News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the total population was 607,500 at end-2013, an increase of 25,500 (+4.4%) year-on-year; female population (312,300) accounted for 51.4% of the total. As regards the age structure, the elderly population (aged 65 and over) took up 8.0% of the total, up by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year; the youth population (aged 0-14) accounted for 11.3%, down by 0.3 percentage points, and the adult population (aged 15-64) shared 80.7%, down by 0.1 percentage point. A total of 6,571 live births were delivered for the whole year of 2013, a decrease of 744 year-on-year. The gender ratio of the newborn stood at 114.5, corresponding to 114.5 male babies per 100 female babies. Mortality cases totalled 1,920 in 2013, an increase of 79 year-on-year; the top three underlying causes of death were Neoplasms, Diseases of the Circulatory System and Diseases of the Respiratory System. In addition, there were 1,756 live births and 528 mortality cases in the fourth quarter of 2013. In 2013, there were 3,338 Chinese immigrants, a decrease of 722 year-on-year; the individuals granted right of abode registered a net inflow of 1,295. Meanwhile, a total of 1,335 illegal Chinese immigrants were repatriated to the Mainland, an increase of 184 year-on-year. Non-resident workers totalled 137,838 at end-2013, an increase of 27,286 year-on-year. For the whole year of 2013, marriage registration totalled 4,153 cases, up by 370 cases (+9.8%) year-on-year; a total of 1,172 divorce cases were recorded in 2013, an increase of 25 cases year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate declined further as the job market stayed robust. The unemployment rate for November 2013-January 2014 was 1.7%, down by 0.1 percentage point from October-December 2013; the underemployment rate held stable at 0.4%. Total labour force was 379,000 and the labour force participation rate stood at 73.0%. Total employment reached 372,000, an increase of 1,700 from October-December 2013. Analysed by industry, employment in Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities increased by 1.9%. Number of the unemployed was 6,500, down by 300 from October-December 2013; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 14.6% of the total unemployed, up by 1.0 percentage point. In comparison with November 2012-January 2013, the labour force participation rate increased by 0.5 percentage points; both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today pledged to do more listening and collecting opinions from the public and formulate policies that would meet the people's needs.
The government would also review policies that did not meet the people's requirement: in the future only policies that best fit the actual needs of the people would be implemented, he said.
Mr Chui made the pledge this afternoon when he visited Coloane and Taipa to get a better feel of people's livelihood and their business environment. He firstly visited Coloane where representatives of the Macao General Neighbourhood Unions Association briefed him on plans for revitalisation, ideas on community development and suggestions on a green environment.
This was followed by a visit to Central Park on Taipa where he went into some shops and talked with merchants on a range of subjects including the business atmosphere, rents, construction for infrastructure and traffic conditions.
After the visits Mr Chui held discussions with representatives of associations from Coloane and Taipa respectively. The visits enabled him to collect much opinions and suggestions from the public and the government would study them with caution and take them as reference in making policies aimed at improving the people's livelihood and business environment, he said.
Future development plans would focus on how best to enhance the living and business environments in the old and new districts. Moreover, the government would have to ease problems such as facilities in the wet market, the lack of parking spaces, and living and travel convenience for the elderly.
The Chief Executive was accompanied by the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, the Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Alexis Tam Chon Weng; the Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Ms Wallis O Lam; the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Victor Chan Chi Ping; the acting President of IACM, Mr Vong Iau Lek and the Director of DSSOPT, Mr Jamie Carion.
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In 2013, a total of 587 applications for temporary residency for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders were received by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) (an increase of 47 compared with last year), 105 applications for major investment and major investment plans (an increase of 21 compared with last year), representing 84.83% and 15.17% of the total of 692 new applications in 2013. Approved cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders amounted to 251 (an increase of 11 compared with last year), approved applications for major investment and major investment plans totalled 41 (an increase of 33 compared with last year). In accordance with the Administrative Regulation No. 7/2007, temporary residency applications for fixed asset purchases have been suspended since 4 April 2007. There were over 4,000 applications lodged before the closing date of the policy and are still being processed. Therefore, there were no new residency applications for fixed assets purchases in 2013 while all of the 7 already approved cases were lodged before 4 April 2007. Currently, there are still 2 remaining cases being processed as the identity and education qualifications need to be verified. Please read at attachment!
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Prof. Jia Jinhua from the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Arts and Humanities has been elected fellow of the National Humanities Center (NHC) of the United States, becoming the first from the Greater China region (Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore) to be elected a fellow of NHC. She has also been invited to work on her research projects at the centre during the 2014-2015 period. NHC is one of the few renowned "institutes for advanced studies" in the world. It is dedicated to promoting intellectual autonomy, intellectual depth, and scholarly community. Earlier Prof. Jia was elected member of the Academic Committee of the Academy of Chinese Buddhism. She has also been invited to serve as a partner of the World Consortium for Research in Confucian Culture and as a plenary speaker for the Consortium's inauguration conference "Confucian Values and a Changing World Cultural Order" to be held in October 2014 in Hawaii.
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The Institute for Tourism Studies "Career Day 2014" was held on 26 February at IFT Taipa Campus. The event aimed to provide more information on the employment trends and prospects in the tourism and hospitality industry for graduating students, thus increasing their chances of success in job hunting. 19 organisations with about 1,300 job vacancies from the tourism and services industry joined the event. These included DFS Cotai Limitada, East Asia Airline Limited, EGL Tours (Macau) Company Limited, Four Seasons Hotel Macao Cotai Strip, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Grand Hyatt Macau, L'Arc Macau, Lisboa Hotels Complex Macau, Louis Vuitton Macau Company Limited, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM MACAU, Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited, New Yaohan, Nuance-Watson (Macau) Limited, Sands China, Sheraton Macao, Shun Tak Holdings (Macau) Limited, Wing On Holidays (Macau) Limited and Wynn Macau. Representatives from the participating organisations introduced career prospects and positions available in their companies as well as arranged on site interviews for graduating students and alumni. The graduates-to-be and alumni were enthusiastic about the event. Questions regarding employment trends and employers' expectation were raised and discussed in the fair. The employment rate of IFT graduates is always satisfactory. A graduates' employment survey was conducted with respondents of 2011/12 graduates. According to the survey results, 96.7% of the degree programme graduates were employed, 3.3% graduates pursued further studies; 78% of the employed graduates worked in the tourism and hospitality sector, the median salary of MOP12,900. The Career Day aimed to be the direct communication platform between students and employers, allowing students to have a better idea about the current job market and maximised their chance of successful job application.
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Three PhD students from the University of Macau (UM) State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI and Faculty of Science and Technology did exceptionally well at the 61st IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), which is considered the "Chip Olympics". One of them received the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Predoctoral Achievement Award, and the other two were interviewed during the conference by a number of the world's leading IC companies including MediaTek and Qualcomm, with Qualcomm inviting them to visit its headquarters in San Diego, United States, with full financial support, to present their papers and to each receive an intensive five-hour job interview. The three students, Yan Zushu, Lin Fujian and Lin Zhicheng, are supervised by Chair Professor Rui Martins and Prof. Elvis Mak Pui In.
Over 3,000 representatives from the academia and industry attended this year's ISSCC, which was held in San Francisco, United States. The UM team presented four state-of-the-art chips at the conference. Yan Zushu received the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Predoctoral Achievement Award, making UM one of the first two universities from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao to receive this award since its founding in 1983 (the other university being the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology). The other seven recipients of this award come from the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; the California Institute of Technology; the KU Leuven; the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
The other two students, Lin Fujian and Lin Zhicheng, after presenting their works which were considered to be of exceptional quality, were interviewed during the conference by a number of the world's leading IC companies including MediaTek and Qualcomm, with Qualcomm inviting them to visit its headquarters in San Diego, United States, with full financial support, to present their papers and to each receive an intensive five-hour job interview. The award and the international recognition are testament to the high quality of the research results achieved by UM's students in the highly competitive field of electronics.
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Consumer Council conducted its seventh 'Supermarket price survey' in February on 24th February for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Sé 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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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosts spring banquets and travel marts in Taipei and Kaohsiung today and tomorrow, taking this chance to introduce MGTO's main working goals this year to local media and travel trade while providing networking and cooperation opportunities for industry partners from Macau and Taiwan. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and about 20 travel trade delegates set off from Macau for spring-festival group visits and promotion activities in Taipei and Kaohsiung on 24 – 25 February. The program includes travel mart, media luncheon, trade dinner and trade award ceremony, etc. During the visit, MGTO introduces its working goals in 2014 as well as its projects and schemes for Taiwan market. The activities are held to facilitate cooperation and exchange opportunities between industry partners from both destinations. The Office also presents awards to encourage Taiwan trade to keep promoting Macau as a travel destination. Head of Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, China, Nadia Leong Kit Chi; Chairman of Travel Agent Association of Taiwan and Taipei Association of Travel Agents, Louis Hsu; Deputy Director of Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association Taipei Office, Li Jianping attended the trade dinner in Taipei. Director Senna Fernandes commented that despite inauguration of direct flights across the Straits, the number of flights between Taiwan and Macau has dropped to certain extent; nonetheless, the ratio of overnight stay visitors and hotel overnight guests from Taiwan keeps growing in Macau, having almost doubled over the past five years. Macau has gradually become a leisure tourism destination worthy of a longer trip in Taiwanese visitors' perspective, a phenomenon that can be attributed to the concerted efforts of the trade, media and MGTO. With the signing of "Air Transport Agreement between Macao and Taiwan", it is expected that more airlines can provide flight service between Macau and Taiwan. The Office will also enhance its cooperation with airlines and travel agencies in Taiwan market, suggesting fun ideas of exploration in Macau and various itineraries ranging from cultural, festive to shopping tour packages which are tailor-made for different niche audiences like "family visitors", "office workers", "female visitors", "newlyweds" and "silver peers" so that any types of visitors can enjoy a trip in Macau which accommodates their interest. In addition, the Office will continue to promote multi-destination tour products and in particular, launch a new Macau – Hengqin tour route riding on the opening of Chimelong's theme park in Hengqin this year. Visitors can therefore explore both cities as a new and diverse experience. MGTO will visit Kaohsiung along with Macau trade delegates on 25 February and host a banquet for local media and trade. The Office will also organize a travel mart for industry partners from both destinations to explore and discuss business opportunities. In the end, the Office hopes that more residents in Southern Taiwan will find it a fascinating idea to visit Macau.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that as the Lunar New Year falls on January this year, visitor arrivals totalled 2,503,609, up by 8% year-on-year, attributable to an increase in visitors from Mainland China. Same-day visitors accounted for 54% of the total, at 1,344,101. In January 2014, visitors from Mainland China increased by 15% year-on-year to 1,689,277, coming primarily from Guangdong Province (815,240), Fujian Province (59,924) and Shanghai (54,046); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme totalled 832,381, sharing 49% of the total from Mainland China. Moreover, visitors from Taiwan, China (77,859) and the Republic of Korea (59,143) increased by 1% and 12% respectively year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (494,149) and Japan (25,736) decreased by 3% and 4%. Long-haul visitors from the United States (14,483), Australia (11,311) and Canada (5,750) decreased by 1%, 7% and 4% respectively year-on-year; on the contrary, visitors from the Russian Federation (4,115) increased by 6%. The average length of stay of visitors stayed unchanged from a year earlier, at 1.0 day in January 2014; overnight and same-day visitors stayed an average of 1.9 days and 0.2 day respectively.
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