News

The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, encouraged Macao’s young people to diversify their efforts at personal development, including via study, and by gaining practical experience and learning teamwork via involvement in the work of local associations. Mr Chui made the remarks on Friday (18 November) in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, when he took part in an exchange session with some 150 Macao young people that are studying at Jinan University. During the session, Mr Chui shared his own experience: he explained that when he first graduated from university, he did not really know what ‘dream’ to pursue; he was looking for a stable job. He noted that a person’s career plans can change after gaining experience of the world of work. The Government is striving to tackle challenges, in order to maintain Macao’s long-term prosperity and the well-being of its people. The Government needs to pay close attention to young people’s opinions, as they are the future of the community and an important asset of the city, Mr Chui added. Sharing his insights on effective management, Mr Chui said the development of good interpersonal relationships was an important tool to help solve problems: unofficial communication on a topic might be more effective for tackling issues than official meetings. The Chief Executive also shared his opinion on employment opportunities in Macao; industrial development; scholarship schemes; academic research; and development of business and of new media. Regarding employment opportunities in Macao, Mr Chui said statistics indicated there was a high rate of employment among Macao’s young people – whether they had studied in Macao or outside the city. He said the experience young people gained in their first few jobs was important, as they could gather knowledge not available via the classroom. The Government was pleased to be able to offer more support to sectors that were nascent in Macao, such as: the cultural and creative industries; traditional Chinese medicine; high-end services; specialised financial services; and the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sector. Great potential was envisaged for those industries and their development was seen as a step toward diversifying the city’s economy. Mr Chui noted there might be a great number of development opportunities arising from the cultural and creative industries. He nonetheless urged young people to pay extra attention to the potential risks in those career paths. Regarding the development of new media, Mr Chui said he considered it an inevitable trend: the Government understood the importance of new media in relation to disseminating information. The Government would use further policies in order progressively to advance the development of new media in Macao. The Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms O Lam; Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jinan University – and President of the Jinan University Macao Alumni Association – Mr Ma Iao Hang; Vice President of Jinan University, Mr Xia Quan; and the Director of the Jinan University Macao Alumni Association, Mr Lai Pak Keong; along with teachers from Jinan University; and 30 alumni, also attended Friday evening’s session. Mr Chui was in Guangzhou on Friday and Saturday for a two-day visit, following an invitation from Jinan University to participate in the celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the institution’s establishment.
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in November on 21 November for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Horte e Costa, Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga and Rua da Emenda areas in Santo António Parish. 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. With reference to the local seven 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 “Parade through Macao, Latin City”, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) in celebration of the 17th anniversary of Macao’s handover to China, will be held on Sunday, 4 December 2016. This year, IC has once again joined hands with several local associations and organisations to recruit VIVA Ambassadors for providing assistance during the event. The VIVA Ambassadors will declare their commitment to the event in an oath ceremony, to be held on Saturday, 26 November 2016, at 3pm, at the Largo da Companhia de Jesus. After the oath ceremony, nearly 500 VIVA Ambassadors will attend training sessions, site inspections and rehearsals. During the Parade, they will be assigned different tasks including crowd control, the maintenance of public order and souvenir distribution, as well as providing assistance during the interaction between performers and the public. VIVA Ambassadors’ participation is crucial to this event, ensuring the public to enjoy the event in an orderly, safe and pleasurable environment. The VIVA Ambassadors recruitment campaign has drawn support from the Bank of China Macau Branch Volunteers Association, the Macao Community Youth Volunteers Development Association, the General Volunteers Association of Macao, The Boys’ Brigade of Macau, The Scout Association of Macau and the Association of Volunteers Social Service Macao. The “Parade through Macao, Latin City” is one of the most important activities in celebration of Macao’s handover to China and it has become the city’s signature festivity since 2011. This year’s Parade carries forward the motto “An Annual Celebration for the Entire City – VIVA” and is themed “VIVA’s Adventures through Shan Hai”. VIVA will cross a time gate and depart to the mysterious land of the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing), kicking off a fantastic adventure and taking part in the “Peace, Love and Cultural Integration” party, celebrating the handover.
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Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the exhibition “Traces and Vision – Longzhou ‘Shehuo’ Folk Performances, Photography by Wu Xiaopeng” was inaugurated on 18 November, at 6pm at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, featuring a total of 60 works by the famous Chinese photographer Wu Xiaopeng. The show displays the folk customs of Longzhou ‘Shehuo’ in Shaanxi Province. The opening ceremony was officiated by the Head of Division of Visual Art of Department of Museums of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, U Weng Hong; the Vice President of the China Photographers Association, Li Weikun; the Deputy Editor-in-chief of Macao Daily News, Si Tou Wai Ip; the Life Honorary President of the Photography Salon Society of Macao, Lai Wing Chiu; and the Photographer, Wu Xiaopeng. Admission is free and all are welcome. Wu Xiaopeng is currently a member of the China Photographers Association, Guangdong Province Photographers Association, of the executive committee of Photographers Association of Zhuhai, and vice-chairman of the HSZM Photographic Alliance. As a former consultant to the Photography Salon Society of Macao, he was a member of the jury of the 16th to the 19th Macao International Salon of Photography. Mr. Wu has received many national and international awards for his works. In 2015, he was hailed as one of the Top 10 Photographers in Guangdong Province. Wu Xiaopeng visited dozens of villages across Longzhou in Shaanxi Province in recent years to capture images of the quaint Shehuo activities. This profound historical and cultural folk custom, of which Shaanxi Province is one of the representatives, was inscribed in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. Rather than pursuing the visual aesthetics of the images, Mr. Wu showcases his endeavour to capture the villagers’ spiritual demeanour and present the customs of indigenous communities. The exhibition “Traces and Vision – Longzhou ‘Shehuo’ Folk Performances, Photography by Wu Xiaopeng” is held from 19 November 2016 to 8 January 2017, at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery located at No. 163, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, and is open daily from 9am to 9pm, including public holidays. Admission is free. For enquiries about the exhibition, please call IC through tel. no. 8988 4000, during office hours.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI increased by 1.33% year-on-year to 108.36 in October 2016, a further decrease of 0.26 percentage points from the 1.59% growth in September. The increment was attributable to higher charges for eating out, rising rentals for parking spaces, as well as increases in property management fees, motor car prices and tuition fees. Among the various sections of goods and services, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages that accounted for the largest share of household expenditure showed continued slowdown in growth, rising by 1.68% year-on-year. Price index of Communication (-1.97%), Clothing & Footwear (-1.25%) and Housing & Fuels (-1.18%) registered decline; meanwhile, price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, Education and Transport went up by 10.22%, 7.42% and 6.42% respectively. The CPI-A (108.44) and CPI-B (107.76) increased by 1.19% and 2.59% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for October 2016 increased by 0.17% month-to-month. Price index of Clothing & Footwear, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Transport rose by 3.26%, 0.57% and 0.39% respectively on account of new arrival of winter clothing, higher prices of alcoholic beverages, gasoline, as well as rising charges for maintenance & repair of motor cars. On the other hand, lower charges for internet services drove down the price index of Communication by 1.72%. Moreover, reduced electricity charges and receding prices of vegetables, fruits and fresh fish pushed down the price index of Housing & Fuels and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages by 0.10% and 0.09% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.16% and 0.19% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended October 2016, the average Composite CPI increased by 2.75% from the previous period. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+27.09%), Education (+8.67%) and Transport (+6.44%) showed marked increase. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 2.72% and 3.02% respectively over the previous period. The average Composite CPI for the first ten months of 2016 increased by 2.55% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B went up by 2.49% and 3.06% respectively. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households in Macao. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP29,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP30,000 to MOP54,999.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today met with the President of Jinan University, Mr Hu Jun, to exchange views on the tertiary education sector and on talent development. Mr Chui is on a two-day visit to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, following an invitation from Jinan University to participate in the celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the institution’s establishment. During the meeting, Mr Chui said he noted that a great many talented people in Macao had been educated at the University. Such people provided a basis for the further development of Macao. The Chief Executive said students that had graduated from the University had made great contributions in different sectors of Macao’s community. The Government would continue to strengthen its partnership with the University, in a bid to provide more opportunities for Macao’s young people to study there, and to support the city’s development by ensuring it had a supply of talented people. Mr Hu said he was pleased to see the Chief Executive at the University’s anniversary celebration, and was thankful for the long-term support of the SAR Government. The presence of Mr Chui at the celebration would be an encouragement to the approximately 50,000 students and lecturers at the University. Jinan University would increase the quota of Macao young people admissible to the institution, while continuing to cooperate with the SAR Government and people from different sectors of the community in Macao, in order to foster talent development and the training of a greater number of professionals. During the meeting, Mr Chui and Mr Hu spoke highly of the efforts to promote closer ties between Macao and Jinan University that had been made by the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jinan University – and President of the Jinan University Macao Alumni Association – Mr Ma Iao Hang, and his Alumni Association. Government officials attending today’s meeting included: the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms O Lam; the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping; the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Mr Fung Sio Weng; and the Director of the Health Bureau, Mr Lei Chin Ion. Mr Ma was also present at the meeting, along with the Vice President of Jinan University, Mr Song Xianzhong, and the Chief of the Board of the Directors’ Office, Ms Wu Xuanfeng. Mr Chui will return to Macao in the afternoon on Saturday (19 November). While he is in Guangzhou, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, and the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, are consecutively to take on the role of acting Chief Executive.
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The CCAC has unveiled a case involving two civil servants who, when applying to the Housing Bureau (IH) for economical housing, deliberately concealed the fact that they owned a property in the Chinese mainland and finally acquired and lived in the economical unit. They have allegedly committed the offences of document forgery and fraud involving relatively high value under the Penal Code. Moreover, the two persons deliberately made false declaration when submitting the assets and interests declaration forms and thus allegedly committed the offences of false declaration (inaccurate data) under the Legal Regime of Declaration of Assets and Interests. The case has been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office. The two suspects, who were husband and wife, worked in the Office of the Prosecutor General and the IH respectively. In 2013, when they made an application to the IH for economical housing, they deliberately concealed the fact that they had purchased a flat in Zhuhai not long ago when completing the application form with an intent to pass the assets test smoothly. At last, they successfully defrauded the IH, passed the assets test and bought an economical unit in Seac Pai Van under the price of some MOP600,000. The CCAC received the report early this year which stated that someone had allegedly concealed the fact of owing a property in Zhuhai with an intent to defraud the IH for economical housing. At the request of the CCAC, the IH conducted an assets test again for the said application and requested the two persons to submit proofs concerning assets outside Macao. The two suspects, on the one hand, falsely declared to the staff of the IH that they did not own any property in Zhuhai. On the other hand, they grasped the time to sell the property in Zhuhai and applied to the real estate registry in Zhuhai for proofs that they did not own any property and submitted the proof to the IH, with an intent to evade the investigation of the CCAC and continue to own the economical unit. In addition, during the investigation, it was also found that when the two civil servants declared their assets and interests in 2013 and 2015, they deliberately concealed their ownership of the said Zhuhai property in the declaration forms. Such acts have also allegedly constituted offences of false declaration (inaccurate data) as stated in Paragraph 2 of Article 27 of Legal Regime of Declaration of Assets and Interests. In this case, the two civil servants concealed the fact that they owned a property in Zhuhai and acquired an economical unit allocated by the IH by fraudulent means. Upon knowing that the relevant department was carrying out an investigation, they thought that they were fortunate enough because the property was not located in Macao such that the local investigation department could hardly prove it. Therefore, they sold the property in Zhuhai and then applied for proofs to show that they did not own any property in order to cover up their illegal acts. However, through the collaboration and assistance mechanism with the Chinese mainland’s enforcement departments, the CCAC was able to dig up the information that the involved persons had owned and sold the property in Zhuhai. The truth was finally found out and the case has been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office for handling according to the law.
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Invited by the Centre of Permanent Education of Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Consumer Council held several public lectures to those who participated in the ‘Continuing Education Development Programme’. The Council hopes to enhance consumers’ awareness and ability and self-protection regarding their own consume rights. The public lectures held by the Council for the Centre of Permanent Education include ‘Introduction to consumer rights and services of Consumer Council’ and other topics. Participants agreed that the information was useful and applicable in daily lives, and let them know more about their own consumer rights and obligations. To strengthen residents’ awareness in their own consumer rights and beware of consumer traps, Consumer Council organize public lectures to promote consumer education. Twenty-five lectures have been held by the Council for the hearing impaired, women, and elderly, serving over 1,300 persons and covered different topics on consumer rights. The Council welcomes different organizations and schools to arrange lectures, for appointment, please call 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors increased by 17.4% year-on-year to MOP 14.64 billion in the third quarter of 2016, putting an end to the 7 consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline, and expanded by 25.1% quarter-to-quarter. Total spending of overnight visitors (MOP 11.92 billion) and same-day visitors (MOP 2.72 billion) went up by 21.5% and 2.1% respectively year-on-year. In the third quarter of 2016, per-capita spending of visitors increased by 17.3% year-on-year to MOP 1,806, the first year-on-year growth since the second quarter of 2014, and went up by 12.8% quarter-to-quarter. Per-capita spending of visitors from Mainland China increased by 18.2% year-on-year to MOP 2,100, with spending of those from Guangdong Province (MOP 1,672) and Fujian Province (MOP 1,411) rising by 16.2% and 27.6% respectively. Per-capita spending of Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) went up by 12.4% year-on-year to MOP 2,312, with spending of Guangdong visitors (MOP 1,854) and Fujian visitors (MOP 2,289) increasing by 12.2% and 3.7% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita spending of visitors from Singapore (MOP 1,912), Hong Kong (MOP 1,092) and Taiwan (MOP 1,638) increased by 17.1%, 19.7% and 16.9% respectively year-on-year. Among the long-haul visitors, per-capita spending of visitors from the United States (MOP1,177) dropped by 13.0% year-on-year, while spending of those from Australia (MOP 1,421) and the United Kingdom (MOP 1,183) rose by 8.3% and 7.2% respectively. Per-capita spending of overnight visitors increased by 11.5% year-on-year to MOP 2,809. Per-capita spending of overnight visitors from Mainland China (MOP 3,270) rose by 10.9%; spending of those from Singapore (MOP 2,870), Hong Kong (MOP 1,686) and Taiwan (MOP 2,997) grew by 10.2%, 13.4% and 8.8% respectively; meanwhile, per-capita spending of those from Thailand (MOP 2,322) showed a significant increase of 33.6%. Moreover, per-capita spending of same-day visitors went up by 11.2% year-on-year to MOP 703, with spending of those from Mainland China (MOP 842) and Hong Kong (MOP 432) rising by 11.0% and 27.8% respectively. Visitors spent mainly on shopping (43.4%), accommodation (27.3%) and food & beverage (21.3%). Per-capita shopping spending increased by 16.8% year-on-year to MOP 783, of which spending on local food products (MOP 226) and cosmetics & perfume (MOP 134) rose by 2.3% and 16.5% respectively. Per-capita shopping spending of Mainland visitors accounted for 51.1% of their overall spending, at MOP 1,072, up by 18.2% year-on-year, with that of IVS visitors (MOP 1,395) rising by 9.4%. Analysed by main purpose of visit, visitors coming to Macao for MICE events had the highest per-capita spending, at MOP 3,089, up by 23.7% year-on-year, followed by those coming for shopping (MOP 2,504) and vacation (MOP 2,421), up by 14.7% and 9.1% respectively. According to the results of the Visitors’ Comments Survey for the third quarter of 2016, 90.5% of the visitor-users were satisfied with the services and facilities of hotels, up marginally by 0.4 percentage points quarter-to-quarter; the proportions of visitors who expressed satisfaction with services of retail shops (85.0%) and gaming establishments (83.5%) rose by 2.5 and 1.7 percentage points respectively. On the other hand, 67.4% of the visitors complimented about services of public transport, down by 3.3 percentage points quarter-to-quarter, while 12.7% considered that these services should be improved, up by 3.4 percentage points. Meanwhile, 45.0% of the visitors commented that points of tourist attractions were adequate, an increase of 5.5 percentage points quarter-to-quarter.
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According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, on 30 June 2016, investment of Macao residents (including individuals, the government and other legal entities but excluding Macao’s foreign exchange reserves) in securities issued by unrelated non-residents reached MOP443.2 billion at current market value, representing an increase of 1.0% from both end-2015 and the same period last year. Among various instruments of portfolio investment, equity securities (including mutual funds and investment trust units), long-term debt securities and short-term debt securities were valued at MOP168.7 billion, MOP258.3 billion and MOP16.2 billion respectively, which corresponded to a decrease of 0.8%, an increase of 4.4% and a drop of 24.5% from end-2015. By geographical distribution, the Asian region continued to occupy the largest share of Macao residents’ external portfolio investment, at 57.2%. The rest was mainly placed in the North Atlantic and Caribbean (13.8%), Europe (12.6%), North America (10.6%) and Oceania (5.2%). Investment in securities issued by Mainland Chinese entities, including those securities listed on non-Mainland exchanges, continued to assume the leading position, occupying 40.0% of local residents’ portfolio investment outside Macao. Its market value registered a decrease of 13.5% from end-2015 to MOP177.4 billion. The investment consisted of MOP53.5 billion in equity securities, MOP116.8 billion in long-term debt securities and MOP7.1 billion in short-term debt securities, occupying 31.7%, 45.2% and 44.0% of the respective total. Meanwhile, the share of investment in securities issued by Hong Kong entities also fell from 13.4% at end-2015 to 12.9%, with the corresponding market value decreasing by 2.6% to MOP57.4 billion, of which equity securities and long-term debt securities amounted to MOP36.4 billion and MOP18.0 billion respectively. Macao residents’ portfolio investment in the North Atlantic and Caribbean continued to increase. The market value of investment in this region rose by 14.9% from end-2015 to MOP61.4 billion, with its share in the total investment abroad rising from 12.2% to 13.8%. In particular, the market value of portfolio investment in the British Virgin Islands swelled by 51.4% from end-2015 to MOP27.4 billion. The share of investment in European securities rose by 2.0 percentage points from end-2015 to 12.6%, and the corresponding market value grew by 20.1% to MOP55.7 billion. Among European countries, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France represented larger portions with market values of MOP11.8 billion, MOP11.1 billion, MOP7.8 billion and MOP7.1 billion respectively. The bulk of investment in North America was placed in the United States. The market value of Macao residents’ investment in US securities rose by 9.6% from end-2015 to MOP43.6 billion, pushing up its share from 9.1% to 9.8%. Of which, the investment in mutual funds and investment trust units grew by 4.2% to MOP10.1 billion, representing the largest share in the corresponding category. At end-June 2016, Macao residents’ investment in securities issued by Australian entities increased by 56.1% from six months ago to MOP22.0 billion at market value, lifting the share of portfolio investment in Oceania from 3.2% to 5.2%. The compilation of Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS), jointly conducted by the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) and the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), follows the methodology advocated by the International Monetary Fund.
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