News

Consumer Council collected prices of 11 festive foods from 24 retail outlets on 6th February for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. The collected data has been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. The Council conducted the said survey on 6th February. Surveyed products included: 'Planters Premium Collection/849g', 'Kraft Ritz Sandwich Cracker/316g', 'Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies/681g', 'Kjeldsens Butter Cookies/908g', 'Ferrero Rocher/24pcs', 'Brown & Haley Almond Roca/340g', 'Sugus Assorted Fruited Flavour Chews/350g', 'Lindt Lindor (Red)/14pcs', 'Bourbon Chocochip Cookies/312g', 'Garden Assorted Biscuit/500g', and 'Sau Tao Abalone Noodle/684g'. The price survey on these 11 festive foods from 24 retail outlets revealed price differences from 9% percent ('Kraft Ritz Sandwich Cracker/316g') to 41.8 percent ('Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies/681g'). Consumers are advised to check the 'Specific Price Information Platform' to make price comparisons. The survey has also been uploaded to the Council's website and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android appsfor consumers' reference. For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
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The new Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) "Academic Research Grant Regulations" came into effect on 1 February. All interested academics can submit their applications from 1 March to 31 May 2015. In order to accompany the new social and academic trends as well as to improve and regulate the system, IC, after reviewing the experience of the previously launched "Academic Research Grant Regulations", carried out a revision of its provisions, and is now launching the new "Academic Research Grant Regulations", approved by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture's Order No. 13/2015 to come into effect on 1 February. The goal of the new "Academic Research Grant Regulations" is to encourage original academic research on the culture of Macao, and on the exchange between Macao, Mainland China and other countries. In order to best correspond to the current situation and academic standards, several norms were revised regarding applicants' eligibility, frequency of award, amounts, application documents, selection and selection criteria, applicants' obligations and prohibitions, research period, awards suspension and cancellation and copyrights, among others. Highlights are: 1. Applicants' eligibility: a) local or overseas doctorate degree holders, with proven academic research experience; and b) local or overseas individuals, with sufficient research experience and recognized academic production;
2. Frequency of grant and application period: IC accepts applications every year between 1 March and 31 May, and applications submitted out of this period will not be considered;
3. Amounts: there will be two amounts of MOP 280,000.00 and MOP 250,000.00, to be decided by IC under proposal of the Selection Panel, based on the applicant's academic background and the content of the project;
4. Application documents: a) application form provided by IC, duly completed and signed; and b) applicant's Curriculum vitae, research project plan and certified copies of the applicant's educational qualification certificates; incomplete applications or that fail to comply with the above will not be accepted;
5. Language and number of words: monographs can be written in Chinese, Portuguese or English, containing no less than 150,000 words, excluding notes, bibliographies, appendixes, illustrations, captions, maps and tables. The awarding of research grants is an important measure in IC's support to academic research. The Academic Research Grant promote Macao's culture and history within academic circles as well as the research of Macao's role in the exchange between East and West, strengthening the citizen's knowledge and understanding about the territory, positively contributing for Macao's cultural development and earning recognition from the academic world. In order to improve the grant allocation system, IC has been revising related regulations since 2006, and has launched, up to now, sixteen grant programmes, which have supported fifty six research projects. These new revisions to the regulations are the result of one year of consultation from academics in related fields from Macao and abroad. The new "Academic Research Grant Regulations" and application form are available in IC's webpage at www.icm.gov.mo. For more information, please contact Ms. Silvia Kuan through tel. no. 8399 6381 during office hours, or by email at silviak@icm.gov.mo.
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The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, was in Beijing to meet with Mainland officials to strengthen ties in legal affairs and mutual judicial assistance. Ms Chan led a delegation to the Ministry of Public Security and exchanged views with officials there on 3 February on the transfer of suspects and to enhance judiciary assistance. During her three-day visit, she met with the Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Xu Ze; the Director of the Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao SAR under the NPC Standing Committee, Mr Li Fei; and the Vice Minister of Public Security, Mr Chen Zhimin. In her first visit in her current post, Ms Chan said the Macao Government would rule according to the aspirations pointed out by the President Xi Jinping, who was in Macao for the inauguration of new term government last December, and the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On. The Macao Government would follow its policy principles to strengthen legal ruling, enhance administrative effectiveness, streamline the government team, promote administrative reforms, advance legal awareness, and step up efforts to turn Macao into a world centre of tourism and leisure, and a commercial and trade co-operation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries, she said. Mr Xu Ze and Mr Li said they supported the Macao government in ruling in accordance with the law and recognised its policy direction to strengthen reforms in administration and laws. The delegation included members from Ms Chan's office, the Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Public Prosecutions Office, the Office of the Secretary for Security, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, the Legal Affairs Bureau, and the Law Reform and International Law Bureau.
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The Health Bureau has urged the high-risk group of citizens to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza, as it would take two to three weeks before the vaccine becomes effective. The Bureau said the peak season for flu in Macao is between January and March, a spokesperson said in a press briefing on 5 February. The Bureau assured the public that it had enough medicine, facilitates and equipment to deal with flu and protect the people's health. It has a strict monitoring system in place to oversee the situation, adding that it had no serious case or a fatality in Macao this year. The Bureau had also initialled the process to buy an additional 10,000 doses of vaccine for high-risk individuals. Since last September, the Bureau had provided free vaccinations to infants, minors, senior citizens, residents with chronic illness, staff in nursing centres, kindergartens and schools. The Bureau urged people to maintain strict personnel hygiene and if flu-like symptoms developed, to seek medical treatment immediately, then stay home and have adequate rest.
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The Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) hosted the "ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Air Cargo and Mail Security Course" this week and invited two experts in air cargo security and training to lecture on the knowledge of basic theories and operations, as well as the latest development in ICAO's standards and recommended practices. More than 20 participants from the member states and administrations of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific (CASP-AP) joined the course. "ICAO Air Cargo and Mail Security Course" was convened at the conference facilities of AACM's office from 02 to 06 February 2015. It aimed at both the oversight personnel and the operational personnel responsible for air cargo and mail security. The course objective was to allow the participants to understand the standards and recommended practices relating to air cargo transport as stated in Annex 17 of the Convention of International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), understand the importance of maintaining a strict and high security level of supply chain and the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the process of securing cargo and mail against acts of unlawful interference. In the five-day course, the participants have acquired the theoretical knowledge, taken part in discussions and understood the importance of implementing security measures including security controls on cargo consignments and the appropriate emergency response procedures in the event of a cargo security incident. The course was lectured by two experts who have enriching international experience in practical operations and training, the CASP-AP Training and Capacity Building Officer, Mr. Piengtep Yapan and the Training Officer of Aviation Security Service of New Zealand, Mr. Shane Reilly. They have also been invited to train personnel in other areas. More than 20 participants attended the course, who came from 8 member states and administrations of CASP-AP, including Bangledesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Hong Kong China, India, Macao China, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. All participants completed the course and were awarded with the certificate in today's afternoon. AACM has assumed the chairmanship of the CASP-AP Steering Committee since 06 June 2014, for a one-year term. The Authority wishes to organize training courses to allow member states and administrations to work together to enhance the professionalism of the security personnel in the Asia Pacific Region.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 1,454 new companies were incorporated in the fourth quarter of 2014, up by 254 year-on-year. Total value of registered capital increased by 4.3% to MOP311 million, in which registered capital of Business Services (MOP209 million) surged by 870.5% and that of Wholesale & Retail (MOP35 million) decreased by 29.8%. Analysed by industry, there were 440 new incorporations operating in Wholesale & Retail and 381 in Business Services. In the fourth quarter of 2014, companies in dissolution totalled 144, and the value of registered capital of companies in dissolution amounted to MOP27 million. In the fourth quarter of 2014, capital of the new companies came mainly from Macao (MOP180 million) and Mainland China (MOP98 million), including MOP92 million from the 9 Provinces of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, with that from Guangdong province sharing MOP89 million. Analysed by combination of the shareholders, there were 994 new companies established solely by Macao shareholders, and 143 joint ventures between shareholders from Macao and other countries or regions. For the whole year of 2014, a total of 5,409 new companies were incorporated, an increase of 928 from 2013; total value of registered capital surged by 143.9% year-on-year to MOP1.8 billion. There were 1,854 new incorporations operating in Wholesale & Retail and 1,192 in Business Services, with the value of registered capital amounting to MOP209 million and MOP348 million. Number of companies in dissolution totalled 536 in 2014, and the value of registered capital of companies in dissolution amounted to MOP111 million. Analysed by size of registered capital, there were 3,749 new incorporations registered with capital under MOP50,000 (69.3% of total), and the total value of capital was MOP98 million (5.3% of total). There were 155 new companies registered with capital of MOP1,000,000 or over, and the total value of capital amounted to MOP1.5 billion. At the end of 2014, number of registered companies increased by 4,873 year-on-year to 48,626, including 480 commercial offshore companies, down by 9 year-on-year.
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The Government will commit more policy advantage and financial resources to support the work of nurses to further fulfil the people's needs for medical services. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, disclosed this in a meeting with the President of the International Council of Nurses, Ms Judith Shamian, in the Government Headquarters on 4 February, when they also shared views on developing local medical services and advancing nursing professionals. On behalf of the Special Administrative Region Government, Mr Chui welcomed Ms Shamian's visit and her suggestions on the development of nursing in Macao, and said that the Council's long-term support in training and promotion of international exchanges had helped build a better medical team in Macao. Ms Shamian told Mr Chui that the Council, with a membership of 1.6 million nurses in some 130 countries and regions, aimed to establish a network for better mutual exchanges and services enhancement. Visiting here at the invitation of the Nurses Association of Macau, Ms Shamian also shared her views on accreditation and legislation with the Director of the Health Bureau, Mr Lei Chin Ion. She said Macao's experience in community healthcare centres was worth learning from. With regards to the medical infrastructure, she said the ratio of medical staff deployed was in accordance with the local population and other scientific approaches.
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Consumer Council conducted its first 'Supermarket price survey' in February on 4 February 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), and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. 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 over 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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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, money supply rebounded in December. As total loans increased whereas total deposits dropped, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector rose from a month earlier.
Money supply
Currency in circulation and demand deposits grew 1.3% and 6.3% respectively. M1 thus increased 5.4% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities remained virtually stable. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 0.7% to MOP487.6 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 5.0% and 10.5% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 25.5%, down 0.2 percentage points from a month ago but up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 50.7%, up 1.0 percentage point month-to-month but down 2.6 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits increased 0.7% from the preceding month to MOP476.7 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and other foreign currency deposits decreased at respective rates of 0.4% and 2.6% whereas HKD deposits rose 2.8%. Non-resident deposits dropped 3.8% to MOP219.4 billion. Public sector deposits with the banking sector increased 4.5% to MOP95.0 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector dropped 0.2% from a month earlier to MOP791.1 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 19.1% and 43.0% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector increased 2.3% from a month ago to MOP339.1 billion. Among which, MOP94.0 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP218.7 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 27.7% and 64.5% of the total respectively. Analysed by economic sector, "education", "information technology" and "non-monetary financial institutions" increased at respective rates of 108.3%, 56.8% and 40.1% compared with a quarter ago, whereas "manufacturing industries", "electricity, gas and water" and "wholesale and retail trade" dropped 9.2%, 7.4% and 5.7% respectively. External loans rose 0.6% to MOP350.6 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 1.2% (MOP4.0 billion) and 23.2% (MOP81.3 billion) respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
The loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-December rose 0.6 percentage points from the previous month to 59.3%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors also grew by 1.4 percentage points to 87.2%.
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