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Consumer Council conducted its seventh ‘Supermarket price survey’ in September on 23 September for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Sé 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. 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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Co-organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Hong Kong Film Development Council and the Administration of Press and Publications, Radio, Film and Television of Guangdong Province, the “2015 Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Film Production Investment and Trade Fair” (“Investment Fair”) will be held on 23 and 24 September, at 4th Fl., Conrad Macao Hotel, at Sands Cotai Central, gathering movie producers and investors from the three regions in Macao, aiming at offering cooperation opportunities in movie projects. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Ung Vai Meng; Representative and Assistant of the Chief of the Department of Culture and Education of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao S.A.R., Shao Bin; Vice-Director of Administration of Press and Publications, Radio, Film and Television of Guangdong Province, Liu Xiaoyi; Head of Create Hong Kong, Jerry, Liu Wing-leung; President of the Administrative Council of the Cultural Industries Fund of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Leong Heng Teng; Vice-president of the Committee for Cultural Industries of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Chui Sai Peng José; Chief of Film Management Office of Administration of Press and Publications, Radio, Film and Television of Guangdong Province, Zeng Guangwang; Assistant Head of Create Hong Kong, Fung Wing; Secretary-General of the Guangdong Motion Picture Industry Association, Zheng Dawei. This edition of the Investment Fair includes 30 movie projects of producers and counts with the presence of over 50 guest investors. The event comprises activities such as project presentation by producers, meetings between producers and investors, networking sessions, etc. (all of which are limited to the participation of invited producers and investors). During the Investment Fair, producers of 10 film projects from each of the three regions will present their work to investors, thereby hoping this initiative allows both sides to meet and creates cooperation opportunities. In order to recognize projects with potential, three awards have been specially designed for the occasion, namely the “Film Project—Grand Award”, the “Film Project—Award of Excellence” and the “Film Project—Award of Merit”, which will be awarded to the three projects with most votes, cast individually by each investor. Furthermore, the Investment Fair also includes a seminar titled “Distribution and Promotion in the New Media Market”, to be held on 24 September, at 5.30pm, in the same venue, and is open to the public. The seminar will be hosted by Fung Wing, Assistant Head of Create Hong Kong, and will have as guest speakers Wong Pui-Tat, head of the Department of Communication Design and Digital Media of the Hong Kong Design Institute, and Zheng Dawei, Secretary-General of the Guangdong Motion Picture Industry Association, who will talk about the future possibilities of development of the movie industry through the new media. Admission is free and seat reservation is available for those interested. For more information, please contact Mr. Leong or Mr. Chong staff of IC, through the no. 2892 4040, during office hours. The “2015 Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Film Production Investment and Trade Fair” was held for the first time last year, also in Macao, aiming at offering a quality platform to facilitate contacts between the region’s producers and investors from the three regions, creating a cooperation and movie investment channel between the regions and focusing on offering support for small and mid-size film production costs on training professionals and on promoting the development of the movie industry in the three regions.
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In recognition to Lew Yuk Lin’s descendant for his donation of family artefacts, president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), Ung Vai Meng presented a donation certificate to Lau Ka Meng’s family members on behalf of the Macao Museum under the auspices of IC; in addition, Lau’s name will be included on the ‘Roll of Donors’ of the museum. The Macao Museum has expressed its thanks and appreciation for the valuable donation made by Lau Ka Meng’s family members, Ms. Chan Sio Tim and Ms. Lao Cheng Man. The artefacts donated by the Lau family are now on display in the main hall of the Macao Museum, including significant artefacts such as Lew Yuk Lin’s official photograph, medals and badges from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China Period, and a microscope from the late 19th Century. Since its establishment in 1998, the Macao Museum has placed a ‘Roll of Donors’ in its main hall to acknowledge and thank the individuals and organisations who have made significant donations or contributions to the museum; it is hoped that the ‘Roll of Donors’ can raise public concern for cultural heritage and encourage people in all sectors to support cultural development. The donation activities have been generously supported by many people over more than a dozen years, reflecting that Macao residents attach importance to local culture and history, thus giving impetus to the transmission, conservation and study of local culture. Lew Yuk Lin (1862-1942), a native of Xiangshan, in Guangdong, was part of those included in the fourth batch of students sent to the United States in 1875. He started his diplomatic career in 1886. Following this, he was appointed Consul General of the Qing Dynasty in Singapore and South Africa, imperial envoy of the Qing Dynasty in Great Britain, and later Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of China in Great Britain. He worked in different responsible positions related to foreign affairs during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic. Lew Yuk Lin lived in Macao since 1923 and was officially appointed Chinese representative of the Macao General Assembly during his stay. He died in Macao in 1942.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 3,033,081 in August 2015, up by 14.5% month-to-month yet down by 1.7% year-on-year. Same-day visitors totalled 1,608,385 (53.0% of total), down by 3.5% year-on-year; overnight visitors rose slightly by 0.4% to 1,424,696. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.1 days; the average stay of same-day visitors remained unchanged at 0.2 day while that of overnight visitors rose by 0.2 day to 2.1 days. Visitors from Mainland China decreased by 1.7% year-on-year to 2,095,013, with those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme dropping by 1.0% to 1,053,157. Visitors from Mainland China came primarily from Guangdong Province (979,764), Hunan Province (90,429) and Fujian Province (90,260). Visitors from Hong Kong (640,583) and Taiwan (91,378) increased by 0.8% and 3.5% year-on-year respectively, while those from the Republic of Korea (43,710) declined by 24.8%. Long-haul visitors from the United States (12,838), Australia (5,584), the United Kingdom (5,193) and Canada (4,977) showed year-on-year decrease. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land increased by 1.0% year-on-year to 1,718,536; visitors arriving via the Border Gate (1,501,745) decreased slightly by 0.5%, while those arriving via the Checkpoint of Cotai (214,313) rose by 14.1%. Visitor arrivals by sea totalled 1,125,588, a year-on-year decrease of 6.7%, with those arriving via the Outer Habour (666,192) and the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (427,685) dropping by 7.6% and 1.7% respectively. Moreover, visitor arrivals by air rose by 5.9% year-on-year to 188,957, of which those entering via Macau International Airport rose by 6.2% to 187,973, accounting for 99.5% of the total. In the first eight months of 2015, visitor arrivals totalled 20,438,474, down by 3.2% year-on-year; same-day visitors (11,101,798) and overnight visitors (9,336,676) decreased by 1.8% and 4.9% respectively. Visitors from Mainland China (13,636,972) decreased by 4.1% year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (4,381,871), Taiwan (650,318) and the Republic of Korea (374,323) rose marginally by 0.6%, 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom recorded year-on-year decrease.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that attributable to the rising number of inbound visitors on package tour and outbound trips by Macao residents, receipts of travel agencies increased by 13.1% year-on-year to MOP 7.16 billion in 2014, of which receipts from Ticket Reservation (MOP 2.24 billion), Package Tours (MOP 1.85 billion) and Room Reservation (MOP 1.55 billion) rose by 7.1%, 18.6% and 18.0% respectively. Receipts from online business (including reservation of rooms and performance tickets) soared by 250% year-on-year, at MOP 91.37 million. A total of 237 travel agencies were operating in 2014, an increase of 26 year-on-year. Number of persons engaged rose by 7.5% year-on-year to 4,187; employees totalled 4,091 (97.7% of total), including 1,225 drivers. Analysed by number of persons engaged, Receipts of large travel agencies with 50 or more persons engaged increased by 23.5% year-on-year to MOP 2.55 billion, of which receipts from Rental of Vehicles at MOP 696 million (27.3% of total), Room Reservation at MOP 609 million (23.9%) and Package Tours at MOP 602 million (23.6%) rose by 12.6%, 55.4% and 6.4% respectively. Receipts of small travel agencies with less than 10 persons were generated primarily from Ticket Reservation (MOP 535 million), down by 2.0% year-on-year, while receipts from Package Tours rose by 13.4% to MOP 299 million. Expenditure of travel agencies amounted to MOP 6.78 billion, up by 11.4% year-on-year. Purchase of Goods & Services and Commission Paid, accounting for 80.6% of the total, increased by 11.8% year-on-year to MOP 5.46 billion, of which expenditure on Ticket Reservation (MOP 2.07 billion), Room Reservation (MOP 1.60 billion) and Package Tours (MOP 1.55 billion) rose by 2.9%, 15.2% and 17.6% respectively. Purchase of Goods & Services and Commission Paid of large travel agencies totalled MOP 1.55 billion (68.4% of total), up by 24.3% year-on-year, while that of small travel agencies dropped by 5.4% to MOP 1.09 billion (88.5% of total). Besides, Operating Expenses (MOP 682 million) and Compensation of Employees (MOP 632 million) increased by 9.1% and 10.3% respectively. In 2014, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy amounted to MOP 1.01 billion, up by 23.5% year-on-year. Gross Surplus of travel agencies (equals receipts plus change in inventories minus expenditure) rose substantially by 53.9% year-on-year to MOP 381 million. Gross Fixed Capital Formation decreased slightly by 1.0% year-on-year to MOP 238 million.
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After being selected by the authoritative travel guide, “Lonely Planet”, as one of the 10 Best Travel Regions of 2015, Macau is again commended for its promotional efforts in tourism. Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is dedicated to promoting Macau with a variety of multi-media and innovative strategies. Its promotional video “Vibrant Moments Experience Macau” was just entitled the “Winner of the UNWTO Tourism Video Competition for East Asia and the Pacific” last week. Several of its promotional projects have won different advertising awards including the “Best Media Campaign (Integrated Media) – Bronze Award” and the “Best Media Solution (Radio) – Bronze Award” of the Spark Awards 2015 in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. More than that, Macau Tourism Promotion & Information Center in Portugal was chosen as the “Best International Tourism Office” in the twelfth edition of the Portugal Travel Awards in 2015. “Winner of the UNWTO Tourism Video Competition for East Asia and the Pacific” MGTO’s promotional video “Vibrant Moments Experience Macau” was chosen as the “Winner of the UNWTO Tourism Video Competition for East Asia and the Pacific” in the UNWTO Tourism Video Competition held on 16 September during the 21st session of the UNWTO General Assembly. Launched for the first time, the Competition aims to recognize creative works by UNWTO Member States in the field of destination promotion. Over 50 video clips were submitted for the Competition. The judging panel assessed and chose the best promotional video among submitted works for each of the regions including East Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Europe, Americas, South Asia as well as the Middle East. A total of seven awards were presented in the Competition including the People’s Choice Award, of which the winner was voted by the general public on a poll. “Best Media Campaign (Integrated Media) – Bronze Award” MGTO put on the “Macau – Forever New Experience Campaign” in Hong Kong last year and invited local celebrities Babyjohn Choi and Cherry Ngan to star in a fun travelogue about Macau. The Office also invited experienced travelers and opinion leaders in social media to share about the new attractions they discovered in Macau through videos and articles to boost the destination’s profile. The campaign aimed to bring out Macau’s new dimensions – "Authentic Macau", "New Macau" and "Green Macau". Showing the team’s creativity, the promotional campaign won the “Best Media Campaign (Integrated Media) – Bronze Award” of the Spark Awards 2015 in Hong Kong. The campaign also received another recognition namely "My Favorite Promotional Strategies - Tourism Board" in the U Travel Awards 2014 in Hong Kong. Spark Awards is organized by Marketing Magazine, a publication of Lighthouse Independent Media Pte. Ltd. – an international marketing and advertising company. The mission of the awards is to recognize effective media solutions and innovative marketing strategies from media owners across Hong Kong, South and Southeast Asia, Australia as well as New Zealand. The judging panel consists of senior professionals from international media agencies. “Best Media Solution (Radio) – Bronze Award” MGTO won the “Best Media Solution (Radio) – Bronze Award” of the Spark Awards 2015 with another promotional project in Singapore. In the “Experience Macau” campaign rolled out in Singapore last August and September, the Office partnered with a local radio station to invite lucky audience and DJs to enjoy a vacation in Macau. Their trip experience was shared through social media and live broadcasts on air. Combining the advertising effects of live radio broadcasts, website publicity and social media to promote Macau, the campaign won the “Best Media Solution (Radio) – Bronze Award” in the Spark Awards 2015 in Singapore. The project was also nominated as one of the five finalists in the category of "Best Use of Radio" in one of the most prestigious media awards in Singapore, the Singapore Media Awards 2015. “The Best International Tourism Office” of Portugal Travel Awards 2015 Macau Tourism Promotion & Information Center in Portugal was elected as the “Best International Tourism Office” in the twelfth edition of the Portugal Travel Awards in 2015. Extolled as the “Oscars” in Portuguese tourism industry, the Portugal Travel Awards assessed working performance of tourism offices throughout 2014/2015. The most outstanding office was then chosen by members and subscribers of the local travel magazine “Publituris” as well as a panel of twenty judges who are famous personages from the tourism industry across Portugal. MGTO will keep riding on new media and adopting various innovative promotional strategies to attract visitors to Macau, in accord with trends and performance of different visitor markets.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, said the Government would soon introduce internal guidelines to improve monitoring of the gaming industry, in an effort to promote a healthy development of the sector. The guidelines are intended to increase transparency and strengthen regulation of the sector, he said. The new guidelines might include requirements for gaming promoters to disclose more information, including the names of its administrators, shareholders, principal employees and a list of its collaborators. Speaking to reporters after the plenary session of the city’s Economic Development Council on 22 September, Mr Leong said that if the guidelines prove to be effective, the Government would consider turning them into administrative regulations or laws. The Secretary added that the Government is also considering defining staff in charge of financial operations of gaming promoters as principal employees; as a way to ensure that such positions are held by qualified professionals. Commenting on the case of an alleged fraud involving a gaming promoter, Mr Leong said the Government is highly concerned about the incident. He also stressed that existing legislation clearly states which institutions are authorised to accept deposits from the public. The healthy development of gaming promoters’ activities is important to the overall evolution of the city’s gaming industry, the official said. In view of the rapid development of the gaming industry in recent years, it is necessary to review and optimise the existing regulation, he added. At the plenary session of the Economic Development Council, members addressed several subjects, including Macao’s current economic situation and prospects, the investment of the financial reserve and the establishment of a task group to study the economic development of the city’s traditional neighbourhoods.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said today the Government respected judiciary independence to enforce the court’s ruling in the lawsuit of Macau Cable TV. Speaking to reporters after a plenary session of the Economic Development Council, Mr Chui said he had already told the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Mr Raimundo do Rosário, whose profile includes telecommunication, to review the proceeding of the case. Mr Chui said the previous governance team did not want to terminate television signal, as the Macau Cable TV was a legal service provider while public antenna companies started operating and providing television signal to the people years ago. The Government had seized every opportunity to express its opinion, but the Court of Second Instance rejected the Government’s appeal against the arbitrator’s decision which ruled the Government had to pay compensation of 200 million patacas to Macau Cable TV. Macau Cable TV, has been broadcasting since July 2000, lost its concession contract, which signed with the former Portuguese administration, on April 2014.
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Giant panda “Shuxiang” would be sent back to the mainland for a national breeding program in November, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, said today. But the departure date would be confirmed with the mainland departments, Ms Chan said to reporters after today’s meeting on health, animal and plant quarantine and food safety with representatives from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The Government would organise a farewell ceremony for the male panda which has been living in Macao since 2010. Before leaving for the mainland, “Shuxiang” would be kept apart for 30-day quarantine, the Secretary added. On co-operation of legal assistance, Ms Chan said it had reached consensus with Hong Kong that the co-operation was based on the principle of “One country, two systems”, adding the Government would submit the draft proposal to the Legislative Assembly within this year. When asked, she said the Government would take into consideration of the economic situation for adjusting salary of civil servant, and expected the result would be announced next month.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, has exchanged views with gaming operators on how to maintain economic vitality, enhance Macao’s competitiveness, stable job market and strengthen social responsibility of the sector. Mr Leong said the Government has always concerned with healthy development of the sector and employment opportunities of local people, stressing the principle of non-resident workers were only to serve shortfalls of local human resources. In a meeting with the representatives of six gaming concessionaires on 18 September, the Secretary urged the operators to continuously provide more on-the-job training to the workers to improve their upward mobility while the Government would make more efforts in job matching and career changing. As one of the pillars of local economy, healthy development of gaming industry had profound impact on Macao, he said. The Government would optimise legislations to strengthen regulation on concessionaires and junket operators, and would encourage more contributions of non-gaming elements to further expedite adequate diversification of economy and enhance the sector’s competiveness in worldwide. Representatives of gaming concessionaires said they would follow the Government’s policy direction to propel development of non-gaming features and support locally made products, and hoped for more support during the consolidation period and more quality visitors to accommodate the tourism.
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