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Since January this year, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) has assumed the responsibilities of co-ordinating and promoting MICE-related activities in Macao, and adopted the slogan “Macao – Mega Events City” in promoting its advantages in conventions and exhibitions industry as well as the “One-stop Service” for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao. In the first half of this year, IPIM has organised several delegations for operators of the convention, exhibition and tourism sectors to participate in various overseas MICE trade shows, including AIME 2016 (the Asia-pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo), IT&CM China 2016 (Incentive Travel & Convention, Meetings China), and IMEX Frankfurt (the Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events in Frankfurt). Operators of the convention and exhibition industry who have participated in the events acknowledged the fruitful outcome, given that, in addition to assisting them in business expansion, through contacts with their international counterparts, they could broaden their horizons and enhanced their standards. They are also generally optimistic about the development of the MICE industry in Macao, as the city, offering world-class facilities and infrastructures along with qualified professionals, is capable of holding various types of MICE-related events. Therefore, the charisma of “Macao – Mega Events City” has already reached the world stage. Fruitful outcome achieved in the convention and exhibition sector, thanks to the concerted efforts of government and private entities to make Macao a world-class event destination One of the delegation members, the Director and Deputy General Manager of Top Holiday-P&E International Travel Co., Ltd., Ms. Elisa Ng, said that through the participation in trade shows abroad, she managed to sourced two conventions that are likely to be held in Macao, in the areas of information technology and direct marketing. These two events are expected to attract approximately 200 to 1,000 participants. The Director of Inbound Department of China International Travel Service (Macao) Ltd., Mr. Cooper Zhang said that, soon after his participation in the trade shows, he had received three to four enquiries from customers in Belgium, Sweden and other European countries, requesting quotations of itinerary for around 50 to 60 participants over a period of five to six days in Macao. Supports convention and exhibition industry to achieve self-improvement and to develop overseas markets In addition to business development, participation in MICE trade shows could also help operators of the convention and exhibition industry to enhance their standards, and increase the “added value” of their businesses. According to the Director of Commercial Division of TurboJET, Mr. Alcuin Li, he has gathered a number of travel agencies contacts during his participation in the trade shows, and also took the opportunity to introduce to these agencies the advantages of his company in the area of maritime passenger transport in the Pearl River Delta region, as well as the various types of their products, thus promoting the corporate image. The Project Managers of 615 Event Planning Company Ltd., Mr. Keith Ngai and Ms. Sio Ng, said that participation in the trade shows enabled them to expand their international vision, connect with the world and improve their perspectives, and, thus, increase the “added value” of their companies. Combination of advantages in different areas to promote the development of “Macao - Mega Events City” The development of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry advances “progressively”. The Project Manager of Macao Expo Group Ltd., Mr. Andrew Jiang and the Sales Manager of MGM Macao, Ms. Sherry Xu both agreed that Macao not only offers an array of prime hotels, providing integrated services in the areas of fashion retail, catering, accommodation and transportation, to meet the requirements of different types of events, the strengths of Macao also include its ideal geographic location, being adjacent to the Pearl River Delta Region and a hub where Chinese and western cultures meet, the close ties with the Portuguese-speaking, European and US markets, as well as the subvention programmes to support the convention and exhibition industry, in particular, the “One-stop Service” for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao offered by IPIM. These advantages, coupled with sophisticated hotel facilities, are crucial factors to attract more business to choose Macao to stage their events. Given that they are optimistic on the good development momentum of their development of the MICE industry in Macao, MGM plans to strengthen their investments in software and hardware facilities. The project currently under construction at Cotai, will offer new entertainment elements, namely, the Grande Praça and a multi-purpose theatre, which are intended to provide more support services for conventions and exhibitions. New Ideas to explore New Potentials In the current era of rapid changes, innovative thinking is essential. In this connection, the Travel Industry Council of Macau (TICM), has since the beginning of the first half of this year, participated in the delegation as an “organisation”. Mr. Paul Wong, Vice-President of Board of Directors of Travel Industry Council of Macao, said that, compared with the past, when he participated as an “enterprise”, this year he was able to meet a greater number of officials and semi-official organisations related to the convention and exhibition industry and believed that, by means of their business contacts and social impact, help to promote and publicise Macao advantages, in a more systematic and organised manner. On the other hand, Mr. Clemson Lo, General Manager of C&E Conference and Exhibition Management Ltd., with over 30 years of experience in the participation in tourism and MICE exhibitions and trade shows, said that he agrees IPIM in the launching of the “Ambassador Programme of Conference” to, through the concerted efforts of the academic associations and organisations, to jointly bid for the organisation of international conventions in Macao, as he believes that such initiatives would facilitate the publicity of “Macao - Mega Events City” . Regarding the best method to fully utilise the convention and exhibition activities to promote social economy, the Account Director of MICE Sales and Destination Marketing at Studio City Macao Mr. Patrick Ma agreed that the recommendation of the events to the respective event participants would benefit community consumption and thereby promotes social economy. Industry praised IPIM for their first-time organization of delegations to MICE trade shows Most of the participants praised IPIM for the effort in its first-time organisation of delegation to participate in local and overseas MICE trade shows. In addition to the organisation of the briefing sessions before departure, IPIM´s staff, has also set up a social group on “WeChat” to facilitate contacts and provided first-hand updates on the trade shows and the trip. Furthermore, it also enabled members of the group to know each other and facilitate networking, in a bid to promote co-operation. Furthermore, participants also praised the contemporary design of the “Macao Pavilion”, which highlighted the positioning of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry. They believed that it will help to lead the participants, through international trade fairs, to “go global”. Some participants suggested the “Macao Pavilion” to showcase coffee from the Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as Portuguese wine or typical Macanese snacks, to promote the characteristics of the integration of the Chinese and Western cultures, given that, in their opinion, this could assist in the exploration of potential business opportunities. Furthermore, in the second half of this year, IPIM will continue to organise the delegation of local convention and exhibition industry to participate in CIBTM 2016 (Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings expo China) and IMEX America 2016 (The Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events in America), in order to play the role as a bridge to facilitate co-operation between operators of the MICE industry in Macao and their counterparts in Mainland China and abroad, while endeavouring, to promote the charisma of “Macao - Mega Events City”.
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The Government was confident the public finances would be in surplus by the end of this year, said today the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac. The Government expected casino gross gaming revenue in 2016 would be around 200 billion patacas, a 13.4 percent decline compared to the 230.84 billion patacas recorded in 2015. The decline in gaming revenue for the first five months of 2016 had narrowed in year-on-year terms and was within the Government’s expectations for 2016, said the Secretary. The aggregate contraction in such revenue in the first quarter was 13.3 percent judged year-on-year. In the four months to the end of April and in the five months to the end of May respectively, the year-on-year decline had narrowed, to 12.4 percent and 11.9 percent. The Secretary made the comments to reporters after the opening ceremony of the Fourth Annual Conference of World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China), held in Macao. Mr Leong noted that gaming revenue for June was typically lower – judged month-on-month – than that recorded in May. The Secretary also commented on recent cases of irregular fundraising activities by unlicensed parties. Such instances would not affect the stability of Macao’s financial system: most of the loans by official lenders were secured debt. The Government had been liaising closely with the financial sector regarding the latest developments in the city’s economy. Mr Leong said that any loan of money required a cautious evaluation of risk, especially during the adjustment period undergone by the city’s gaming industry, when the value of assets – such as property – had the potential to fall. Regarding penalties for unlicensed fundraising activities, the Secretary said the community needed to recognise the need for balance in the legal system in relation to what degree – if any – public harm was likely to occur. The Secretary noted that the Government was paying close attention to public opinion regarding the issue of unlicensed fundraising.
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The Government is stepping up efforts to diversify Macao’s economy by allocating more support to the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) sector; to the cultural and creative sectors; and to the traditional Chinese medicine sector. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said so today in his opening remarks at the Fourth Annual Conference of World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China). The Government is making every effort to achieve the development goals of transforming Macao into a world centre of tourism and leisure and a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries (policies collectively known as “Centre and Platform”), Mr Chui said. The Chief Executive said the Government would put further effort – in pursuing the “Centre and Platform” policies – into making good use of Macao’s unique cultural heritage. Such effort would help create new and pleasurable leisure experiences for visitors to Macao. The Fourth Annual Conference of World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China) is this year being held in Macao, until 9 June. The three-day Forum has the theme “Join Hands for a Human Destiny Community”. The fourth edition of the Forum highlighted the city’s growing role as a platform for cultural exchanges and was a recognition of the importance of the city’s MICE sector, Mr Chui said. Macao would make further contributions in the development of the nation’s “Belt and Road” initiative. Macao would do so via its cultural exchanges with cities and countries on the routes covered by the “Belt and Road” initiative. “Belt and Road” refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Only via constant exchanges between communities would the world further the process of development, and cope with the challenges of the times, said the Chief Executive. Mr Chui detailed Macao’s success in the following matters: its advantages arising from the “One country, two systems” principle; and Macao’s inclusion on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). On Tuesday (7 June), the Chief Executive met with the Vice Chairwoman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Honorary Chairwoman of World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China), Ms Zhang Meiying, to exchange views on Macao’s development prospects. During the meeting at Santa Sancha, Mr Chui said the Government was giving its full support to this edition of the Forum. Macao’s successful delivery of the event had great symbolic importance for the diversification of the city’s economy. The “One country, two systems” principle enabled Macao to received considerable support from the Central Government. This was helping to focus the patriotic spirit of Macao people and to introduce younger members of the community in particular to the latest developments on the mainland and the latest progress there, said Mr Chui. Ms Zhang noted that this was her first visit to Macao and that she had been able to experience the city’s unique culture. She added she hoped that Macao’s experience of hosting World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China) would assist the city in developing its bridging role. Macao would benefit from the further effort put into promoting the city’s sustainable development, she said, adding that public policy related to the MICE sector could help to achieve the goal of economic diversification. World Cultural Forum (Taihu, China) is an annual non-governmental event held in China. It aims to promote development of Chinese culture and cross-cultural communications between China and foreign countries.
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Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and co-organised by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), the “Art Fair @5 Outubro Street” will be held this Saturday and Sunday, 11 and 12 June, at the Hong Kung Temple Square. In addition, the “Nam Van Lake Family Craft Market” will be held daily from today until 12 June at the Nam Van Lake Plaza. Both activities feature a rich variety of programmes. The public is welcome to participate and buy their favourite creative products, take part in handicrafts workshops and music performances, enjoying a pleasant cultural weekend. The Fair @5 Outubro Street will be held this Saturday and Sunday, from 3pm to 8pm, at the Hong Kung Temple Square, where a total of 36 stalls operated by cultural and creative entities from Macao and Hong Kong will display and sell their original handicraft products and creative food. The Art Fair features various creative products, including leather goods, porcelain, silver accessories, fabric artwork, eco-friendly products and natural beauty products. Some stalls also offer on-site creations, sharing with visitors their passion and talent for creative work. The Fair also features mini-concerts with singers from Hong Kong and Macao who will enliven the atmosphere at the venue. Furthermore, to create a synergy with the Anim’Arte NAM VAN project and the 2016 Macau International Dragon Boat Races, the “Nam Van Lake Family Craft Market” (an extension of the Tap Siac Craft Market) is held at the Nam Van Lake Plaza from today until 12 June, from 11am to 10pm, featuring 20 stalls, handicrafts workshops and music performances. Residents and tourists are welcome to participate in these events. For more information about the craft market, please visit the Macao Cultural and Creative Industries Website (www.macaucci.com), the Tap Siac Craft Market page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TapSeac.Artfair), or the Cultural Affairs Bureau website (www.icm.gov.mo). For enquiries please contact Ms. Wong through tel. no. 2892 4040 during office hours.
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Prof Da Hsuan Feng, director of global affairs and special advisor to rector at the University of Macau (UM), on 28 May received the 2016 Kwoh-Ting Li Memorial Medal Award for his contributions to education in the Asia-Pacific region. The award was presented to Prof Feng by Dr Raymond T Yeh, a co-founder of the Society for Design and Process Science, who is also a world renowned computer scientist and entrepreneur. ‘I am deeply honoured by this recognition,’ says Prof Feng. ‘There is no doubt in my mind that Taiwan’s economic miracle and subsequent affluence, which helped to enhance people’s quality of life, were largely due to the courageous public policies instituted by several individuals. Kwoh-Ting Li was the most notable of them.’ Prof Feng has accumulated three decades of academic and corporate experience in the United States, where he built a broad and strong global network. He was M Russell Wehr Chair Professor of Physics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, director of the Division of Theoretical Physics of the United States National Science Foundation, vice president of the University of Texas at Dallas, and vice president of the Fortune 500 Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). In the past nine years in Asia, besides his job at UM, Prof Feng has also served as a senior vice president of two top universities in Taiwan, namely Cheng Kung University and Tsing Hua University, where he was deeply involved in creating a dialogue for university autonomy. In addition, Prof Feng put a lot of effort in promoting intellectual collaborations between Taiwan and mainland China, most notably the collaboration between Tsinghua University in Beijing and Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and the exchange of Minnan culture between the southern part of Taiwan and Xiamen city in mainland China. He also proactively engaged with academic institutions in India and Europe, and has lectured at nearly all corners of Asia Pacific and South Asia. The Kwoh-Ting Li (KTL) Memorial Medal Award was established in 2012 as a special honour to the speakers of KTL Memorial lecture at international conferences of the Academy of Transdisciplinary Learning and Advanced Studies. This year’s conference was held in Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University in Suzhou, mainland China.
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The Government will not change – during its current term – its policy of allowing only Macao ID holders to be employed as card dealers in Macao’s casinos. For a long-term, healthy development of the city’s gaming industry, the Government is stepping up efforts to optimise gaming-related regulation, and to strengthen supervision of gaming operators, in a bid further to improve the operation of Macao’s casinos. The Government is committed also to the promotion of responsible gaming. It is additionally monitoring whether gaming operators are offering on-the-job training to Macao ID holders working in integrated resorts in such a way as to improve those employees’ upward career mobility or their horizontal mobility within their respective companies.
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For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council collects prices of fresh pork and vegetables from wet markets and supermarkets for consumers’ reference. Collected data are used for comparing with the selling prices of the same products from Zhuhai and Hong Kong. The relevant data has been uploaded to the Council’s website for consumers’ reference. The 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 selling prices of local fresh pork, and comparison on the respective selling prices rom Zhuhai, HK, and Macao. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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From January to May 2016, Tourism Event Management Year 2 students of the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) undertook an educational project, Terra Madre 2016, which was self-financed and geared towards raising awareness about healthy eating habits. Their audiences was 4 classes of P5 students from the Macau Anglican College. Terra Madre refers to the terms “Mother Earth” and is one of the motto used by the International Slow Food Movement to promote education in the fields of food and beverage. In a city such as Macao where there is no farm, there is a need to emphasise where food items come from and how they can be best utilised to the benefit of one’s body and mind. More than a hundredP5 children and their teachers from the Macau Anglican College enjoyed a drama staged by the IFT students followed by a series of games and workshops in the covered area where they could prepare healthy food items, collected some plants to grow at home and played games on different themes. In the process, the event raised funds of MOP18,605.10 that was given to support the educational goals and extra-curricular activities of the Fellowship Orphanage of Evangelize China Fellowship, a registered local charity in Macao. Established in 1995, the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao (IFT) offers the most extensive selection of tourism and hospitality related bachelor degree programmes in Macao, and about twenty thousand participants attend its vocational and professional training courses annually. IFT collaborates with 97 universities and tourism organisations around the world, and builds strong links with 500 leading tourism and hospitality corporations to offer internship opportunities to its students. Being the first institution accredited by the UNWTO.TedQual Certification System for tourism education, IFT has now 7 bachelor degree programmes with the Certification. Currently, the Institute has the most number of bachelor degree programmes certified under the System of any tertiary education establishment worldwide. IFT has received the Medal of Merit in Tourism from the Macao SAR Government, and won twice the Gold Award in ‘Education and Training’ from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
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Cultivating the talents of young people is a key policy direction in Macao. The Government is committed to exploring new avenues to achieve this, in order to create better conditions and opportunities for development among young people. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, made the comments on Monday (6 June) during a meeting at Santa Sancha with the President of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs and also Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, Mr Ma Yun. The Government had previously invited Mr Ma to be a consultant, respectively, to Macao’s Economic Development Council and Macao’s Science and Technology Council. On Monday, the Chief Executive thanked Mr Ma for taking up that position, and presented him with an appointment certificate. Mr Ma was in Macao for the founding ceremony of the Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs of Macao, and for a sharing session with local young people. Mr Ma’s vision for Macao’s development and for the future of young people had attracted much attention, said Mr Chui. During the meeting, Mr Ma shared his views on: Macao’s development; how to build a smart city in terms of information technology; his aspirations for young people’s development; the world’s economy; and the development of technology. Macao has a great number of development opportunities, such as those arising from its special links to the Portuguese-speaking countries, said Mr Ma. Such a bridging role would further help Macao participate – via the Internet – in the world economy and in the creation of new technology. Mr Ma added he was pleased to provide Macao’s young people and entrepreneurs with greater opportunities to exchange knowledge and experiences with Zhejiang companies. Officials attending the meeting included: the President of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho Iat Seng; the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac; the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Raimundo do Rosário; and the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms O Lam. Representatives of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs present at the meeting included: the Executive Chairman, Mr Shen Guojun; and Vice Presidents Mr Zheng Jianjiang and Mr Tsim Yiu-leung. Representatives of the Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs of Macao at the meeting included: the President, Mr Liao Chun Rong; the Chairwoman, Ms Ho Teng Iat; and the Chair of the Supervisory Board, Ms Paula Ling Hsião Yun.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, money supply retreated in April. As total deposits dropped, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector rose from a month earlier. Money supply Currency in circulation grew 0.1% while demand deposits dropped 14.1%. M1 thus decreased 11.3% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 0.2%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, decreased 1.3% to MOP463.7 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 dropped 5.7% and 5.8% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 30.7%, up 0.4 percentage points month-to-month or 3.8 percentage points year-on-year. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 51.2%, down 0.5 percentage points month-to-month but unchanged from a year ago. The share of Chinese Yuan (CNY) was 6.1%, up 0.2 percentage points month-to-month but down 5.5 percentage points year-on-year. The share of United States Dollar (USD) was 9.5%, down 0.2 percentage points month-to-month but up 1.4 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits Resident deposits decreased 1.4% from the preceding month to MOP451.0 billion. Of which, MOP, CNY and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 0.1%, 2.6% and 0.6% whereas HKD and USD deposits decreased 2.3% and 3.5% respectively. Non-resident deposits kept virtually stable at MOP289.4 billion. Public sector deposits with the banking sector increased 1.7% to MOP150.8 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector dropped 0.4% from a month earlier to MOP891.2 billion. The shares of MOP, HKD, CNY and USD in total deposits were 20.5%, 47.0%, 7.9% and 21.5% respectively. Loans Domestic loans to the private sector increased 0.4% from a month ago to MOP395.5 billion. Among which, MOP113.3 billion was MOP-denominated, MOP259.6 billion was denominated in HKD, MOP2.5 billion was denominated in CNY and MOP17.1 billion was denominated in USD, representing 28.6%, 65.6%, 0.6% and 4.3% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans dropped 0.4% to MOP367.1 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP, HKD, CNY and USD accounted for 1.7% (MOP6.3 billion), 26.2% (MOP96.1 billion), 16.5% (MOP60.4 billion) and 48.3% (MOP177.5 billion) respectively. Operating ratios At end-April, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector grew 0.7 percentage points from the previous month to 65.7%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors rose 0.4 percentage points to 85.6%. The one-month and three-month current assets to liabilities ratios stayed at relatively high levels of 61.3% and 58.2% respectively. The non-performing loan ratio, an indicator for bank asset quality, was 0.1%, virtually unchanged from one month earlier and one year ago.
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