News

Consumer Council conducted its fifth 'Supermarket price survey' for April on 16 April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets at Lam Mau, Patane and San Kio areas in Santo António 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 around 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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Over 50 delegates representing Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) as well as 28 tourism businesses (including hotels and travel agencies) in Macau attended Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings (IT&CM China), a three-day event which commenced in Shanghai on 15 April. IT&CM China 2014 was held in Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center during 15 – 17 April. MGTO's delegates attended the event's inaugural ceremony and welcome dinner on 15 April. During the three-day event, MGTO not only seized the opportunity to recommend its ongoing "Incentive Travel Stimulation Program" to corporate travel trade from around the world but also showcased Macau's latest business tourism products and trends to industry buyers. As for Macau's trade delegates, they had the chance to discuss business opportunities and exchange ideas with their counterparts from various destinations across the globe through joining the exhibition, business appointments, seminars, networking functions and tours in the event. Their involvement in IT&CM China has helped promote the development of business and incentive tourism in Macau. Since 2007, IT&CM China has established itself as China's leading business and networking platform for the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry. It is also one of the major business travel exhibitions across the Asia-Pacific Region. Gathering global and Chinese MICE suppliers and buyers under one roof, the event not only enhances collaboration among industry partners but also creates new opportunities in the industry. 3,000 MICE professionals joined the event last year on behalf of various trade management companies, corporate event organizers and associations from different regions. The event hosted 400 buyers and conducted over 10,000 business appointments as well as more than 60 business, education and networking sessions in 2013. Among the hosted buyers 67% were new buyers. Covered by 44 media representatives from 22 countries and regions last year, IT&CM China has proved itself an effective platform for governments and corporate travel trade to showcase their destinations or business.
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Prof. Nuno Crato, head of the Ministry of Education and Science of Portugal, visited the University of Macau's (UM) new campus on 14 April. Prof. Crato noted the close collaborations between UM and universities in Portugal and expressed his hope to see closer collaborations between Macao and Portugal in education and scientific research in the future. Prof. Crato visited the new campus in the company of Dr. Vítor Sereno, consul-general of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong. They were warmly received by UM Rector Prof. Wei Zhao, Vice Rector (Research) Prof. Rui Martins, as well as Portuguese-speaking faculty members and students from the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Arts and Humanities's Department of Portuguese, Faculty of Social Sciences's Department of History, and Faculty of Science and Technology's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rector Wei Zhao presented the new campus master plan and shared future development objectives, including the "4-in-1" model of education as well as the residential college system and its implementation progress. Vice Rector Rui Martins updated the delegation on the latest developments of Portuguese education at UM. Prof. Martins noted that UM has the largest Portuguese department in Asia, enjoys a close relationship with Portugal, sends over 40 students to study Portuguese at the Universities of Lisbon, University of Coimbra, and University of Minho under exchange programmes every year, and participates and organises various activities with Portuguese-speaking universities, including the annual meetings of the Association of Portuguese Speaking Universities (AULP), in 1998, 2003, 2006 and 2010, as well as the upcoming 24th Annual Meeting of AULP to be held this year between 15 September and 17 September. In addition, the Department of Portuguese also organises different language and poetry competitions, as well as Portuguese exchange activities in collaboration with Beijing Foreign Studies University and other Asian universities. Prof. Crato highly praised UM's achievements in Portuguese education. He noted the close collaborations between UM and Portuguese universities and said that UM should continue to play a positive role in the future, in terms of collaborations with Portuguese universities. Prof. Crato also visited the Faculty of Science and Technology's labs on the new campus, in particular the robotics lab, to know more about UM's research developments. Finally, Rector Wei Zhao presented to Prof. Nuno Crato an album in commemoration of the inauguration of UM's new campus, as well as one of the most important research works of the Department of Portuguese, the "Thematic Dictionary of Macau – DITEMA", which is a collection of four volumes in Portuguese, developed between 1998 and 2012.
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The Government Information Bureau is once again holding the "Precious Moments in Macao" Photography Competition and the competition's online portal is now open. Participants may submit their works online from 9 May. The aim of the competition is to chronicle the developments and events of Macao over the past year, and to select a suitable photo to be the cover of the Macao Yearbook, which is published by the Government Information Bureau. The competition is co-organised by the Government Information Bureau, eight photography organisations and four media associations. Submitted photos should depict changes in the cityscape and the bright side of people's lives over the past year to underscore Macao's best qualities. Since the introduction of the competition's online portal, the response from participants has been overwhelming, drawing outstanding works on a variety of themes. This year the competition includes a new prize – the Special Feature Prize, and the theme of this year's special feature is "Fun in Learning", which aims to highlight the Macao SAR Government's support for talent training and active engagement by Macao people. Anyone wishing to enter can visit the website http://photo.gcs.gov.mo to register and upload their works from 9 May (00:00) to 30 May (24:00). Winners of the First, Second and Third Prizes in the "Precious Moments in Macao" 2014 Photography Competition will receive cash prizes of 8,000 patacas, 5,000 patacas and 3,000 patacas respectively, in addition to a trophy. A total of up to 50 Merit Prizes will also be awarded and their winners will each get a certificate as well as a cash prize of 500 patacas (Note: the final number of merit prizes will depend on the standard of competition entries). In addition, the Editorial Committee of the 2014 Macao Yearbook will select from the entries the winner of the Yearbook Cover Award, who will receive a cash prize of 5,000 patacas, and winners of the Special Feature Prize will each receive a cash prize of 1,000 patacas (the actual number of winners will depend on the number of suitable entries). The competition is co-organised by eight photographic associations and four media associations, namely the Photographic Society of Macao, Photography Salon Society of Macao, Macao Association for the Promotion of Photographic Art, Macao Association of Photographers, Macao Multimedia Photographic Art Association, Macao Association of Photographic Art, Macao Camera Lens Art Association, Macao Digital Photography Association, Macao Media Workers Association, Macao Journalists' Club, Macao Journalists' Association and Macao Media Club (listed in no particular order). Winning works and outstanding entries will be featured in a public exhibition, including entries to be used as the cover of the 2014 Macao Yearbook and its full-page illustrations. Information pamphlets about the competition are available from the 12 co-organisers; Princess Photography Equipment; Nice Photography Equipment; Foto Digital Fantastic; Digital Hang Seng; Foto Digital "Ieng Fo"; Digital Chi Pak; the Government Information Centre; IACM libraries and activity centres; Cultural Affairs Bureau libraries; DSEJ education centres; the University of Macau; Macau University of Science and Technology; Macao Polytechnic Institute; Institute of Tourism Studies; Academy of Public Security Forces; University of Saint Joseph; City University of Macau; Kiang Wu Nursing College; Macau Institute of Management; Macao Centre of Continuing Studies; and the Macao Association of Civil Servants. Judging will take place on 22 June 2014.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price survey on tissue papers on 15 April 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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The result of the 2013 Macao Green Hotel Award was announced earlier and among the 16 awarded hotels, the Educational Hotel of IFT - Pousada de Mong-Há is one of the 4 hotels earning the Gold Award. Organising by Environmental Protection Bureau and co-orgnaised by Macau Government Tourist Office, the Macao Green Hotel Award is widely recognised and supported by the hotel industry. Through participating in this event, hotels can maintain and improve their performance in the green policies. Pousada de Mong-Ha, a graceful hotel of history, is one of IFT's training units. It received its first Green Hotel Award in 2007 and has continuously earned this award in the following years. With support of its staff, students and guests, its achievement of environmental protection is highly recognised. It has been adopting a series of measures to save energy and implant environmental protection awareness to its in-house guests including: 1) Adopts heat recovery system that provides hot water in guestrooms;
2) Adopts solar photovoltaic modules that provide lighting to the Institute's car park so as to reduce electricity consumption and CO2 emission;
3) Uses e-document to reduce paper consumption;
4) Uses energy-saving lights;
5) Adopts segregated recycling;
6) Increases recycling rate of waste materials such as turning old curtains to bed and cushion cover, turning old table cover to pot cover, turning old towel to weight scale cover, etc.; 7) Adopts water-saving taps, shower heads and toilet; 8) Uses micro-fabric cleaning cloths to reduce the use of cleaning chemical;
9) Adopts "Upon request" and refillable guestroom amenities policy which uses clay containers to replace one time off plastic shower gel and shampoo bottles; guests are also encouraged to bring their own amenities;
10) Encourages guests to make their Green Commitment, and will mail guests the postcards which they have written their commitments on in 3 years time, serving as a reminder and souvenir purpose; 11) Utilises e-channels such as provide e-newspaper via computers and provide environmental bags in guestrooms;
12) Provides bed linens and towels for continued staying guests upon their requests to minimise the use of water and electricity resulting from laundry. In the academic year of 2012/13, IFT achieved a 7.17% drop in the energy consumption per user. To facilitate the measures for environmental protection and update IFT's environmental policy regularly, the Institute established the Occupational Safety & Health and Green Committee which comprised members from all departments. IFT also joined an energy management programme organised by Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau and Office for the Development of Energy Sector in order to further promote energy saving on campus and strengthen energy management. In addition, IFT held "2014 Healthy and Green Month" from 24 March to 16 April, offering a series of events for students and staff to join for raising their awareness of environmental protection and healthy lifestyle, as well as building a healthy and green campus environment together with joint effort. By carrying out promotion and education over the years, IFT staff and students are aware of the importance of environmental protection. IFT will continue to be dedicated in building Macao a livable and sustainable city with citizens in Macao.
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Aiming at increasing the offer of cultural and artistic activities on weekends, the Macao Orchestra (OM), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, holds several concerts in April, including the Easter Concert – Stabat Mater, part of the Festive Series, to be held on the 17th and 18th. Admission for the three performances is made with free tickets. Additionally, OM presents its first chamber orchestra, L' Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale) on 25 and 26 April at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. Tickets are available at the Kong Seng Ticketing Network. On 17 and 18 April at 8 pm, the orchestra presents the Easter Concert – Stabat Mater, led by renowned conductor Zhang Yi, in collaboration with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra Choir, sopranos Shen Na and Li Jingjing, tenor Guan Zhijing e South-Korean bass Lee Dong Myung, playing sacred music by acclaimed composer Gioacchino Rossini. The Easter concerts will be held at St. Dominic's Church. Admission is made with free tickets; tickets will be distributed one hour before the performance at the concert venue and distribution is limited to a maximum of two tickets per person. The Music Promotion Series, established by OM two seasons ago, aims to take musical appreciation to all social circles and age levels and has been very well received. In this season and within the framework of this series, OM premieres L' Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky, featuring a sophisticated orchestra and extraordinary vocal music, offering to the public of all ages a true feast for the senses. In order to cater to a diversified audience, sessions in different languages will be held, namely in English, on 25 April at 8 pm, and Cantonese on 26 April at 3 pm. Children over 3 are admitted. The tickets for this concert priced at MOP 80 and 60 are available at the Kong Seng Ticketing Network Tickets. For more information, please check OM's website at www.icm.gov.mo/om.
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Consumer Council conducted its fourth 'Supermarket price survey' for April on 14 April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Horte e Costa, Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga and Rua da Emenda areas in Santo António 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 around 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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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of 2014 increased by 7.35% year-on-year to 144.02, attributable to soaring hotel room rate during the Lunar New Year, higher charges for restaurant services and dearer prices of local food products. Notable increase was observed in the price index of Accommodation (+20.80%); morever, price index of Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco and Entertainment & Cultural Activities increased by 5.63% and 5.40% respectively. Meanwhile, lower airfare and reduced prices of gold jewellery drove down the price index of Transport & Communications and Miscellaneous Goods by 2.95% and 2.38% year-on-year. TPI for the first quarter of 2014 increased by 1.24% quarter-to-quarter. Price index of Accommodation (+5.59%); Entertainment & Cultural Activities (+2.98%); and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco (+2.59%) saw notable increase, due to higher hotel room rate, rising charges for entertainment, and dearer prices of leisure goods and local food products. On the contrary, price index of Clothing & Footwear decreased by 8.74% quarter-to-quarter on account of seasonal sale of adult's clothing and handbags. The average TPI for the last four quarters ended the first quarter of 2014 increased by 6.68% from the previous period, with marked increase being observed in the price index of Accommodation (+13.78%) and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco (+8.11%). However, price index of Miscellaneous Goods decreased by 3.61%. The 2009/2010-based TPI reflects the price change of goods and services purchased by visitors. Sections of TPI goods and services are selected according to the consumption pattern of visitors, namely Food, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant Services; Transport & Communications; Medicine & Personal Goods; Entertainment & Cultural Activities; and Miscellaneous Goods.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP122.1 billion (USD15.28 billion) at the end of March 2014. The reserves dropped by 1.3% from the revised value of MOP123.6 billion (USD15.47 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves dropped by MOP7.8 billion or 6.0%. Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2014 represented 13 times the currency in circulation or 108.9% of Pataca M2 at end-February 2014. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, increased 0.14 points month-to-month but dropped 1.48 points year-on-year to 96.77 in March 2014. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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