the passport holders have to scan their passports and conduct fingerprint verification as instructed by the automated clearance system. They can enter the Republic of Korea after successful verification of their identity. For details about the formalities and locations of registration for using the automated clearance system of the Republic of Korea, please visit the website of the Government of the Republic of Korea (www.ses.go.kr). Macao residents can use the Smart Entry Service (SES) of the Republic of Korea Eligibility and formality for Korean travellers to enter and exit Macao with Automated Passenger Clearance (APC) System Korean citizens aged 11 or above holding a valid passport of the Republic of Korea with its validity not less than 30 days from the date of enrollment and have no adverse record in the Macao SAR can register for using the APC system of Macao. Eligible applicants are required to register in person at the Macao Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal Checkpoint (located in the area before going through the immigration), the Taipa Ferry Terminal Checkpoint (located in the area before going through the immigration), the Macao International Airport Checkpoint (located in the area before going through the immigration), the Border Gate Checkpoint (located in the area after going through the immigration) or the Immigration Department Office Building at Pac On. After successful enrollment, the registrants can use the APC system at the Border Gate, the Macao Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, the Taipa Ferry Terminal, the Macao International Airport and the Cotai Border Checkpoint to enter or exit Macao with their enrolled passport. Moreover, successful registrants should note that they must re-enroll for using the APC system after renewing their passports. For more information on the registration for using Macao’s Automated Passenger Clearance System, please visit the website of the Public Security Police Force of Macao (http://www.fsm.gov.mo/psp/cht/psp_top5_22_2.html).
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Yesterday afternoon (20th of December) a traffic accident occurred in the Avenida Marginal Flor de Lotus in Taipa, involving two tour buses and a private vehicle. The 29 tourists from the Hunan tour group already left Macao yesterday. Of the 34 tourists from the Shandong tour group, 2 were hospitalized while a third also had to stay behind in Macau in order to accompany her hospitalized family member. The remaining 31 tourists left Macao yesterday. If necessary, affected tourists and their families can contact the 24-hour Tourism Hotline: (853) 2833 3000.
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There was a traffic accident during the afternoon of today (20th of December) in the Avenida Marginal Flor de Lotus in Taipa, involving two tour buses and a private vehicle which led to 57 people being sent to the Conde de Sao Januario Hospital, with 53 of them being tourists from mainland China, of which 2 needed hospitalization, while the remaining 4 were the drivers of the tour buses and the private vehicle, a tour guide and a passenger of the private vehicle. Out of the 53 mainland China tourists, 29 are from Hunan, and 19 of them suffered light injuries and were later discharged while the remaining 10 did not suffer any injuries and have already left Macao. The remaining 34 tourists are from Shandong and have all suffered injuries, with 2 of them requiring to be hospitalized, while the remaining suffered only light injuries and have already left the hospital. Once informed of the accident, the Tourism Crisis Management Office and the Macao Government Tourism Office deployed immediately representatives to the Conde Sao Januario Hospital in order to gather information on the incident and to follow up on the condition of those injured, as well as to contact the travel agencies involved in order for them to provide as soon as possible the necessary assistance to the tourists, including meals, and handle their departure from Macao If necessary, affected tourists and their families can contact the 24-hour Tourism Hotline: (853) 2833 3000. * Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of Macao, the English version of the web site is the translation from the Chinese originals and is provided for reference only.
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The Government is paying heed to the business environment for local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to possible changes in the labour market, said today the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac. Mr Leong noted the business environment in Macao remained relatively stable. The Government would be vigilant and would adopt measures to maintain the current high employment rate. The Secretary made the comments this morning after the reception hosted by the Government in celebration of the 17th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region. There were still uncertainties in other economies, which might affect the stability of Macao, despite the year-on-year increase in gross gaming revenue recorded for several months recently, said Mr Leong. The Macao Economic Services would pay close attention regarding any changes in the business environment, such as increases in property rental prices or in the salaries paid to employees. The Labour Affairs Bureau would closely monitor the labour market and would enhance the services it offers, such as employment matching and occupational training. Issues relating to the livelihood of the people are the top priority of the Government, said Mr Leong. In addition, Mr Leong commented on the Government’s decision regarding renewal of the contract with Macao (Yut Yuen) Canidrome Co Ltd. He stated the company would need to consider – prior to 20 July 2018 – if it wanted to keep operating its dog racing business. If the company were to choose that option, it would need to find a new location. Any new site would need to comply with urban planning rules in general and, in particular, would need to avoid creating any negative effect on local people’s livelihoods. Dog racing business also needed to fulfil international requirements. Regarding the idea that allowing the importation of non-resident workers for driver positions would be positive for the Macao economy, Mr Leong said different views had been expressed within society: the Government needed to study in depth the matter and to pay careful attention to opinions from the business sector and the labour sector.
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The scheme to enable Macao-registered motor vehicles to enter Hengqin Island in Zhuhai Prefecture was a significant initiative, and would encourage people across different sectors in Macao to participate further in regional cooperation. Speaking today at the launch ceremony in Hengqin for the vehicle scheme, the Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, said its implementation would further boost cooperation projects between Guangdong and Macao that involved locating in Hengqin. The scheme – whereby qualified Macao-registered motor vehicles can enter Hengqin – would be implemented in a phased manner in order to ensure its efficiency, said Mr Wong. The authorities have received dozens of applications under the scheme: the first nine vehicles permitted to enter Hengqin made the journey today. Mr Wong said the more frequent exchanges and complementary economic cooperation between Macao and Hengqin that would be generated by the initiative would enhance social wellbeing in the two places and advance regional cooperation. The vehicle scheme would serve as an example for greater complementary and coordinated cooperation, and widen the scope of such ties between Macao and its network of neighbouring cities, he added. The initiative illustrated the strong support for Macao’s development from ministries and departments of the Central Government and of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, said Mr Wong. He expressed sincere gratitude to those authorities involved over the years in the discussions on the vehicle scheme. He noted it had been officially launched today to mark the 17th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region. In December 2014, the Central Government’s initiative to establish the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone was announced. It included positioning the Hengqin Area as a resource for regional cooperation and to assist – via the Framework Agreement on Cooperation Between Guangdong and Macao – in the process of achieving Macao’s adequate economic diversification. Macao is itself positioned as a world centre of tourism and leisure. The SAR Government’s first-ever Five-Year Development Plan outlined a vision whereby Macao would take greater roles in national development, strengthen its contribution to regional cooperation, and create more favourable conditions for engagement between mainland markets and international markets. Other officials attending today’s ceremony in Hengqin included: the Commissioner General of the Unitary Police Service, Mr Ma Io Kun; the Director-General of the Macao Customs Service, Mr Vong Iao Lek; the Chief of Office of the Secretary for Security, Ms Cheong Ioc Ieng; the Commissioner of the Public Security Police Force, Mr Leong Man Cheong; and the Director of the Transport Bureau, Mr Lam Hin San. Also present at the ceremony were: the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Yao Jian; the Deputy Secretary-General of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, Mr Zhong Xuanhui; the Secretary of the CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Mr Guo Yuanqiang; the Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee Secretary, Mr Guo Yuanjiang; and the Mayor of Zhuhai, Mr Zheng Renhao.
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