News

Prize Giving Ceremony of Photo Contest and "My Favorite Local Performing Team" for the "Parade for the Celebration of the Year of the Horse" was held at Tourism Activities Centre today (18 March). "Heart in Macau" Portuguese Folk Dance Association was awarded "My Favorite Local Performing Team". Director of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Acting President of Macau Sport Development Board, José Maria da Fonseca Tavares; Deputy Directors of MGTO Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong; Head of Department of Cultural Activities and Recreation of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), Choi Chi Hong; as well as Head of Cultural Events Department of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Kent Ieong Chi Kin were present at the ceremony among other guests. MGTO held the grand outdoor celebration event "Parade for the Celebration of the Year of the Horse" in early February. To encourage active participation among citizens, MGTO organized a variety of supporting activities with local photography associations and telecommunication company to boost the public's sense of involvement in the parade. MGTO organized a SMS game named "My Favorite Local Performing Team" for citizens to vote for their most-loved local performing team in the parade. "Heart in Macau" Portuguese Folk Dance Association took the highest votes to become the most popular team. During the Prize Giving Ceremony, MGTO drew out 22 lucky winners among the voters. The first two lucky winners were presented special prizes while the rest 20 winners were each given a souvenir. MGTO also sponsored a photo contest co-organized by the Photographic Society of Macau and The Photography Salon Society of Macau. The contest collected a total of 381 photo works for the parade on 2 and 8 February (the third and ninth day of Chinese New Year). Three Special Prizes, Champion, 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up as well as the five Merits were awarded to winners in the contest. All awards came with a trophy while the winners of Champion, 1st Runner-up, 2nd Runner-up and Merit were presented cash prizes as well. Both activities have given out attractive prizes. Winning the award "My Favorite Local Performing Team", "Heart in Macau" Portuguese Folk Dance Association is invited to take part in the Popular Street Marching Parades for exchange and performance in Lisbon, Portugal in June together with MGTO, whereas the first two lucky-draw winners and the three Special-Prize winners in the Photo Contest are invited to join the aforementioned parade in Portugal with MGTO for a firsthand experience of this annual local magnificent event as well. MGTO has held the grand outdoor celebration event for two years in a row, making great effort to present the event as one of the most spectacular highlights in town so that citizens and visitors can enjoy a rich festive ambience during Lunar New Year.
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Consumer Council conducted its fifth 'Supermarket price survey' for March on 17th March 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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The University of Macau (UM) English Debating Team recently won the championship at the 6th Malaysia Debate Open 2014, which was held in Malaysia. 70 teams from around the world participated in the competition. UM's English Debating Team was led by head coach Nicole Ng Chi Mei. Team members Kitty Kwok In, Sindy Leong Sin Ieng and Jenny Wong Ka Kei successfully made it into the final and won the championship in the English as Foreign Language (EFL) Category after six preliminary rounds. Kitty won the Grand Final Best Speaker Award and the Preliminary Best Speaker Award in the EFL Category. Jenny and Sindy won the third-place and fourth-place Best Speaker Awards respectively. The team is expected to participate in an open debate competition to be held in Guangzhou in early April, as well as the 5th United Asian Debating Championship to be held in Singapore in May.
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As part of the 2014 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition scheduled for March 27-29, there will be nine particular interesting forums where experts and scholars from around the world will present their knowledge and views on environmental issues. Two high-calibre experts have been invited as keynote speakers, namely, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, Recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa, University of Macau, Former Chief Economist of the World Bank and University Professor at Columbia University, USA, and Mr. James Jao, who is President of Long On Group (J.A.O. Design), Senior Expert on Planning, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of the People's Republic of China and Steering Member of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). The topic of Professor Stiglitz´s keynote speech will be "Growing Together for a Green Future: Why Solving the Inequality Issue is Crucial for Environmental Protection". According to Prof. Stiglitz, regardless of whether it is a global climate change or an environmental issue that only affects a particular area, this phenomenon will certainly impact the endangered natural resources, and vulnerable groups will be the most affected. This is precisely one of the inequalities that the governments of each country should solve. Furthermore, to reduce economic injustice is also a realistic demand, given that, if people only focus on the immediate interest and neglect sustainable development, environmental policy may not produce the desired effect. In his presentation, Prof. Stiglitz will analyse in retrospect the origin of economic inequality, its impact, and its relationship with environmental policy, to point out that, in the implementation of environmental policies and programmes, it is important to take into account two important factors, namely, equity and the environment.
Mr Jao's presentation will be based on its extensive experience in the field of urban planning and construction: his presentation will be titled "3-Star Green Building Certification in China and How to Use These Rating Criteria". In recent years, many developed countries attach great importance to the environmental, performance of the buildings, with many countries, one after another, setting their own evaluation standard for green buildings. China, based on its national conditions, has also implemented a certification procedure for green buildings applicable for the country, and in 2001 completed the "China´s Ecological Residence Technology Evaluation System". People´s increased awareness of the contribution of green buildings to enhance sustainable development will boost the development of the environmental sector, in particular, the design of environmental buildings catering to the different requirements throughout the year. Mr. Jao will also describe the current status of the development of green building technologies in the developed countries.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) joined hands with Zhongshan Tourism Bureau as well as Zhuhai Culture Sports and Tourism Bureau to attend MATTA Fair ("MATTA", i.e. Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) in Malaysia and host a "Zhongshan / Zhuhai / Macau Product Presentation & Networking Luncheon", where the three authorities jointly introduced Malaysian citizens and trade to tour itineraries which include the three destinations. Held in Kuala Lumpur on 14 – 16 March, MATTA Fair is one of the most prominent travel fairs in Malaysia. During the event, MGTO ran a Macau booth on the exhibition floor to showcase diverse gems in Macau as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, encouraging visitors to come and experience the aroma and unique blend of East and West culture in Macau. Several Malaysian travel agencies offered multi-destination tours to Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macau in the travel fair. Local citizens and trade both expressed interest in these tour itineraries. Apart from joining the fair, the three destinations' tourism departments hosted the "Zhongshan / Zhuhai / Macau Product Presentation & Networking Luncheon" on 17 March to update their industry partners in Malaysia on the three cities' latest tourism development and especially the development potential of the multi-destination tour routes. Head of Destination Marketing Department of MGTO, Betty Fok; Vice Director of Zhongshan Tourism Bureau, Chen Zhi Ming; and Section Chief of Marketing Department of Zhuhai Culture Sports and Tourism Bureau, Miao Ping attended MATTA Fair and the aforementioned product presentation. Tourism authorities of Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macau have been making concerted efforts to promote regional tourism products together. The three offices have carried out a number of joint promotion events in various countries and regions, not only striving to encourage international visitations to the three destinations in one trip but also dedicated to the branding of Pearl River Delta Region as one travel destination.
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The 2014 Macao International Environmental Protection Forum and Exhibition (2014MIECF), themed "Energizing Green Business Growth", will be held on March 27-27 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre (CotaiExpo) of Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.
Co-hosted by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and Macao Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA), MIECF has continuously developed since its inception in 2008, to fully play its role as a green business, technology and information exchange platform between the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region and the international market. MIECF is an annual event for the international environmental community. Through a series of activities, including exhibition, green forums, green business matching and Green Public Day, it aims to promote the green business and related technology exchange, push forward the development of international co-operation in the field of environmental protection, create business opportunities, and advocate the environmental protection concept. After years of development, MIECF has become an efficient platform for the environmental industry and a certified "UFI Approved Event" by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry since 2011. The number of visitors has increased from 2,000 registered in the first year to more than 10,000 in 2013. Of these, professional visitors increased from 2,000 to 6,805. In the first edition, 164 exhibitors from eight countries and regions participated in the event. Last year, this number had increased to 398 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions. Also the size of the venue, initially of 6,900 square metres, increased to 16,000 square metres in 2013. Green Forum and Green Exhibition are two major components of the MIECF. Through the organisation of a series of forums with different topics, the organizer intends to promote co-operation and exchange between the environmental industry of Macao and its counterparts in the Pan-Pearl River Delta and the international market, especially with the Portuguese-speaking and other emerging countries, in addition to creating business opportunities.
Nine forums were held at the 2013MIECF, where 67 speakers and moderators from 13 countries and regions presented their views and exchanged ideas on environmental issues, attended by more than 2,700 delegates. The level of the speakers is constantly rising, and the participants represented a wide range of sectors. MIECF´s Green Exhibition aims to attract the active participation of local and overseas environmental companies and organisations, to promote the exchange and co-operation between Macau, the Pan-PRD and the international market, and thus generate green business opportunities for the exhibitors. Last year's edition of the MIECF attracted the participation, as exhibitors, of more than 400 enterprises from approximately 30 countries and regions. The exhibition venue, with an area of more than 16,000 square metres, covered six exhibition areas, namely, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, green transportation, waste and water treatment and green services.
Last year the organiser received 752 environmental projects and products agency proposals from several countries and regions, an increase of 7% over 2012. A total of 846 business matching sessions were held, up 20.51% compared to 2012 (86 business matching sessions were held with the participation of enterprises from Portuguese-speaking Countries). Participants in the business matching sessions were from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, the United States, Australia, Taiwan and Portuguese-Speaking Countries, of which 405 sessions were related to hotel procurement and 99 were government-related. During the three-day event last year, 41 co-operation agreements were signed, to fully demonstrate the role played by MIECF, in the promotion of technology development of the environmental industry. Over the past six years, MIECF was instrumental in the signing of the 155 co-operation projects involving such countries as the Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Portugal, the United States of America, South Korea and Canada, and 90% of these projects have already been implemented. This fully demonstrates that MIECF is steadily progressing and has received recognition from the environmental industry, to gradually become an important platform between the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region and the international environmental industries.
Green Public Day is an open event where the public can grab the opportunity to learn about and participate in international green large-scale events and jointly promote the green and low-carbon life concept. Last year a total of 3,400 people participated in the Green Public Day-related activities.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2013 expanded by 14.3% year-on-year in real terms, which was spurred by rising exports of services. Among the major components, exports of gaming services and exports of other tourism services grew by 17.1% and 10.6% respectively, merchandise exports went up by 15.9%, gross fixed capital formation expanded by 9.5%, private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose by 6.5% and 6.1% respectively, whereas merchandise imports and imports of services went up by 22.8% and 1.9% respectively. For the whole year of 2013, GDP increased by 11.9% in real terms to MOP413.5 billion; per-capita GDP amounted to MOP697,502(about USD87,306). The economic growth was fuelled by the notable increase of 12.0% in exports of services on account of the impetus from the flourishing tourism and gaming sector; in particular, exports of gaming services grew by 12.4% and exports of other tourism services went up by 10.0%, which contributed 12.3 percentage points to economic growth. In respect of other components, despite the 27.3% rise in private investment, the substantial decrease of 48.1% in public investment narrowed down the growth in gross fixed capital formation apparently to 4.7%. Meanwhile, both private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose by 6.3%, merchandise exports expanded by 11.4% and merchandise imports rose by 15.1%. Conducive factors to the economic expansion include:
 an increase of 18.6% in gross gaming revenue;
 a rise of 4.4% in visitor arrivals and 13.7% increase in total spending of visitors;
 an increase of 11.8% in hotel guests;
 an upsurge of 27.3% in private investment;
 an increase of 23% in value of retail sales;
 monthly median employment earnings of the employed continued to increase. GDP growth in real terms for the first 3 quarters of 2013 was revised to 11.9%, 9.8% and 11.2% respectively; economic growth for 2011 and 2012 was revised to 21.3% and 9.1% respectively. Moreover, the implicit deflator of GDP that measures overall changes in prices increased by 8.1% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2013 and 7.6% for the whole year of 2013. Read Attachment
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, convened an inter-departmental meeting last night to discuss stepped-up preventative measures to be taken after the H7-type avian flu virus was tested positive in a sample of imported live poultry isolated in a wholesale market and in two environmental samples in two wet markets.
The meeting, convened at 8,30 pm at the Government Headquarters, were attended by the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan; Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng; Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Ms O Lam; Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice; Ms Cheong Chui Ling; Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Victor Chan Chi Ping; Director of the Health Bureau, Mr Vong Iao Lek; Acting President of the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Mr Vong Iao Lek; and others officials.
Mr Vong reported to the Chief Executive that they had informed the Health Bureau right after two environmental samples found in two wet markets had been tested positive with the H7-type avian influenza virus and the Health Bureau had immediately stepped up measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus, and to promote the importance of personal hygiene.
Mr Chui instructed the officials from the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Health Bureau that it is compulsory to keep the public informed of the latest situation and of the prevention and control measures to be taken by the Government. He stressed that in any public crisis, the Government's top priority is to protect people's lives and health.
To date there has been no reports of any person contracting the virus, but the Government would closely monitor the situation and formulate a comprehensive plan to prevent its spread to human in line with the World Health Organization guidelines, said the Chief Executive.
He also said that Macao has to keep in close contact with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Genarl Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the World Health Organization, and the neighbouring region, and to exchange the latest information with Guangdong and Hong Kong via the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao Health Emergency Response Mechanism.
The H7-type virus was tested positive in a sample batch of live poultry imported from the Mainland H7 avian flu virus on 12 March and the poultry wholesale market was sealed off immediately and sterilized after the culling of about 7,500 chickens quarantined there awaiting test results. The sale of all live poultry in Macao has been suspended for 21 days, in line with the World Health Organization guidelines.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a Customer Service Seminar for travel trade and MGTO frontline staff for the purpose of enhancing their communication skills, self-confidence and team spirit so that service quality can be upgraded in the industry. Alfred Cheung, an industry trainer from Hong Kong was invited to conduct the seminar. The Customer Service Seminar was held at Tourism Activities Centre today (14 March). MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes gave a welcome remark to the trade participants in the seminar, expressing that service quality is very important to Macau as a city developing into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. She hoped that the seminar can inspire the participants as a great learning experience. MGTO invited Alfred Cheung, the acclaimed film director and industry trainer in Hong Kong, to address the seminar. Business supervisors from Macau tourism, hotel and retail sector as well as representatives of related industry associations joined the seminar along with MGTO frontline staff. The seminar covered topics including "Experience Economy", drama-based training, whole new mind, role play as well as an introductory explanation about the "Hu Du Men" spirit. The seminar was designed to upgrade service quality in the industry through creative training. As an acclaimed film director who has engaged in the Hong Kong movie industry for over 20 years, Alfred Cheung is also an industry trainer who founded "Alfred Cheung Acting Studio" in 2003 and has ten years of experience training personnel for enterprises. His training method combines drama and service skills, and serves to assist enterprises in advancing their employees' communication skills, self-confidence and team spirit through creative drama-based training, which ultimately enhances their service quality. The Studio has provided training and workshops for a variety of enterprises, institutes and individuals in Hong Kong, including governmental entities, hotels, travel agencies, theme parks, telecommunication companies, banks and financial institutes, insurance companies and universities, etc. MGTO will keep organizing various types of industry training activities to enhance industry training management and service quality in the industry. The Office encourages industry partners to seize the training opportunities actively in order to present a friendly tourism environment together and build up a positive image of Macau as a tourist city in line with the goal of building Macau into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.
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The University of Macau (UM) Honours College (HC) recently signed collaboration agreements with two universities in the United States – The George Washington University, and Washington University in St. Louis. The first batch of HC students to study at these two universities is expected to leave in the spring of 2015. They will study at the two universities for one semester. So far seven overseas universities have signed collaboration agreements with HC. The collaboration programme with the George Washington University (GW) is supported by the Friedman Fund, which was created with Mr. David Friedman's donation to GW for the purpose of promoting academic collaboration between UM and GW. The fund will cover costs associated with the first batch of HC students studying at GW under the Macau Friedman Scholars Programme. Mr. Friedman, who encouraged HC students to study hard and make a contribution to society during his visit to HC in October 2013, noted that the donation shows not only his continued support of GW, but also his recognition of UM for its excellent work. UM Rector Wei Zhao expressed sincere thanks to Mr. Friedman's generous donation, saying that the agreement contributes to the mission of "nurturing future leaders with global perspective, an ideal all three parties firmly believe in", and he looks forward to "a fruitful cooperation with the George Washington University for years to come." UM's HC was founded in 2009. The first of its kind in Macao, HC offers a three-year parallel programme to a selected group of academically gifted undergraduates with leadership potential and a strong sense of civic responsibility. HC students have ample opportunities to participate in university-funded research projects and creative activities, and every HC student can study at a first-rate overseas university for one semester in the third year. HC has established partnerships with many well-known universities around the world, including the University of Coimbra in Portugal, and the University of Michigan, Boston College, the University of Rochester, and the University of Illinois in the United States.
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