News

(5 June 2013, Macau) – A press conference to launch the second edition of Global Tourism Economy Forum ("GTE-Forum" or "the Forum"), hosted by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau SAR Government, co-organised by the China Chamber of Tourism under the authorisation of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) and coordinated by the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre, was announced at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre on 5 June, 2013. The GTE-Forum this year will again gather key decision-makers in the global tourism industry to share ideas and generate solutions on how the industry can continue to positively impact the world economy. The second edition of GTE-Forum will be held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre from 17-19 September 2013. Under the theme "Regenerate our Economies: Invest in Travel and Tourism", this edition of the Forum explores how tourism industry plays a vital role in critical moments of current economic recovery. This year, GTE-Forum aims at bringing together more global leaders of political and economic sectors, ministers of tourism, provincial governors and officials from China and experts from the finance and investment industries to share their ideas on how tourism-related industries has become and will continue to be the economic growth drivers amidst opportunities that have resulted from a huge myriad of consolidation, acquisitions, and new partnerships in the global markets. The Forum serves as an Effective International Exchange Platform
With tourism being the pillar of Macau's economy and global economic recovery, the role of this Forum is particularly significant. Ms. Cheung So Mui Cecília, Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau SAR Government, said, "Macau has been closely following the Central Government's Twelve-Five Year Plan to establish the city as the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure and a regional commerce and service platform; Macau's success in hosting the inaugural Global Tourism Economy Forum has fully demonstrated the respective strengths and advantages that Macau possesses," she added, "With global tourism industry achieved impressive growth albeit continuing economic challenges, we expect the GTE-Forum can seek for more innovative ideas, once again broaden our horizons, gather insights from tourism heavyweights, experts and scholars and explore how tourism industry can drive for new economic growth." Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macau Government Tourist Office addressed in her speech, "Macau has been a prominent gateway for and served as a platform of Mainland China. Macau's commitment to organize three consecutive Global Tourism Economy Forums allows the city to fully play its role as the gateway and platform between China and the World, which further enhances Macau's status as the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure." Expressing her gratitude to all the sectors for their support, Ms. Pansy Ho, Chairman of Global Tourism Economy Research Centre, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of GTE-Forum, indicated that she expects the Forum to unleash its strengths as a platform of idea exchange and as a springboard for the promotion of multilateral cooperation, and the generation of more extensive development opportunities for tourism and related industries in Macau, China and other countries, aiming at driving overall economic growth. Ms. Pansy Ho said, "The success of the inaugural GTE-Forum goes far beyond what we had achieved in the three-day forum. What we are most proud of is the success of subsequent business networking activities initiated and organized by the Forum, such as the Chinese Private Entrepreneur Delegation visit in Portugal and Spain. This clearly demonstrates the Forum's capability as a platform to bring about cross-region, cross-industry exchange and cooperation; while it strategically positions Macau as the regional hub of the convention and exhibition industry, showcasing Macau as the gateway between China and the rest of the world. The second edition of GTE-Forum has been designed to emphasize the element of business matching. Several business matching sessions, presentations and workshops for both Chinese and foreign enterprises and organisations have been created, enabling Chinese enterprises to follow the national strategy of "bringing in investment and resources, and going out to learn and invest", explore investment and development opportunities for tourism-related industries of China and other countries, and promote cross-industry interactive development, thus driving overall economic growth." Top tourism organizations offer continued support by hosting their own respective sessions at the Forum This edition of GTE-Forum has a wealth of highlights, including the Ministerial Round Table, in collaboration with UNWTO, with tourism ministers of European and Asian countries speaking on the critical issue of "Travel Facilitation"; the WTTC Session: Points of View from International Private Sector Leaders and the PATA Session: Points of View from Asia Pacific Leaders, with renowned global leaders of the tourism industry proposing creative solutions to regenerate our economies; and the China's Perspective session focusing on private enterprises of China and how the Chinese industry leaders achieve their mission of "Go Global". This edition's GTE-Forum is also enriched with an investment element through business-matching sessions, examining market trends and sharing investment strategies, and essentially lining up a broad range of opportunities of cooperation between source of funds and source of deals. Mr. Shao Qiwei, Chairman of National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mr. Michael Frenzel, Chairman of Executive Board, TUI AG and Chairman of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Mr. David Scowsill, President and CEO of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and Mr. Martin Craigs, CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association are among the key speakers of this edition's GTE-Forum. Furthermore, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macau SAR, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macau SAR, National Tourism Adminstration of the People's Republic of China, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Macau Government Tourist Office will offer their continued support and actively participate in the Forum. The inaugural GTE-Forum attracted over 1,000 representatives from 34 countries and regions as well as delegations from 22 provinces and cities of Mainland China. Riding on the success of the first Forum, the second edition of GTE-Forum will analyze the current tourism and economic trend with more effective and insightful approach.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price survey on beverages on 4th June for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Result of the mentioned survey has been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and is available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call the Council's hotline: 8988 9315.
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We are very happy to announce the successful completion of a project by our Year 4 Tourism Retail and Marketing Management students taking the Visual Merchandising and Store Design course lead by Dr. Fernando Lourenço to help a local entrepreneur (Vanda Rodrigues) to develop a range of store design concepts for a new food outlet targeting tourist in Macao. The design theme for the store was set to 'showcase the heritage of Macao and its colonial past'. Via this project, our students had to engage in research leading to the development of mood-board to stimulate the development of concepts. Subsequently, students had to use floor planning, 3D modeling as well as graphics programmes to turn their ideas into professional illustrations as well as videos for their final presentation. Although most students were new to the field of design and prior knowledge is limited, the outcomes were fruitful and were beyond the expectation of the course leader as well as the local entrepreneur. This was a fantastic opportunity for students to understand the process of business start-up in relation to store design and visual merchandising. Moreover, this was an excellent way to build a stronger link with the industry by offering our support to local entrepreneurs and businesses. Students were given awards and certificates to congratulate their efforts and hard work.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply continued to grow in April. As total deposits increased at a faster pace than total loans, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector dropped from a month earlier.
Money supply
Currency in circulation and demand deposits grew 0.9% and 5.3% respectively. M1 thus increased 4.6% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 0.9%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 1.4% to MOP396.5 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 32.2% and 25.2% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 24.7%, down 0.1 percentage point from a month ago or 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 54.7%, up 0.3 percentage points month-to-month but down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits rose 1.4% from the preceding month to MOP388.2 billion. Of which, MOP deposits, HKD deposits and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 1.1%, 1.9% and 0.2%. Non-resident deposits grew 7.5% to MOP141.0 billion whereas public sector deposits with the banking sector edged up 0.1% to MOP53.8 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector rose 2.7% from a month earlier to MOP583.1 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 20.3% and 47.3% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector increased 2.9% from a month ago to MOP216.8 billion. Among which, MOP69.3 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP127.7 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 32.0% and 58.9% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans increased 1.3% to MOP260.1 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.9% (MOP2.3 billion) and 21.0% (MOP54.7 billion) respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
The loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-April rose 0.8 percentage points from the previous month to 49.0%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors dropped 0.5 percentage points to 81.8%. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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In order to provide diversified training opportunities for Macao's local hotel industry professionals and enhance their management skills, Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) and Cornell University, U.S.A. co-orgainsed a two-day Executive Development Programme on Planning for Profits for Hotels on 3 and 4 June. This workshop will integrate the disciplines of management accounting, finance, marketing and business decision making, aiming to enhance participants' management decision making skills with respect to pricing and incentives, advertising, staffing, service quality and other operating decisions by learning how to evaluate financial statements. The programme attracted 24 professionals of local hotels and mega resorts to participate. IFT has the honour of inviting Mr. Robert E. Kastner, an experienced lecturer in tourism education, to be the facilitator of this programme. Graduated from Cornell University with Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration specialising in finance, Mr. Kastner has been teaching at the School of Hotel Administration of Cornell in the areas of concentration include accounting, hotel financial management, investments, and personal computing. He has also developed numerous software programs in the area of financial management and hotel development earlier and has been teaching at Cornell's Professional Development Programme. The purpose of the programme is to enable participants to learn how to perform competitive analysis, identify opportunities to improve profitability and measure success. Programme topics include:
 Formulate and implement marketing and profit making strategies for hotel operation;
 Practice hotel decision-making and analysis through rapid feedback of operating results. Decision-making areas include pricing, rate incentives, advertising & promotion, staffing, operations and finance;
 Perform competitive analysis and identify opportunities to improve profitability;
 Understand the concept of GOP "Flow-Through" and the impact on profitability;
 Practice income statement analysis, apply ratio analysis to hotel financial statements and discuss industry trend comparisons.
 Understand the concept of operating leverage and how to calculate the break-even point;
 Understand the performance measures of hotel operators and owners including vocabulary such as GOP, NOI, EBITDA, ROE, ROCE, ROA, ROI, etc.;
 Understand the concepts of financing and financial leverage and its impact on profitability, cash flow and return on owners' investment. As the tourism and hospitality industry is growing swiftly in Macao, the demand for knowledgeable professionals is increasing and thus hotel management needs to upgrade themselves to cope with the changing market trends. This course offers key insights on how to plan for profits for hotels in a strategic and theoretical way which is definitely one of the essential areas in operating a hotel. It is hoped to strengthen the decision makers' theories and extend the knowledge to their operations.
IFT is always striving to enhance its research and teaching so as to contribute to the society. By organising diversified seminars and workshops, IFT constantly shares with the industry the most updated information and research findings about the future development of Macao's sustainable tourism industry and ways to enhance it.
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In preparation for the Historical Archives of Macao's Exhibition "An Art of Precision - Shipbuilding in Macao: People, Craft and Society", the Reading Room will be closed to the public on Friday, June 7th, and Saturday, June 8th. The Reading Room service will be resumed on Monday, June 10th. The exhibition "An Art of Precision - Shipbuilding in Macao: People, Craft and Society" is organized by the Historical Archives of Macao to celebrate China Cultural Heritage Day and International Archives Day. Through records of oral interviews, documentation, photographs and other objects on display, the exhibition gives visitors a vivid picture of the Macao's shipbuilding and enables them to get acquainted with the historical background of the industry, its craft, interpersonal relations, practices and taboos, operation and continuity, as well as its culture and social relations. Lectures and workshops on the theme are also scheduled during the exhibition period. "An Art of Precision - Shipbuilding in Macao: People, Craft and Society" runs from June 9th until December 7th, daily from 10am to 6pm, at the Historical Archives of Macao (closed on Mondays and public holidays). Admission is free. The opening ceremony for the exhibition will take place on June 8th at 3pm.
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Jing Wanghui, a PhD student from the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau (UM), received the first presentation prize at the fourth Joint Workshop of the International Society for Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) and the Chinese Society for Study of Xenobiotics (CSSX). Jing's supervisors are Prof. Wang Yitao and Dr. Yan Ru. The workshop enjoys an extremely high status and academic influence in the field of xenobiotic metabolism. It aims to promote international exchange on the studies of metabolism, transport and interactions of xenobiotics. It invites well-known experts and scholars from around the world to give plenary lectures and reports addressing the latest progress in cutting-edge subjects, to share experience, to contribute ideas, and to evaluate the significance of research and English speech ability of young scholars and postgraduate students, from whom 10 winners are selected for excellent presentation awards. Jing gave a speech on "Regulation of P-glycoprotein by Mori Cortex in Caco-2 Cells and Colon Tissues from Ulcerative Colitic Rats", which has its source in The Pharmacokinetic and Metabonomic Studies of Chinese Medicines Belonging to Lung Meridian and Large Intestine Meridian under the Guidance of the Traditional Chinese Medicinal Theory "Interior and exterior relationship between the lung and large intestine", a project undertaken by UM under the National 973 Programme. The project is headed by Prof. Wang Yitao, with Dr. Yan Ru serving as academic secretary. It is conducted in collaboration with universities in Beijing, Wuhan and Guangzhou. The project carries out a series of studies of the theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine from the innovative perspective of intestinal microecology, not only offering a new approach in the fundamental research on traditional Chinese medicine, but also representing a strategic breakthrough in deciphering complex in vivo fates of Chinese medicines. At the mid-term evaluation and annual progress report meetings for projects under the National 973 Programme, UM was ranked No. 1 in terms of the quantity and quality of published SCI papers on this subject. This first prize received at the fourth Joint Workshop of ISSX and CSSX has brought to 11 the total number of prizes UM has obtained on this subject at national and international conferences over the past three years. It once again demonstrates that UM has the ability to undertake major national scientific research projects and also shows that UM is in a leading position in PhD training in the field of xenobiotic metabolism.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price survey on cooking oil on 30th May for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Result of the mentioned survey has been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and is available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call the Council's hotline: 8988 9315.
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With a view of strengthening the cooperation and exchange among operators of the convention and exhibition industry at home and abroad and to promote the advantages of Macao´s MICE industry, so as to attract a greater number or well-known event organizers abroad to hold activities in Macao, Executive Director of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Mrs. Irene V. K. Lau, travelled to Frankfurt, Germany, on May 20-23, to participate in the IMEX Frankfurt 2013 (The Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events), organized by the IMEX Group and having as partner, the German Convention Bureau. A reception to promote the advantages of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry was also held during IMEX. IMEX Frankfurt 2013 (IMEX) is currently one of the largest fair dedicated to MICE in Europe. Its scale has been gradually expanding, and every year attracts over three thousand exhibitors from more than one hundred fifty countries around the world, in addition to over ten thousand qualified buyers. IMEX´s exhibitors include government tourist offices, convention bureaux, hotels, convention centers, technology suppliers, car rental companies, airlines, convention and exhibition centers, international business associations, destination management industry, conference and public relations industry, transport and travel operators and travel industry publications. During the period of IMEX, IPIM and Macao´s representatives of the convention and exhibition industry jointly organized in Frankfurt a reception, to promote the environment and the advantages of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry. Before an audience of more than 70 people, including event organizers, representatives of international business associations, destination management industry and, conference and public relations industry, Mrs. Irene V. K. Lau actively promoted the advantages of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry and the "One-Stop Service" provided by IPIM for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao, in a bid to attract the holding of more international events in Macao. At the same time, IPIM has set-up a promotional booth in the Macao Pavilion built inside the IMEX venue, to promote the "One-Stop Service" for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao and to answer enquiries. Apart from IPIM, other exhibitors at the Macao Pavilion included Macao Government Tourist Office, Macau Economic Service, and also Macao´s travel agencies, hotels, resorts and convention and exhibition venues operators, targeting to develop the international tourist market and to promote Macao´s tourism and MICE industries and the Made in Macao products. Subject activity has boosted the exchange and cooperation between Macao and overseas operators of the convention and exhibition industry and also highlighted the advantages of Macao´s convention and exhibition industry, with positive impact on attracting event organizers from abroad to organize a greater number MICE-related activities in Macao.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 4 hospitals in Macao, having 1,354 in-patient beds, an increase of 132 beds year-on-year; number of in-patient admissions totalled 48,000, rose by 9.6%, bringing the occupancy rate of in-patient beds to 69.6%. A total of 1,371,000 out-patient consultations and 430,000 emergency treatments were carried out in hospitals, up by 4.6% and 8.0% year-on-year respectively. Number of emergency treatments administered in Taipa surged notably by 46.5% to 110,000. Meanwhile, primary health care establishments comprising health centres and private clinics totalled 675 establishments, providing 3,404,000 consultations, up by 1.8% year-on-year, among which consultations in Chinese medicine and therapy services and General Practice reached 1,135,000 and 1,058,000 respectively. For the whole year of 2012, 254,000 vaccinations were administered in health care establishments; vaccinations against Influenza (84,000) shared 33.1% of the total. There were 1,482 licensed doctors and 1,751 nurses at the end of 2012; number of doctors and nurses per 1,000 population stood at 2.5 and 3.0 respectively, similar to 2011.
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