News

According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, money supply retreated in February. As total loans increased at a faster pace than total deposits, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector rose from a month earlier. Money supply Currency in circulation and demand deposits dropped 8.5% and 1.2% respectively. M1 thus decreased 2.5% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities dropped 0.6%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, decreased 0.9% to MOP457.0 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 14.1% and 17.0% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 24.5%, virtually unchanged from a month ago but down 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 50.4%, down 0.8 percentage points month-to-month or 4.2 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits Resident deposits decreased 0.7% from the preceding month to MOP447.2 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and HKD deposits decreased at respective rates of 0.2% and 2.5% whereas other foreign currency deposits grew 2.7%. Non-resident deposits rose 3.0% to MOP194.8 billion. Public sector deposits with the banking sector also increased 1.4% to MOP84.6 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 0.5% from a month earlier to MOP726.6 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 18.8% and 41.6% respectively. Loans Domestic loans to the private sector increased 2.1% from a month ago to MOP274.5 billion. Among which, MOP79.4 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP171.3 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 28.9% and 62.4% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans kept virtually unchanged at MOP290.3 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 1.6% (MOP4.6 billion) and 23.1% (MOP67.0 billion) respectively. Loan-to-deposit ratios The loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-February rose 1.2 percentage points from the previous month to 51.6%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors also grew, by 0.4 percentage points to 77.7%. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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In view of the abduction case of a Chinese national in Semporna, Sabah in Malaysia in the early hours of the 3rd of April, the Consulate-General of the PRC in Kuching has released a travel safety reminder to Chinese citizens currently on-location or who intend to visit the area. Following is the translated version of the full text: "As reported, a floating resort off Semporna in Sabah was attacked by armed groups in the early hours of the 3rd of April. A Chinese tourist was abducted and is unaccounted-for at the present moment.
The Consulate-General of the PRC in Kuching reminds Chinese nationals who intend to visit Sabah, especially Semporna and Eastern Sabah to remain vigilant, increase personal safety precautions, be aware of local security developments, arrange travel itineraries through legitimate travel agencies and avoid going to remote islands and off-the-beaten-track areas. In case of emergency, Chinese nationals should timely report to the local police and contact the Consulate-General of the PRC in Kuching through the following contacts: Police reporting hotline in Kuching, Tel: 999; Consular Assistance and Protection hotline of Chinese Consulate General in Kuching, Tel: 00202-271125995. " According to the Macao tourism industry, there are no Macao tour groups currently in Semporna in Sabah, Malaysia. However there is no information regarding individual travellers. The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) has not received any requests for assistance so far. If necessary, Macao residents can call the tourism hotline (853) 2833 3000 for assistance.
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The 25th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) will set off of May 2. Festival tickets have recorded a high volume of sales and availability is now limited. Due to scheduling conflicts, the concert Impressions of Xinjiang, by the Xinjiang Philharmonic Orchestra, originally to take place on May 3, at 8pm, at Tap Seac Square, was cancelled. Celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year, the MAF presents a programmed filled with highlights. "MOP - Dance Theatre" is a joint performance by Macao and Poland dancers. Three Macao dance companies – Violet Dance Company, Ieng Chi Dance Association and The Dancer Studio Macao – have been engaged in a three-year exchange project with renowned Polish contemporary dance master Jacek Luminski. During this period, the participants trained and performed intensively in Macao, Poland and Singapore. The Macao Virtuosi chamber orchestra will present, in Viva Mozart, the complete series of Mozart's Violin Concerti in three separate sessions, in a salute to the music prodigy. The Macao Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of its Principal Conductor Pang Ka Pang, and with the cooperation of Italian pianist Enrica Ciccarelli and Singaporean violinist Kong Zhaohui, delivers a performance that fuses East and West, in a concert titles Reminiscence of the Classics, which includes, among others, two key pieces of the Chinese music repertoire, the 'Yellow River' Piano Concerto and the 'Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto. Led by Macao Orchestra's Principal Conductor Lu Jia, fabulous pipa master Zhang Hongyan and flautist Tang Junqiao cooperate with the Orchestra in Zhou Long's, Guo Wenjing's and Bright Sheng's masterworks in the concert East Meets West. Dance is a seminal collaboration among three twentieth century masters, with choreography by Lucinda Childs and music composed by Philip Glass, set against the modernist film by visual artist Sol LeWitt. Since its debut in 1979, Dance has been recognized as a key work of the period, and was acclaimed as a postmodern classic by the The New York Times. Revived in 2009, it has since toured extensively around the world, and was referred to by the The Wall Street Journal as "one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century". Additionally, tickets for local productions Venetians Want to Get a House, by Macau Experimental Theatre, and Murder in San Jose, by Theatre Farmers, have been highly sought after.
For more information on the 25th MAF, please check the MAF booklet or website at www.icm.gov.mo/fam. For reservations, please call 2855 5555. Online reservations available at www.macauticket.com.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) launches "Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme" (QTSAS) not only to establish the standard of service quality for the tourism industry, encourage and support the trade to improve their service but also to recognize merchants for their outstanding service in the tourism industry. With the scheme, the Office will present two accolades namely "Star Merchant Award" and "Service Star Award". The food and beverage industry is chosen to compete for the award this year. MGTO held a press conference today (2 April) to unveil the objectives and content of the scheme. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; President of Executive Committee of Consumer Council, Wong Hon Neng; Vice President of Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), Florence Ian; Head of Division of Cultural Activities, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), U Weng Hong; Chairman of Macau Hotel Association, Samuel Yeung Chun Yip; Chairman of The United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau, Chan Chak Mo; Vice President of the Board of Directors of Association of Macau Small and Medium Enterprises of Catering, Lao Sam Chun and General Manager of Market Research at Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA), K. T. Ting attended the press conference. When addressing the conference, Director Senna Fernandes remarked that Macau is developing into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure while forging ahead with diversified development; in particular, service quality plays a significant factor in the progress. To keep pace with the industry's steady development, MGTO launches the scheme for the purpose of inspiring the tourism and related sectors to optimize their service. The scheme is introduced also to commend merchants for their prominent service and excellent service management. She strongly encouraged the trade to join the scheme and together enhance the quality of tourism service in Macau. The content of the "Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme" is grounded on references to similar schemes in other countries and regions. Its assessment criteria and accreditation procedures are formulated after the Office consulted industry associations and conducted tourist surveys followed by a process of synthesizing and weighing various parties' opinions. On condition that merchants who have provided quality service in tourism or related sectors in Macau fulfil a prescribed set of criteria, they are eligible for "Star Merchant Award" and "Service Star Award". The former accolade stands for quality tourism service whereas the latter honours the most outstanding service team. The food and beverage industry is chosen to kick off the scheme for the first year. According to the classification of license, there are four categories namely "Deluxe Restaurant", "First Class Restaurant", "Second Class Restaurant" and "Food and Beverage Establishments". The awards are valid from 2015 until 2017. Any licensed restaurant or catering establishment which has operated its business in Macau for one year or above is eligible for participation. The Office will accept 100 applications in total. Merchants who are interested in participation can submit applications to MGTO during 4 – 30 April. For details, please browse MGTO's website: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo. Merchants who participate in the scheme are required to go through a range of assessments in terms of service performance and management system under the assessment criteria. The assessments include "Mystery Shopping Assessment" and "Service Management System Audit" which refer to comprehensive evaluations of the merchants' frontline service and management level respectively. Merchants who reach the criteria will be awarded the "Star Merchant Award" certificate as a proof of their capability and commitment to provide excellent tourism service to customers. Valid for three years, the accolade can boost their business' publicity as well. Furthermore, the merchant who wins the highest score among other winners of "Star Merchant Award" under the same category will be presented the "Service Star Award" trophy with a cash prize. Through joining the scheme, merchants can also make a self-assessment of their own service according to the assessment criteria and well apply the scheme's operation guideline in their business to keep improving their service. MGTO has started promoting the scheme via different channels such as radio advertisements, newspaper, poster, flyer and internet, etc. calling for applications among the trade. Information about the awarded merchants will be listed in the directory of "Star Merchant Award" and "Service Star Award". The public can browse the directory on MGTO's website in due course. In the future, MGTO will keep striving to assist the trade in upgrading their tourism service quality, hoping that the trade can contribute to Macau's development into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure by providing outstanding service which will become a part of visitors' fascinating experience in Macau.
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Consumer Council conducted its first 'Supermarket price survey' for April on 1st April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th 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 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 as the Lunar New Year fell in February this year, visitor arrivals in package tour totalled 851,000 in February 2014, up by 5% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China totalled 645,000, a year-on-year increase of 7%, with 312,000 coming from Guangdong Province; meanwhile those from Taiwan (59,000), the Republic of Korea (38,000) and Hong Kong (36,000) recorded decrease. In the first two months of 2014, visitor arrivals in package tour increased by 4% year-on-year to 1,634,000. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies were 123,000 in February, down by 6% year-on-year; those travelling in package tour totalled 43,000 and the main destinations were Mainland China at 32,000 (74% of total), the Republic of Korea (6%), Taiwan (6%), and Hong Kong (5%). In the first two months of 2014, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 239,000. There were 99 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of February 2014, providing 28,000 guest rooms, down by 1% year-on-year; 5-star hotels had 18,000 rooms, accounting for 66% of the total. During the Lunar New Year period, the average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses surged by 15 percentage points year-on-year to 92%, with 5-star hotels leading at 93%. A total of 834,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses in February, up by 7% year-on-year, with 57% staying in 5-star hotels. The average length of stay of guests increased by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.5 nights. In the first two months of 2014, total number of guests was 1,706,000 and the average occupancy rate was 86%. In the first two months of 2014, visitor-guests took up 68% of the total number of overnight visitors, similar to that in the same period of 2013.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) regularly organizes professional training sessions for the tourism industry and related sectors, forging ahead with one of its main goals this year – "Strengthen industry training and management; enhance tourism service quality". The Office has held a variety of workshops instructing different sectors about practical service skills and the key to quality service in recent months for the purpose of raising the quality of customer service in Macau. MGTO has organized different workshops specifically for tour bus drivers, tour guides and retail personnel. The workshops were designed to upgrade customer service quality through relevant training materials according to the demands of different sectors. As a result, participants can effectively learn about service skills and the key to quality service which they can apply in daily work. MGTO held a customer service workshop for tour bus drivers on 19 February to instruct them about communication skills and ways to handle different circumstances arising in daily work in order to reduce chances of misunderstanding and conflict between bus drivers and passengers, which can in turn upgrade their service quality. On 31 March and 1 April, the Office held another two sessions named "Professional Tour Guide Workshop – Customer Service and Work Ethics" which addressed basic concepts and skills about quality customer service, and taught participants ways to handle different types of customer complaints. On the other hand, "The New Retail Approach: How to Create Customer Experience Workshop" will be held on 10 April, not only to enhance the retail and service skills of retail personnel but also to optimize their communication with customers and their understanding of customer needs, so that customer satisfaction can be boosted. MGTO has been working closely with industry partners and training institutes to organize different kinds of training opportunities for participants including travel consultants, tour guides, tour bus drivers and hotel employees. Other types of trainees include personnel from retail and catering sector, public transport service, etc. The Office conducts training in different forms such as workshops, courses, talks and seminars. Moreover, MGTO encourages the tourism and related sectors to join the training activities actively in order to upgrade tourism service quality in line with the goal of building Macau into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.
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President of the Electoral Affairs Committee for the Election of the Chief Executive, Ms Song Man Lei, affirmed today that the Committee will adhere strictly to the Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Law to ensure the execution of a fair and just election.
Ms Soong made this statement this morning soon after the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, presided over the swearing-in ceremony of the Ms Song as President and four other members of the Committee at Government Headquarters.
Ms Song is Judge of Court of Final Appeal and the other members are the Assistant Public Prosecutors-General of the Public Prosecutions Office, Ma Iek; the President of the Collegial Panel of the Lower Court and the Administrative Court, Mr Ip Son Sang; the Director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, José Chu; and the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Chan Chi Ping.
The Committee held its first panel meeting hours after the ceremony.
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Consumer Council pays attention to the rights of consumers of financial services. A questionnaire was sent out to local banks to survey the service charges levied on dormant bank accounts. Results of the questionnaire can be found in issue no. 247 of Consumer Report. Consumers utilize financial services frequently to manage personal finances, consumer rights, such as the cost of using such services, the policies and quality of the services provided by financial institutions, as well as how consumers' personal data is handled properly and confidentially have become critical issues for consumer organizations. In 2010, Consumer Council conducted a comprehensive survey on bank services and charges; a new questionnaire has been sent out recently to local banks to survey about the service charges levied on dormant bank accounts, and about minimum balance requirements on savings accounts. The Council hopes to make it more transparent for consumers to know about the services provided by banks and their charges involved so that any irrelevant service charges can be avoided. The latest issue of Consumer Report also reports on the annual themes of Consumes International (CI) and China Consumers' Association (CAA). As mobile phones become popularized around the world in recent years, issues such as mobile phone fees, the contract terms between consumers and service providers, and other policies have become major consumer disputes. The CI therefore announced the annual theme of 2014 to be 'Fix Our Phone Rights!', calling on consumer organizations all over the world to pay heed to consumer rights in the development of mobile phone services. The CAA, on the other hand, focuses on the newly amended Law of the People's Republic of China on Protecting Consumers' Rights and Interests, and announced the theme of 2014 as 'New Law, New Rights, New Responsibilities'. The latest Consume Report also features the details of the Chinese news writing competition and the Chinese crossword puzzle launched by the Council. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the Consumer Council (Av. Horta e Costa, N.º 24-A, Edf. Cheung Heng, R/C), and the service counter of the Council at Macao SAR Government Service Centre (Rua Nova da Areia Preta, Nº52), Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza, libraries and bookstores. Consumers may also access the magazine online on the Council's official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
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The University of Macau's (UM) State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines (QRCM Lab) recently received a certificate of appreciation from the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) for the lab's participation in the public standard-setting process and for supporting the USP's mission to "improve global health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods." UM is the first higher education institution to become USP's partner in establishing quality standards for Chinese medicines, and the certificate of appreciation from USP shows international recognition of UM's good work in Chinese medicines and in the development of international standards. Headed by Prof. Li Shaoping, the QRCM Lab established a research team after the UM-USP collaborative lab was founded in November 2012. With new, tailor-made strategies, which meet the requirements of international quality standard setting, the team has developed efficient and practical methods for quality evaluation, and prepared related chemical standards and reference standard extracts for Chinese medicines. These works have passed peer reviews and have been published in top international journals in the field, including the Journal of Chromatography A and the Journal of Separation Sciences. The team has participated in the establishment of USP quality standards for Chinese medicines including Panax notoginseng and Powdered Panax notoginseng. Related monographs will be included in the US Pharmacopeia after passing strict expert evaluation and public reviews. In addition, development of more standards for Chinese medicines such as Cordyceps sinensis is underway. Having reputable, authoritative and internationally recognised standards is the key to the globalisation and modernisation of Chinese medicines. The standards for drugs, dietary supplements and herbal medicines documented in the US Pharmacopeia are the national standards in the United States, and are used in more than 140 countries. The USP standards are among the highest standards in the world, and they play an important role in the quality control of drugs and healthcare products worldwide. USP has many standard monographs on herbal medicines (including Chinese medicines) and related preparations in published USP- Dietary Supplement Compendium (USP-DSC) and USP- Herbal Medicine Compendium (USP-HMC). In recent years USP is focusing more attention on herbal medicines. More monographs are being developed by USP and its global partners.
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