News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of licensed motor vehicles reached 213,992 at the end of September 2012, a year-on-year increase of 5%, of which motorcycles (114,170) and light private cars (85,420) accounted for 53% and 40% respectively. New registration of motor vehicles edged down by 1% year-on-year to 13,128 in the first three quarters of 2012, with motorcycles and light private cars each sharing 47% of the total. In the first nine months of 2012, number of traffic accidents rose by 6% year-on-year to 10,981 cases, resulting in 3,956 victims and 12 of them were killed. Cross-border vehicle traffic by land between Macao and Mainland China increased by 8% year-on-year to 3,293,805 vehicle trips in the first three quarters of 2012, of which vehicle traffic through the Border Gate accounted for 84%. Commercial flight movements at the Macao International Airport increased by 7% year-on-year to 28,246 in the first nine months of 2012, with Mainland China (37% of total); Taiwan, China (28%) and Thailand (13%) being the major routes. Helicopter flights between Macao and Hong Kong (11,110) and between Macao and Mainland China (2,514) each went down by 7% year-on-year. Passenger ferry between Macao and Hong Kong totalled 84,929 ferry trips in the first nine months of 2012, down by 7% year-on-year. Passenger ferry between Macao and Mainland China increased by 8% year-on-year to 20,023 ferry trips. In the first three quarters of 2012, seaborne container throughput totalled 87,615 TEU or 64,600 containers handled, up by 19% and 18% respectively year-on-year. Gross weight of seaborne containerized cargo increased by 19% year-on-year to 153,911 tonnes, with 4,731 tonnes of transshipment goods. Gross weight of containerized cargo by land decreased by 8% to 23,952 tonnes, including 8,486 tonnes of transit goods. In the first nine months of 2012, outward (11,948 tonnes) and inward air cargo (4,689 tonnes) fell by 34% and 36% respectively year-on-year. Transit air cargo decreased by 4% year-on-year to 3,512 tonnes. At the end of September 2012, number of mobile telephone users increased by 19% from a year earlier to 1,532,619, whereas fixed-line telephone users decreased by 2% to 163,449. As regards internet services, number of subscribers reached 224,663 and the cumulative duration of usage in the first nine months of 2012 totalled 493 million hours, up by 10% and 29% respectively year-on-year.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, will deliver his Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2013 on 13 November (Tuesday) at 3 pm in the Legislative Assembly. This will be followed a press conference at the Government Headquarters at 5 pm where Mr Chui will answer questions from the press. The following day, from 3 pm to 6 pm, Mr Chui will attend the plenary meeting of the Legislative Assmbly to explain his policy blueprint to legislators and to answer their questions.
The Address will be broadcast live on the Portal Website of the Macao SAR (http://www.gov.mo), the website of the Office of the Chief Executive (http://www.gce.gov.mo), the website of the Government Information Bureau (http://www.gcs.gov.mo) and the website of the Legislative Assembly (http://www.al.gov.mo). Chinese and Portuguese versions of the Policy Address for download will be available on these websites. Teledifusão de Macau (TV and radio) will broadcast live the Policy Address, the press conference and the plenary session. The Chief Executive has met with representatives of different associations and groups to hear their views in preparation for Policy Address for the financial year 2013 (which starts on 01 January 2013).
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Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on instant drinks. Survey result showed that prices of the 10 surveyed products recorded various price differences. The highest price difference recorded was 48.65 percent. Consumer Council collected prices of 10 brands of instant drinks from 20 retail outlets on 29th October. Surveyed items included instant sports drink, malt beverage, chocolate, coffee and milk tea. Survey result showed that 'Cadbury Original Drinking Chocolate/500g', which was sold at $25.9 to $38.5, recorded the greatest price difference of 48.65 percent; prices of 'Nestle Milo Nutritious Malt Drink/400g' also differed for 43.24 percent, which was about 17 percent less than last time's record. The Council indicated that some of the surveyed products were sold at differenent prices in branches under the same supermarket chain. 6 out of the 10 surveyed items were found to have differences in selling price at two branches of San Miu Supermarket but differences were about $1.0 only. Consumers are advised to check with the survey data to make practical consumption. The specific price survey on instant drinks is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for September 2012 amounted to MOP743 million, up by 40.2% year-on-year, attributable to a 65.7% surge in re-exports (MOP573 million), but domestic exports (MOP170 million) decreased by 7.7%. Total merchandise import amounted to MOP6.11 billion, up by 10.2% year-on-year. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP5.36 billion for September 2012. In the third quarter of 2012, total value of merchandise export (MOP2.20 billion) and merchandise import (MOP17.94 billion) increased by 33.0% and 7.6% respectively year-on-year, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP15.74 billion. In the first nine months of 2012, total value of merchandise export increased by 21.6% year-on-year to MOP6.14 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP4.40 billion) increased by 33.5%, but that of domestic exports (MOP1.75 billion) decreased by 0.7%; meanwhile, total value of merchandise import increased by 18.1% to MOP52.45 billion. Merchandise trade deficit for the first nine months of 2012 amounted to MOP46.31 billion. From January to September 2012, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP3.15 billion) and Mainland China (MOP984 million) increased by 45.1% and 21.1% respectively year-on-year, while export to the USA (MOP381 million) and the EU (MOP244 million) decreased by 10.4% and 17.1% respectively. Exports of Non-textiles (MOP5.33 billion) in the first nine months of 2012 expanded by 33.2% year-on-year, of which exports of Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof (MOP1.10 billion) and Articles for casino (MOP271 million) surged by 163.6% and 40.6% respectively; yet, exports of Textiles & garments (MOP812 million) decreased by 22.7%. Domestic exports of Tobacco & wine (MOP404 million) rose by 26.3%, while exports of Knitted or crocheted garments (MOP257 million) declined by 26.3%. Re-exports of Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof (MOP1.09 billion) increased by 166.4%. In the first nine months of 2012, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP16.98 billion) and the EU (MOP12.30 billion) increased by 23.9% and 12.3% respectively year-on-year. Imports of Consumer goods rose by 19.1% to MOP32.16 billion, with imports of Gold jewellery (MOP5.64 billion), Watches (MOP3.93 billion) and Motor cars & motorcycles (MOP2.42 billion) increasing by 28.1%, 40.8% and 44.5% respectively. Moreover, imports of Capital goods (MOP9.45 billion) registered a year-on-year increase of 19.4%. External merchandise trade reached MOP58.60 billion in the first nine months of 2012, up by 18.5% compared with MOP49.46 billion a year earlier.
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Owing to the flooding in Thailand, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Thailand, particularly for the areas with postal codes bearing the prefixes below are subject to delay until further notice. Postal Code Prefixes
25, 26, 66 Thank you for your kind attention.
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Owing to the hurricane in Jamaica, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Jamaica are subject to delay until further notice. Thank you for your kind attention.
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Owing to the hurricane in East Coast of USA, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to East Coast of USA are subject to delay until further notice. Thank you for your kind attention.
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Owing to the hurricane in Dominican Republic, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Dominican Republic are subject to delay until further notice. Thank you for your kind attention.
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The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) will hold three workshop sessions in three consecutive months for managers and supervisors of retail service industry. The workshops will provide customer service and management skills for participants to pass on the hands-on skills to their staffs. MGTO believes this workshop will effectively enhance customer service quality and consolidate the tourism city image of Macau. The "Achieving Total Customer Satisfaction" Retail Service Trainer Workshop will be held on October 31, November 21 and December 12 respectively. The three two-day workshops will be carried out by the trainers from an international management development company. Topics include Role of the Manager/Supervisor as the Trainer/Coach, Requirements for Professionalism, Total Customer Satisfaction Concept, System Approach to Effective Retails Service Training and Practical Demonstration of Retail Training Skills etc. MGTO hopes that after providing the professional training to retail shop managers and supervisors, they can pass the practical quality customer service skills to their frontline staff, so as to fully enhance service quality of the retail and service industry. On September 21, MGTO organized the "Service Par Excellence for Increasing Profitability" Seminar for representatives of Macau retail and related sectors' associations, leaders of Macau's large retail groups and enterprises as well as operators of small and medium enterprises (SME).
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Jointly organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government and the British Council, Exposure! Clive Barda – A Retrospective Photographic Exhibition will open to the public in Tap Seac Gallery on 1st November 2012, at 5pm. This exhibition will showcase 102 well-chosen quintessential photographs taken between 1968 and 2011 by renowned British stage art photographer Clive Barda. His works cover a wide range of content across different eras. Apart from opera and concert, the works also encompass dance and performance rehearsals. This exhibition will also specially display two photographs taken in Macao in the 1990s. Clive Barda has photographed numerous distinguished classical musicians, including cellist Jacqueline du Pré, Italian conductor Riccardo Muti and Luciano Pavarotti, one of the most famous tenors in the world, in addition to famous operas and the world premiere of the musical Phantom of the Opera. Clive Barda excels at capturing the 'decisive moment'. He is able to freeze the personality, characteristics and concentration of musicians whilst they are performing. Moreover, he is an expert in allowing viewers to perceive what happens before or after a particular moment via his photography, reproducing unforgettable moments. Exposure! Clive Barda – A Retrospective Photographic Exhibition is part of UK Now, the largest ever British culture and arts festival held in China. From April to November 2012, UK Now hosts over 100 wonderful activities embracing all kinds of art forms in 26 Chinese cities. UK Now showcases the richness, colour and creativity of British culture and arts. Exposure! Clive Barda – A Retrospective Photographic Exhibition will run until the 9th of December 2012. The Tap Seac Gallery is open from 10am to 7pm and admission is free.
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