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The Heritage Foundation released today its 2012 Report on the Index of Economic Freedom, confirming Macao's high position in the world ranking of economic freedom. The SAR's score of economic freedom is 71.8, making its economy the 19th freest among 179 economies with assigned scores worldwide, which is identical to the ranking of the previous year. The study covers economies in different regions across the world while its assessment is based on 10 factors of economic freedom. Macao ranks relatively high in factors such as trade freedom, investment freedom, monetary freedom, government spending and financial freedom. The Foundation's 2012 Report says that Macao, as a free port, has long benefited from global trade and investment. The overall entrepreneurial environment is generally efficient and streamlined, and property rights are well respected. Foreign investors can conduct business on the same terms as nationals. Taxation is low and efficient. A relatively small financial system, dominated by banking, provides easy access to financing. Since opening up the gaming industry in 2002, Macao has attracted significant amounts of foreign investment and has transformed itself into one of the world's leading tourism destinations. In the Asia-Pacific region, Macao is ranked 6th out of 41 economies, just behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Chinese Taiwan. The SAR, with its overall score well above the world and regional averages, is classified as "mostly free". According to the Heritage Foundation, economic freedom is positively related to per capita income as well as overall well-being.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, met with the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Durão Barroso, on the afternoon of 10 January afternoon (local time) at the Headquarters of the EU where they agreed to step up co-operations in a wide range of areas. In the meeting, Mr Chui introduced the latest social and economic developments of Macao SAR to the President Barroso. Mr Chui told the press after the meeting that both sides had reviewed the work and achievements of co-operation in the past, and they had also agreed to enhance co-operation in future business activity, higher education, culture and creative industry and environmental protection. Asked by reporters if he would visit the EU again, Mr Chui replied that this visit had successfully broadened co-operation in all aspects, adding that he would visit EU again if required President Barroso, who met the media separately, said the meeting with Mr Chui was very important and fruitful. He also said that the outstanding economic development of Macao is a successful example of the world's economic development. Learning from Mr Chui, the Macao Government had spared no effort in boosting the diversification of Macao's economy and EU is willing to work with the Macao Government to jointly promote this work, said the President Barroso. He said he was happy to see EU and Macao strengthen the exchange in culture and higher education. Before the meeting with President Barroso, Mr Chui also met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr Didier Reynders. The Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive and the Macao Government Spokesman, Mr Tam Chon Weng, told reporters that the Chief Executive has briefed the Belgium officials on the latest economic development of the Macao SAR, especially the co-operations with the Guangdong province to achieve the aim of diversification of Macao's economy. Both sides agreed to seek for greater economic co-operation, especially to encourage Belgian businessmen to invest in Macao as well as Chinese and Macao businessmen to invest in Belgium, said Mr Tam. He said that Mr Chui had invited Mr Didier Reynders to visit Macao in June during his official trip to China. Mr Chui will meet with the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mr Libor Roucek tomorrow.
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Macau Government Tourism Office Director João Manuel Costa Antunes unveiled today that the visitor arrivals of last year reached 28 million, an increase of 12.2%. MGTO will set up a working team to initiate a three-tier working plan for tourism this year to be in line with the positioning of building Macau as the World Center of Tourism and Leisure. At the MGTO Annual Press Conference held today (Jan 10) at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center, Director Antunes reviewed last year's tourism development of Macau and outlined this year's tourism strategies and marketing promotional activities to over 400 attendants including MGTO representatives around the world, travel industry partners and around 80 international and local media. Speaking at the press conference, Antunes said that according to the preliminary figures, visitor arrivals to Macau hit 28,002,000 last year, registering an increase of 12.2% over 2010. Close to 25 million visitors were from the Greater China region, with a growth of 13.5%. International visitors rose by 2.2% to reach almost 3 million, representing10.9% of the total arrivals, while the number of international visitors was just about 580,000 in 1999 when the Macau SAR established, 7.8% of the total arrivals. The Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China continue to be the top three visitor generating markets. Visitors from the Mainland exceeded 16 million last year, scoring a surge of 22.2%. Among which 50% was from Guangdong province. Korea also performed well last year, with a rise of 20.2% to record close to 400,000 visitors. Antunes noted that 46.2% of total arrivals or close to 13 million visitors stayed overnight last year, a growth of 8.4%. From January to October, 66% of the total overnight stay or 7 million stayed in hotels, jumped by 10%. The average length of stay of the same period stood at 1.53 nights. He continued that the Mainland, Taiwan, China and Korea scored the highest growth in overnight guests in the first ten months, and India, which was not among the top ten markets, ranked sixth in terms of hotel overnight guests. USA, the United Kingdom and New Zealand were the top three markets by length of stay. In the first 3 quarters of 2011, the total visitor expenditure hit US$25.3 billion, a rise of 33.5% over the same period of 2010. Per-capita spending in the 3rd quarter of 2011 reached US$204.1, a surge of 6.8%. The average occupancy rate of Macau's hotels and guesthouses in the first ten months was 83%, increased by 4.3 percentage points. The average room rate for 3 to 5-star hotels in the first 11 months recorded a surge of 14.8%, reaching US$167. Total number of occupied rooms from January to October was 5.36 million, a rise of 14.9%. Currently, Macau has 65 hotels and 32 guesthouses, providing 23,222 rooms (guesthouses and 2 to 5-star deluxe hotels). There are 157 travel agencies and 1,518 tour guides in Macau. He pointed out that the " Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program" supported 379 events in 2011, involving over 2 million participants. Antunes expressed that with the positioning of Macau as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure, Macau is leveraging this strategic position and development direction. Last year, MGTO organized the Round Table Seminar on "How to Build a World Center of Tourism and Leisure to gather opinions and suggestion and invited experts from PATA to visit Macau to study the positioning of Macau as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure. MGTO also attended the seminars of the SAR Government Policy Research Cabinet to give opinions in tourism aspects. He added that to optimize industry management and enhance tourism service quality, China National Tourism Administration and MGTO jointly implement the Key Points for Contracts between Travel Agencies and Tour Operators Handling Mainland Tour Groups to Macau last year. MGTO also started to publish room rates of hotels and guesthouses on its website from last December on a permanent basis as a reference for visitors and residents. MGTO set up working team to initiate three-tier plan Antunes stressed that targeting the positioning of Macau as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure, policies and measures will be adjusted to give priority to develop a comprehensive tourism development plan and at the same time, MGTO will devote efforts in regional cooperation, quality tourism, tourism product mix and innovative promotion to build Macau into a quality tourism destination. He pointed out that MGTO will set up an internal working team to initiate the following three-tier working plans on tourism this year to be in line with the government's building of Macau as a World Center of Tourism and Leisure. Medium to long Term Global Plan: to suggest a medium to long-term development plan for the tourism sector from the global perspective, aiming to develop a comprehensive development plan for the tourism industry and tourism authority that is in line with the positioning; Medium Development Plan: to timely make adjustment in regard to tourism development indicators and the existing tasks of MGTO while developing special plan for the tourism sector targeting the positioning; Short Term Individual Action Plans: in response to the immediate needs and existing problems of the tourism sector, short term individual action plans will be carried out to make immediate improvements through cross-departmental cooperation with the views of the tourism industry. He expressed that MGTO supports the development of budget hotels and will coordinate with the related groups of the tourism industry to launch an online booking platform in 2012 to enhance its online promotion. In addition, cross-department reviews will be carried out on the effectiveness and execution of the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" and analysis and adjustment in strategies will be made according to the changing circumstances. Antunes said that MGTO will continue to adopt the promotional theme and slogan of " Touching Moments – Experience Macau" while channels like smart phone and social networking will be used to expand scope of information dissemination. New interactive tourism website will also be launched. Regarding regional tourism cooperation, he noted that collaboration will be strengthened under the existing cooperation framework, and will work closely with the tourism industry and step up inspections at checkpoints and provide training for the inspectors to enhance the implementation of the Key Points for Contracts between Travel Agencies and Tours Operators Handling Mainland Tour Groups to Macau. MGTO will grasp the opportunity of its Director being the Chairman of PATA from this year to strength international exchange.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, arrived in Brussels, Belgium, on 9 January (local time) for a visit to the European Union and the country. Mr Chui visited Macao's Economic and Trade Office to the European Union in Brussels, accompanied by the office's director, Mr Raimundo Arrais do Rosário. In the evening, Mr Chui and his delegation visited the office of the Chinese Mission to the EU, and attended a reception hosted by its Chargé d'Affaires, Mr Wang Hongjian. Today Mr Chui is scheduled to attend a reception to be hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr Didier Reynders, and meet the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Durão Barroso, in the afternoon.
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Consumer Council released the specific price survey on rice for January. In comparison with last (December 2011) survey's figures, 10 out of the 16 surveyed rice brand samples showed stability in price, other 6 samples recorded price increase of about 5 percent. According to recent price surveys on rice conducted by the Council, price increases in recent months had slowed down; the Council will continue to keep an eye on the price trends of rice. The specific price survey on rice conducted on January 5th showed that prices of most Japanese, Australian, and Thai rice brands had all been raised. Out of the 16 surveyed rice brand samples, 6 of them recorded price increases of about 5 percent. Though price increases had slowed down in recent months, certain rice brands still recorded obvious rise in price: '"Fung Soi" Thai Hom Mali Rice (10kg)' and '"Tsing Ling Gi" Thai Hom Mali Rice (10kg)' both had a price increment of 21 and 15 percent respectively, 'Golden Elephant Brand Premium Jasmine Rice (8kg)' also recorded price rises in several retail spots from 5 to 8 percent. For prices of the same brand sold in different retail outlets, price discrepancies still exist in certain outlets, consumers are advised to check with the data conducted by the Council. Consumer Council indicated that local rice price is expected to rise. The Council will continue to pay heed on the change in rice prices and provide timely resources for consumers. The Council also plans to include the search function of this specific price survey to its newly released iPhone app for consumers' easy reference. The latest specific price survey on rice can be accessed at the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo), consumers may also get access to individual pages of each rice brand on the 'Price Information Platform' to get full details of rice price. For inquiry, please call 89889315. The above article is accessible at http://www.consumer.gov.mo/c/ccnews.asp
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, on a monthly basis, broad money continued to grow in November. As total deposits grew much faster than total loans, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio dropped from a month earlier. Money supply
Currency in circulation and demand deposits grew 0.9% and 6.7% respectively. M1 thus increased 5.8% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 2.9%, pushing M2 to grow 3.3% to MOP301.7 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 17.4% and 25.6% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 25.1%, up marginally by 0.1 percentage point over a month ago or down 3.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 55.0%, up 2.6 percentage points month-to-month and 0.3 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits
Resident deposits increased 3.3% from the previous month to MOP295.8 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and HKD deposits grew at respective rates of 3.8% and 8.5% while other foreign currency deposits dropped 9.1%. In the meantime, non-resident deposits declined 2.1% to MOP94.2 billion whereas public sector deposits with the banking sector increased 2.1% to MOP26.1 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 2.0% from a month earlier to MOP416.1 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 21.2% and 46.4% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector dropped slightly by 0.3% on a monthly basis to MOP164.6 billion. Among which, MOP42.4 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP109.8 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 25.8% and 66.7% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans rose 2.4% to MOP151.9 billion, of which loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.7% (MOP1.1 billion) and 34.2% (MOP51.9 billion) respectively. Loan-to-deposit ratios
Due to the decline in domestic loans to the private sector and increase in resident deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-November 2011 dropped 1.8 percentage points month-to-month to 51.1%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors was 76.1%, down by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month.
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Hosted by the Macao SAR Government, coordinated by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA), with National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC invited to be the special supporting organizations and the Provincial and Regional Governments of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region invited to be the co-organizers, and Koelnmesse Pte Ltd as the event manager, the 2012 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (2012MIECF) will be held at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 29th March to 31st March 2012. The upcoming "2012 Macao International Environment Cooperation Forum and Exhibition" will be the fifth edition being held. In 2011, the event received the strong support of 49 government departments from different regions and countries, regional and international associations, institutions and trade chambers, with over 6,514 professional visitors from 48 countries and regions. 333 entities and enterprises exhibited on a floor area exceeding 16,500 sqm. 574 business matching sessions were arranged and 31 projects were signed on-site. All these facilitate MIECF to become a platform for showcasing environmental friendly technology and achievements, connecting with business clients and expanding green business opportunities. Exhibition Incentives for Macao SMEs
The 2012MIECF features the theme "Green Economy – New Engine For Growth", advocating "Thinking Green, Going Clean, Living Cool". As the annual green economic and trade platform for the environmental industry, to encourage more Macao SMEs to take part in the event, the organizer will provide up to 60% financial subsidies to eligible Macao SMEs. It is hoped that by involving SMEs to actively participate in various activities, the technology exchange and co-operation among local environmental industry, the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region and international markets will be promoted to a greater extent with more green business opportunities being explored. Local companies (Application Conditions: at least 50% of the company shareholders are Macao residents or wholly-owned Macao enterprise and registered with Macao Finance Services Bureau (DSF) for at least 2 years and fulfilled tax obligations) which are interested in participating may obtain an application form at IPIM's Macao Business Support Center (Alameda Dr. Carlos D' Assumpção, n° 263 Edf. China Civil Plaza, 19° andar, Macau) during office hours. The application is open from today until 31 January. Booths will be allocated on a first- come-first-served basis and the organizer reserves the right to select eligible exhibitors. Registration and enquiry hotline: 8798 9605, website: ：www.macaomiecf.com.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is to visit Brussels, Belgium, and the European Union during a six-day trip between 8 and 13 January. A statement by the Government Spokesperson Office today said Mr Chui and his delegation are scheduled to make courtesy calls on the President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Durão Barroso, and the Vice President of the European Parliament, Mr Libor Roucek, to exchange views on enhancing ties between Macao and the European Union. He would also make courtesy calls on leading officials of the Belgium government. During his visit in Brussels, he is also scheduled to meet the Chargé d'Affaires of the Chinese Mission to the EU, Mr Wang Hongjian, and the representative of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr Chen Xiaoming. Members of the Chief Executive's delegation include the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan; the Vice President of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho Iat Seng; the Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng; the Secretary-General of the Executive Council and Adviser of the Office of the Chief Executive, Ms O Lam, and the Director of the Macao Economic and Trade Office to the European Union, Mr Raimundo Arrais do Rosário. This is Mr Chui's first visit to the European Union as Chief Executive since he assumed office in 2009. While Mr Chui is away, his official duties will be borne by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, from 8 to 11 January, and the Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, from 12 to 13 January.
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30 December, 2011 Caritas Macau received a donation of MOP18,823, the profits of the 2011 Macau Slow Food Awards. This event was designed, planned and held by a class of second year Tourism Event Management students from the Institute for Tourism Studies. The event gave recognition to restaurants and suppliers operating along the philosophy of Slow Food Culture. The profits from entry tickets and dining vouchers were donated to Caritas Macau for charity.
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Owing to the strike action taken by postal workers in Kenya, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet and Parcel) from Macao to Sierra Leone are subject to delay until further notice. Thank you for your kind attention.
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