News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 1,455 new companies were incorporated in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 329 year-on-year; total value of registered capital decreased by 17.8% to MOP157 million. Analysed by industry, the majority of new incorporations were operating in Wholesale & Retail (563) and Business Services (324). Companies in dissolution totalled 158, up by 3 year-on-year; value of registered capital of companies in dissolution decreased by 8.8% to MOP26 million. Analysed by size of registered capital, there were 1,061 new companies registered with capital under MOP50,000 (72.9% of total), and the total value of capital was MOP28 million (17.7% of total); meanwhile, there were 27 new companies registered with capital of MOP1 million or over, and the total value of capital amounted to MOP72 million. In the first quarter of 2015, capital of the new companies came mainly from Macao (MOP86 million) and Mainland China (MOP40 million), including MOP35 million from the 9 Provinces of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, with that from Guangdong province sharing MOP28 million. Analysed by combination of the shareholders, there were 980 new companies established solely by Macao shareholders, and 145 joint ventures between shareholders from Macao and other countries or regions. At the end of the first quarter of 2015, number of registered companies totalled 49,926, an increase of 5,202 from a year earlier.
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The opening ceremony of the Macao Annual Visual Arts Exhibition 2015: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Category hosted by Cultural Affairs Bureau will be held in Nam Van Old Court Building at 6:30pm on 8th May (Friday). The exhibition is an activity of the 26th Macao Arts Festival. It is an annual event for local artists to showcase their talent and creativity. The focus of the Macao Annual Visual Arts Exhibition this year is on Chinese painting and calligraphy, genres which includes Chinese painting, calligraphy, seal-engraving and experimental ink and wash painting, among others. The exhibition will be launched at Nam Van Old Court Building from 9th May to 2nd August 2015. Five experienced artists from various places and fields were previously assigned as members of the adjudication panel. Following painstaking discussion, they selected 74 entries and 10 “Best Works” for the exhibition this year: Wang Sen’s One flower, One world, Ho Loi Seng’s The Swallow Poem to Liu Sou, U Wai Lam’s Jiangnan in February, Lei Tak Seng’s An Impression of Angang Steel Company, Mak Kuong Weng’s Portrait No. 1, Chang Kuok Meng’s Mellow Moonlight, Lio Man Cheong’s Highlights of the Historic Centre of Macao, Chong Kam Seng’s Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion (Lantingji Xu) by Wang Xizhi, the ‘Sage of Calligraphy’, Tam Chon Kit’s Excursion to Guia Hill and Sou Pui Kun’s Kid Snapping a Twig. The hosting entity initiated the call for submissions from October last year, with 306 works responding to the call in all. The Macao Annual Visual Arts Exhibition has been ardently received and supported over the years. It has gathered local artists who love creativity to present art works with local features and the unique cultural aura of Macao. It is anticipated that through appreciation, display and exchange the development of local art can be galvanised. All are welcome to enjoy the local artists’ creations on this occasion. Nam Van Old Court Building opens from 10:00am to 8:00pm and closes every Monday. Admission is free.
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The first batch of Culinary Arts Management students is ready for graduation. On 16 and 23 April, they hosted lunch events as their graduation project at the IFT Educational Restaurant, a Michelin-recommended restaurant for 6 consecutive years, and are now preparing to join the city’s bustling restaurant scene. The class was divided in two groups, each asked to prepare a lunch event from scratch. The events each attracted a crowd of around 60 paying customers. The programme coordinator, Invited Assistant Professor Dr. Mark Gibson said, “We spent 4 years training these students in every aspect of the kitchen. They spent 4 years learning how to do this. This was their final project, where they worked in a real life kitchen environment,” he added, “They designed the menu; they practised the menu; they costed the menu.” Student Otilia Rodrigues Novo was chosen as General Manager to head the preparation team for the 16 April lunch event. She expressed, “The most challenging thing was planning the menu. We needed to price the menu to get a good gross profit margin, but we also needed to get quality ingredients for the courses.” After careful analysis, her team chose the following menu: scallop carpaccio as appetiser; honey beer pork belly brisket as main course; and berry mousse with basil sorbet for dessert. The Institute for Tourism Studies’ Bachelor Degree Programme emphasises on the balance between theory and practice. Students are required to complete certain hours of practical tasks related to their specialisations every year. One of the tasks given to the Culinary Arts Management year 4 students is to host lunch event to local residents as their graduation project. Dr. Gibson said the first batch of students in Culinary Arts Management is ready for a successful entry into the job market. “A lot of the students have applied for many of the jobs in the local hotel and restaurant market,” he states. “They are very well-placed to go straight in at a very good level, to Commis Chef 1. That saves them maybe two or three years of on-the-job training.” The Culinary Arts Management bachelor degree programme was launched in academic year 2011/2012 and has 24 places available each year. The curriculum does not only cover chef training, but a wide range of resources during their 4 years of studies, from access to top-notch equipment, to field trips and cooking demonstrations by prestigious chefs. “After a few years, if graduates decide to do some restaurant managing or open their own establishment, they have the skills and the training to do it.” Dr. Gibson stressed. The programme has proven to be highly popular. All intake classes have been largely oversubscribed. “We need to make sure that the programme is relevant to the market, and we have got to keep abreast of the industry,” Dr. Gibson said. IFT is the only public higher education institution in Macao that specialises in cultivating talents for tourism and service industry. It endeavours to equip students with professional knowledge and technical competence in preparation for their future leadership responsibilities in the industry.
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To further promote the cultural and creative entities listed in the Macao Cultural and Creative Map, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is now operating a Macao Cultural and Creative Map themed store for demonstration and sale of local original products at the C-Shop in Nam Van, located at Avenida Doutor Mário Soares. This store also offers ticketing services for programmes and activities aiming at introducing Macao’s cultural and creative characteristics to residents and visitors. The “Macao Cultural and Creative Map” themed store at C-Shop will include cultural and creative entities listed in the Map, demonstrating and selling local original products, as well as providing information about cultural and creative activities. It gathers more than one hundred kinds of Macao original products, such as souvenirs, clothing and accessories, household items, books, visual arts and products related to local arts and cultural events. More diversified services are also available at the C-Shop, where residents and visitors can learn about the arts and cultural information and purchase tickets for performances, in addition to enjoying local design and creativity and cultural and creative products with Macao features. Residents and visitors can also obtain the Macao Cultural and Creative Map at the C-Shop for free, and store staff can provide information about the Map to the customers. In order to deepen the residents and visitors’ understanding of Macao cultural and creative spaces, IC has launched the “Macao Cultural and Creative Map” and its smartphone app last year, featuring information on World Heritage sites, museums and bus routes. Through the Map, residents and visitors can explore cultural and creative spaces and creativity in a more extensive way and savour the historical connotations of Macao. The Macao Cultural and Creative Map is now available at nearly 150 locations in Hong Kong and Macao, including checkpoints, museums, hotels, travel agencies and cultural and creative entities. Interested parties can download the app of the Map at www.macaucci.com/app/. The C-Shop at Nam Van is located at Avenida Doutor Mário Soares, Macao (opposite the Old Court Building). The store opening hours are 11:00am-8:00pm daily including public holidays. For enquiries, please call the C-Shop through tel. no. (853) 2850 8121 during office hours. To learn more about the store’s latest news, please visit the store page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MacaoCreativePavilion.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the total number of licensed motor vehicles reached 241,955 at the end of March 2015, up by 5.2% year-on-year; motorcycles and light private cars accounted for 51.9% and 41.4% respectively. In the first quarter of 2015, new registration of motor vehicles increased by 11.3% year-on-year to 5,523, of which new registration of motorcycles accounted for 53.0%. Number of traffic accidents totalled 3,771 cases, up by 1.0% year-on-year, resulting in 1,377 casualties and 5 of them were killed. Cross-border vehicle traffic reached 1,261,713 trips in the first quarter of 2015, up by 6.0% year-on-year; vehicle traffic through the Border Gate (970,632 trips) shared 76.9%. Passenger ferry movements between Macao and Hong Kong and between Macao and Mainland China totalled 35,900, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year, with the Ferry Terminal at the Outer Harbour sharing 66.5% of the total (23,875). The Macao International Airport had 12,696 commercial flight movements in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 9.8% year-on-year. Movements to and from Mainland China and Taiwan increased by 4.0% and 3.9% respectively, while those to and from Vietnam (806) rose by more than 3-fold. Helicopter flight movements between Macao and Hong Kong and between Macao and Mainland China (3,749) increased slightly by 0.3% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2015, seaborne container throughput totalled 35,531 TEU, equivalent to 23,937 containers handled, up by 15.6% and 9.8% respectively year-on-year. Gross weight of seaborne containerized cargo increased by 10.7% to 63,141 tonnes; meanwhile, gross weight of containerized cargo by land decreased by 13.7%, at 4,270 tonnes. Outward air cargo increased by 5.1% year-on-year to 3,430 tonnes; meanwhile, inward air cargo decreased by 1.8% to 1,698 tonnes. Taiwan remained the major origin and destination of inward and outward air cargo, accounting for 61.7% and 43.6% of the respective total. Transit air cargo increased by 15.3% year-on-year to 1,363 tonnes. At the end of March 2015, number of fixed-line telephone subscribers decreased by 3.3% year-on-year to 151,951. Meanwhile, number of mobile telephone subscribers increased by 11.1% to 1,847,745, of which stored-value GSM card subscribers shared 64.6%. As regards internet services, number of subscribers totalled 311,283 and the cumulative duration of usage reached 253 million hours in the first quarter of 2015, up by 13.1% and 11.8% respectively year-on-year.
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Due to network maintenance and improvement works by the Macao Electricity Co. (CEM), the General Ye Ting’s Former Residence under the Cultural Affairs Bureau will be temporarily closed this Thursday (7 May) for one day. For enquiries, please contact the Cultural Affairs Bureau through tel.no.8399 6699 during office hours.
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The gift of two giant pandas from the Central Government arrived in Macao today on a charter flight from Chengdu in Sichuan Province. A cheering group including Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, representatives of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macao, officials from related departments in the mainland, representatives of the Macao Government and some 100 local students, were at the ramp waiting at Macao International Airport to await the arrival of Macao’s two newest residents. The pair, “Kai Kai” and “Xin Xin”, had gone through a smooth transfer process and will be kept apart for quarantine at a local farm before moving in to their new home in the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion. On arrival, Ms Chan and the Deputy Director of State Forestry Administration, Mr Chen Fengxue, signed a handover certificate in a ceremony to mark the official residence of the pandas. At the ceremony, Ms Chan said the giant panda is a precious animal, a national emblem which is popular around the world, a symbol of peace and harmony. She expressed her heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the Macao Government and the people to the Central Government for giving Macao such a precious gift and the thanked the Sichuan government for its support. Mr Chen Fengxue said in the ceremony that the continual naming the pair as “Kai Kai” and “Xin Xin” was in hope for bringing happiness to Macao, and expressed his best wishes for them and a better future of Macao. A veterinarian from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding said the pandas were stable during the transfer, and said he believed they would become accustomed to the new environment very soon. Members of the Pavilion, who have visited the Base to familiarise themselves with the pandas, said they were confident in taking care of “Kai Kai” and “Xin Xin”. The gift of the giant pandas for Macao was announced by President Xi Jinping when he was here last December for the inauguration of the new government team. They replace an earlier pair which female partner died last year: the male panda was returned to Sichuan for breeding.
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The Zhuhai and Macao governments would further the scope of co-operation to include social services, in addition to the current network in specific industries and cross-boundary infrastructure. This is according to the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, who spoke to reporters after the Zhuhai-Macao Co-operation Conference 2015 on 29 April. There are more favourable opportunities to further integrate Macao into regional co-operation, especially following the establishment of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the Hengqin area in Zhuhai of the FTZ, and opportunities brought on by the national development initiatives Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (“Belt and Road”). He said the working groups in different areas of co-operation would meet on a regular basis to press ahead with developments between Zhuhai and Macao. Mr Leong and the Mayor of Zhuhai, Mr Jiang Ling, had signed co-operation agreements on tourism and culture in this year’s meeting held here in Macao. In the Conference, the Government proposed more involvement in investment projects in the Guangdong-Macao Co-operation Industrial Park, especially those that started their businesses in Hengqin. This would allow the Government to better understand their situations and difficulties faced in promoting business and to provide more support to companies interested in such projects. Regarding the Hengqin Macao Youth Business Valley, put forward by the Zhuhai government, Mr Leong said there were similar schemes in Macao to facilitate young entrepreneurs. The Government would take a closer look at related legislations and measures to greater complement the two places. To help young people develop in other regions, the Government would provide a string of services such as organising visits for young businessmen to get better grasps on the market, procedures and related regulations, together with financial subsidies. He said his team and the Macao Economic Services would pay extra attention to the situation, offering support to young people while making best use of public funds. Mr Jiang told reporters that both governments would strength co-operation in social affairs, providing more services to Macao residents living in Zhuhai, which was necessary to enhance co-operation mechanisms to boost exchanges in non-government sectors, he said. The Zhuhai-Macao Co-operation Conference formed under the Guangdong-Macao Co-operation Joint Conference in 2008. The two governments will take turn to hold conference in Zhuhai or in Macao each year to facilitate closer partnership and explore more co-operation opportunities.
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Co-organized by Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, under the Leisure and Culture Services Department of the Hong Kong S.A.R. Government, the Macao Museum under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, the Shenzhen Museum, the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, “Fleeting Life – Exhibition of Relics of Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s Daughter, and Her Husband Dai Ensai” was inaugurated earlier on 23 April, at Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, in Hong Kong. The exhibition, which will run until 26 August, presents Sun Wan and Dai Ensai, as well as Sun Yat-sen’s daily life scenes. This itinerant exhibition is a result of cooperation between museums of three regions: Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao. It has already been presented in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, is currently being shown in Hong Kong, and is set to arrive in Macao in September. On the other hand, in order to maintain the appeal and interest of the exhibition, its content will vary from location to location and will be adjusted according to each venue’s characteristics and each museum’s collection resources. The exhibition’s main subjects are Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s second daughter, and her husband Dai Ensai. Sun Wan, raised and nurtured by her mother Lu Muzhen, moved abroad with her as a child, in order to study in the United States, not being able to see her father for five years, who was busy then with the revolution, she later moved to Macao with her husband Dai Ensai. Dai Ensai, following a period of studies in the United States, returned to his country to take a Government position, creating therefore a very close connection between the couple and Sun Yat-sen. In the wake of Dai Ensai and Sun Wan’s death, their valuable belongings were scattered among collections of several museum institutions within the three regions. This exhibition includes precious relics hailing from five Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao museums, allowing visitors to further understand Sun Yat-sen and his family. “Fleeting Life – Exhibition of Relics of Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s Daughter, and Her Husband Dai Ensai” can be seen at Hong Kong’s Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, located at no. 7 Castle Road, Central, Hong Kong, until 26 August, from 10am to 6pm from Monday to Wednesday and Fridays, and from 10am to 7pm on weekends and public holidays.
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Published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the 100 Plus Cultural Creative Development Ltd., the May issue of the magazine C2 launches its latest issue on 4 May. More than a thousand performances are put on each year in Macao, of which the variety and scale of production succeeds in attracting a wide and diverse range of audiences. The feature story of this latest issue discusses the survival of performing art groups in Macao. Topics such as the fight for survival of different performing art groups in Macao, and the difficulty in reaching diverse audiences are discussed in the feature story. At the same time, box office results and the taste of the public are determining factors in analysing the success or failure of a performing arts group. “Extravaganza” invites the Vice-director of the Macau Literary Festival, Hélder Beja, to take stock of the 4th edition of the festival, which is an important platform for exchange between both Chinese and Portuguese writers. “Chit Chat” has invited Lawrence Lei, one of the founding members of the theater circles in Macao, to share his experience in artistic creation and his observations of the development of the performing arts in Macao. “Infographics” analyses the GDP statistics of places all over Asia in the field of cultural and creative industries. In the “Blogger” section, the seven columnists, Joe Lei, Leong Sin U, Wilson Lam, Ho Ka Cheng, Ling Lui, Yap Seow Choong and Ron Lam share valuable and multi-dimensional information of the cultural industry from different aspects. C2 is a trilingual magazine (Chinese, Portuguese and English), published on the first Monday of each month online. Readers are welcome to browse or download the magazine at www.c2magazine.mo. To receive the latest updates, please find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/c2magazine.macau, or on WeChat by going to “add friend” and inputting “c2magazine” in the ID column. For enquiries, please email us at c2magazine.macau@gmail.com.
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