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Consumer Council conducted its ‘Supermarket price survey’ in January on 21 January for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 13 supermarkets in Toi San, Ilha Verde and Fai Chi Kei areas in N. Sra. de Fátima 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 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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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI growth for December 2015 eased to 3.73% year-on-year. The inflation rate for 2015 stood at 4.56%, down from the 6.05% rise in 2014. The Composite CPI (107.31) for December 2015 increased by 3.73% year-on-year, down slightly by 0.04 percentage points from November (+3.77%). Remarkable increase was observed in the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+37.85%), Education (+8.93%) and Household Goods & Furnishings (+6.31%) on account of an increase in tobacco tax, higher tuition fee and rising wages of domestic helpers. On the other hand, price index of Clothing & Footwear (-2.99%) and Communication (-0.79%) registered decrease. The CPI-A (107.54) and CPI-B (105.41) rose by 3.83% and 2.89% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for December 2015 increased by 0.25% month-to-month. Higher prices of winter clothing & women’s footwear, dearer charges for package tours and cultural services such as movies, as well as rising rentals for parking spaces pushed up the price index of Clothing & Footwear, Recreation & Culture and Transport by 1.53%, 1.49% and 0.82% respectively. Meanwhile, lower prices of fresh pork and fruits tapered off the rise in prices of vegetables and seafood, causing the price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages to edge up by 0.06%. On the other hand, price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, Communication and Housing & Fuels decreased by 1.04%, 0.15% and 0.04% upon reduced prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and telecommunications equipment, as well as lower rentals for dwellings. The CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.24% and 0.35% respectively month-to-month. The average Composite CPI (107.10) for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased by 3.89% year-on-year; the average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 4.00% and 2.90% respectively. For the whole year of 2015, the average Composite CPI was 105.72, up by 4.56% year-on-year. Higher rentals for dwellings, dearer charges for eating out and rising rentals for parking spaces together pushed up the annual inflation rate by 3.7 percentage points; meanwhile, receding prices of gasoline and Liquefied Petroleum Gas helped alleviate inflationary pressures. Price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+17.33%) and Housing & Fuels (+8.06%) registered notable increase, while that of Communication and Clothing & Footwear decreased by 0.26% and 0.08% respectively. The average CPI-A (105.92) and CPI-B (104.10) for 2015 increased by 4.88% and 3.67% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households. 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 Government would announce at an appropriate time any news on whether or when Macao-registered vehicles would be allowed to enter neighbouring Hengqin Island, part of the mainland’s Zhuhai Prefecture in Guangdong Province. The matter is still under discussion and there is not yet any schedule for implementation of such a plan. The Macao and Guangdong authorities have been discussing the matter according to the principles of the Framework Agreement on Cooperation between Guangdong and Macao. Recently, the Government submitted proposals to the Guangdong authorities on how to manage issues relating to the entry to Hengqin of Macao-registered vehicles. The Government also initiated research on possible adjustments to the transport network – including the area around the Lotus Bridge checkpoint linking Macao with Hengqin – in order to accommodate a possible increase in traffic. The Government is still awaiting feedback from the Guangdong Provincial Government regarding such proposals, and would make further announcements when it is appropriate to do so.
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Consumer Council conducted its ‘Supermarket price survey’ in January on 20 January for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Iao Hon Market and the Border Gate area (Portas do Cerco ) in N. Sra. de Fátima 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 six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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The Institute for Tourism Studies “Career Day 2016” was held on 20 and 21 January at IFT Taipa Campus. The event aimed to provide more information on the employment trends and prospects in the tourism and hospitality industry for graduating students, thus increasing their chances of success in job hunting. 34 organisations with over 1700 of job vacancies from the tourism and services industry joined the event. These included Christian Dior, DFS COTAI LIMITADA, EGL Tours (Macau) Company Limited, Engage Limited, Fossil Macau Limited, Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip®, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Grand Coloane Resort, Grand Hyatt Macau, Holiday Inn Macau, ImagineX Macao Company Limited, JW Marriott Hotel Macau, L'Arc Macau, Lisboa Hotels Complex, Louis Vuitton Macau Company Limited, Louis XIII Holdings Ltd, Macau International Airport, Macau Legend Development Limited, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Macau, Milton Exhibits & Engineering (Macau) Ltd, O GROUP SWATCH (MACAU) LIMITADA, RLG Macau Limited, Sands China Ltd., Sheraton Macao Hotel and The St. Regis Macao, Shun Tak Holdings (Macau) Limited, Sofitel Macau At ponte 16, The Dairy Farm Company Limited - Macau Branch, The Nuance Group (Macau) Limited, The Ritz-Carlton, Macau, Wing On Holidays (Macau) Ltd, Wynn Resorts (Macau) Limited, Yoho Group Ltd and Yves Saint Laurent Macau Limited. Representatives from the participating organisations introduced career prospects and positions available in their companies as well as arranged on site interviews for graduating students and participants. The graduates-to-be and participants were enthusiastic about the event. Questions regarding employment trends and employers’ expectation were raised and discussed in the fair. In addition, the first batch of Culinary Arts Management graduates has just entered the labour market after graduating last year, and they are well accepted by the industry. Most of them are already working in the food and beverage industry, some are in high-end establishments in Macao, such as the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, the Galaxy Hotel, the Hotel Okura Macau, the St Regis Macao and Studio City, one graduate is in overseas management trainee programme – at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in the United States. They are already making a significant contribution to the development of the tourism industry. The employment rate of IFT graduates is always satisfactory. A graduates’ employment survey was conducted with respondents of 2013/14 graduates. According to the survey results, 87.8% of the degree programme graduates were employed, 8% graduates pursued further studies; 76.2% of the employed graduates worked in the tourism and hospitality sector, the median salary of MOP13,900. The Career Day aimed to provide a direct communication platform between students and employers, allowing students to have a better idea about the current job market and maximised their chance of successful job application.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) had previously used basic prices for calculating and analyzing gross output, gross value added and industrial structure of economic activities, while data compiled at producers’ prices were simultaneously released. The difference between basic prices and producers’ prices is that the former does not include taxes on products. As the gaming sector assumes a leading role in the economy of Macao and gaming tax (a type of tax on product) is enormous, valuation of gross output and gross value added of the industry at producers’ prices (i.e. incorporating gaming tax into output of the gaming sector) can provide a more accurate measure of the contribution of the industry to the economy. The analysis of the industrial structure in 2014 indicated that gross value added of the gaming sector (including junket activities) accounted for 59.1% of the total gross value added at producers’ prices, which is 19.2 percentage points higher than the corresponding share at basic prices (39.8%). Moreover, international guidelines allow the inclusion of product taxes in the calculation of gross value added of an economic activity, and many major economies such as Mainland China, the United States and Japan use producers’ prices in their compilation. Therefore, starting from the reference year 2014, DSEC focuses on providing statistical analysis of data, such as gross value added and industrial structure, at producers’ prices; meanwhile, relevant data at basic prices are also provided as a reference source for the public and to facilitate international comparisons. In 2014, Gross Value Added of all economic activities at producers’ prices decreased by 2.8% year-on-year in real terms. The secondary sector’s share of total Gross Value Added rose by 1.5 percentage points to 5.2%, while the relative importance of the tertiary sector fell by 1.5 percentage points to 94.8%, ending its continuous uptrend since 2006. As the nominal growth in Gross Value Added (+5.5%) outpaced the growth in Gross Output (+4.6%), the ratio of Gross Value Added to Gross Output of all economic activities went up from 56.5% in 2013 to 57.0% in 2014. Meanwhile, with a 7.5% rise in employed population, enterprise expenditure on employee compensation increased by 19.3%, bringing the ratio of Compensation of Employees to Gross Value Added up by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year to 21.9%. Changes in Gross Value Added of Economic Activities Economic activities showed mixed performance. Gross Value Added of the secondary sector increased significantly by 34.7% in real terms, in which Construction had the most outstanding growth. Attributable to the construction of major tourism and entertainment facilities, as well as increased investment in building construction, Gross Value Added of Construction surged by 40.6% in real terms. Meanwhile, Gross Value Added of Electricity, Gas & Water Supply increased by 15.6% in real terms. On the other hand, Gross Value Added of the tertiary sector decreased by 4.2% in real terms, resulting from an 8.4% drop in Gross Value Added of Gaming & Junket Activities owing to a decline in gross gaming receipts. Nevertheless, some service industries remained buoyant, of which Gross Value Added of Transport, Storage & Communications went up by 19.4% in real terms, Education up by 15.0%, Renting & Business Activities up by 12.9% and Hotels & Other Provision of Short-Stay Accommodation up by 12.0%. Changes in Industrial Structure The secondary sector’s share of total Gross Value Added grew by 1.5 percentage points to 5.2%, of which the relative importance of Construction rose by 1.4 percentage points to 4.3%, while that of Electricity, Gas & Water Supply and Manufacturing remained stable compared with 2013, at 0.5% and 0.4% respectively. The contribution of the tertiary sector declined from 96.3% in 2013 to 94.8% in 2014, down by 1.5 percentage points. Relative importance of Gaming & Junket Activities plunged by 4.9 percentage points to 59.1%, while that of Wholesale & Retail (5.3%) stayed virtually the same compared with 2013. Some of the service industries registered increase in their relative importance: Real Estate Activities (7.1%) up by 1.0 percentage point; Banking (4.0%) up by 0.7 percentage points; Renting & Business Activities (3.7%) up by 0.5 percentage points; Hotels & Other Provision of Short-Stay Accommodation (3.5%) up by 0.4 percentage points; Transport, Storage & Communications (2.1%) up by 0.3 percentage points. * please find the attached file
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The Government would make more efforts to attract higher education students from countries and regions covered in the “Belt and Road” initiative, in a bid to turn Macao into an education hub and a platform of cultural exchanges. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng, made the comments on Monday (18 January) after a swearing-in ceremony for respectively, the two Vice Presidents of the Social Welfare Bureau, Mr Hon Wai and Mr Au Chi Keung; and for departmental chiefs of the Bureau. Mr Tam told reporters that Macao could play a more important role in the country’s development of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (known as the “Belt and Road” initiative), especially in fields such as science and technology, education, culture, tourism and commerce. The Government is to consider launching policies to make it easier for higher education students from Portuguese-speaking countries to study subjects such as tourism and Mandarin language in Macao. That in turn would help strengthen Macao’s bridging role as a commerce and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. The Government is also to consider increasing the quota for mainland students attending higher education programmes in Macao. Currently, the University of Macau offers scholarships at postgraduate level to mainland students, the Secretary said. The major task required in order to transform Macao into a platform for education was to make further use of the facilities in the city’s higher education institutions. This would create a better educational environment, Mr Tam said. The initial proposal for such a policy on education was suggested by Macao to the mainland’s Ministry of Education. The idea also involved expanding the present educational cooperation network between Macao and institutions on the mainland, he said.
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Consumer Council conducted its ‘Supermarket price survey’ in January on 19 January for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Areia Preta and Avenida de Venceslau de Morais in N. Sra. de Fátima 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 six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, said he is greatly concerned about a case of alleged involvement of police officers in serious criminal activities, and has ordered a full investigation into the matter. Mr Wong expressed his concern over a case involving six police officers suspected of abuse of power and involvement in illegal activities, according to a statement issued today by the Office of the Secretary for Security. The Secretary ordered the Commissioner of the Public Security Police Force to review internal controls and supervisory measures to prevent reoccurrence of similar incidents. The Government will not tolerate any criminal behaviour, Mr Wong said. The Government will take resolute action against any member of the public security forces found guilty of misconduct.
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The Government will make use of Macao’s ties with mainland China and the Portuguese-speaking countries to promote the development of the city’s traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry. The comments were made on Thursday (14 January) by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, who was in Beijing to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Guangdong-Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd. The MOU represents a further step toward strengthening regional cooperation in the TCM field and offering new business opportunities for firms based in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation between Guangdong and Macao, located on Hengqin Island, Zhuhai, Mr Leong said. Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Mr Leong said the MOU would create more favourable conditions for the development of Macao’s TCM industry, a key factor in promoting the diversification of economy. Macao’s strategic positioning as a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries will help foster the development of TCM in the countries and regions involved in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (known as the “Belt and Road” initiative). Mr Wang Guoqiang, Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, also attended the ceremony said he hoped the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation between Guangdong and Macao could play an active role in promoting TCM internationally, leveraging on the official inclusion of Macao – by the State Council – in the “Belt and Road” initiative. Mr Wang additionally said he expected the Park to play an important role in training TCM professionals and enhancing product and service quality, to help diversify Macao’s economy. Construction of the Park is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2017. Construction of the headquarters building and of facilities for quality control and research and development is progressing at a good pace. The Park management aims to establish a world-class quality control facility, and for the Park to become an exchange and trade platform for the healthcare sector. In addition, it is initiating discussions with representatives from Portuguese-speaking countries on issues related with international registration of trademarks, and import and export of TCM products. The Guangdong-Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between the Macao and Guangdong governments. It was established in 2011. The Park is currently the company’s sole investment project.
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