News

In order to facilitate students' learning on foreign affairs and international relations of our country, IFT invited Mr. Yin Juming, Director-General of Policy Research Department of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the PRC in Macao SAR to give a lecture on China's foreign policy and foreign affairs related to Macao on 19 April. The lecture was held in the Grand Hall of IFT Macao Campus, with close to 100 students and staff members attending. Mr. Yin Juming introduced the development of China's foreign affairs in the past 60 years after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The achievement in foreign affairs can be divided according to several historical phrases: the foundation of China's foreign relations with East European countries and the USSR, as well as countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in1950s and 1960s; the achievement of Chinese-US diplomatic relations, establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan, recovery all legal rights in the United Nations in 1970s; in the following two decades, China's opening-up and reform, establishment of relations with more countries had played a even bigger role in the development; after millennium, our country has promoted peaceful development, looking for similarities while accepting difference. After joining the WTO and successfully organising the APEC Conference, Beijing Olympics and Expo 2012 Shanghai China, China shows its rapid development and the even more active participation in the world.
In addition, Mr. Yin Juming also talked about the policy of consular service and the focus of the service in recent years. Meanwhile, he also shared his ideas on foreign affairs related to Macao as well as the harsh experience of being a diplomat in war-affacted regions. Last but not least, how the Macao SAR Government establishes external relations in the context of Macao Basic Law and what Macao residents have to pay attention to while they travel overseas are also discussed in the seminar.
During the seminar, Ms. Florence Ian, the Vice-President of IFT presented a token of appreciation to Mr. Yin Juming for bringing the students the latest situation of China's foreign affairs. By organising diversified activities, it is hoped that IFT students can keep closed eyes on what's happening around them and be more concerned about the future of our society and our country.
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Over 9,200 correct entries had been received for the online quiz on the knowledge about 'Consumer Arbitration Centre' co-organized by Consumer Council and Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ). Entrants are entitled to a lucky draw. In order to promote the regulations and services of Consumer Arbitration Centre, Consumer Council and DSAJ co-organized an online quiz earlier and many entries had been received. A total of over 9,200 entries were recorded to have correct answers to the questions and 20 winners will be drawn shortly. Each winner will be notified individually and awarded with MOP1,000 each. Consumer Council also released its latest specific price report on seasonings. In comparison with February's survey, prices of the 13 items surveyed on 13th April, including soy sauce, salt, and sugar, etc., all remained stable, though price discrepancies existed quite significantly for 'Tai Yang Hua Brand Table Salt (1lb)' where the highest and lowest selling price differed for 60%; 'Taikoo Granulated Sugar (2lb)' also recorded a price difference of over 55%. In the current survey, 'Tai Yang Hua Brand Table Salt (1lb)' recorded price increases of about 6% to 16%, ranging from MOP2.50 to MOP4.00. Obvious price rise was revealed in 'Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce (510g)' in which price increases of over 20% were recorded in two retail outlets, from about MOP29.00 back in February to the newest price of about MOP37.00, and this oyster sauce was sold at a price ranged from MOP28.50 to MOP41.00 in different outlets, making the lowest and highest price differed for over 43%. Consumers may access the data 'Specific product Price Information Platform' online, and the aforementioned survey has been uploaded to the Council's website. For inquiry, please call 8988-9315.
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IFT Tourism Research Centre (ITRC) will be holding a public seminar "Tourism, Culture and Creativity" on 24 April between 1600 to 1730 at Pousada Conference Room, by Professor Greg Richards who is a Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands. The seminar considers the rapidly developing relationship between tourism and creativity, and how 'creative tourism', which enables tourists to discover local cultures through their own creative activities, is becoming a niche in its own right. The seminar will be conducted in English and free of charge. Please visit IFT's website http://www.ift.edu.mo/EN/Event/Index/43/420 for further information and registration. While seats are limited, interested parties please register by 22 April. Should there be any enquiry, please feel free to contact Ms. Virginia Hong at 85061-253.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of 2012 increased by 10.15% year-on-year to 124.33, attributable to rising price indices of restaurant services and accommodation. Increasing hotel room rate, higher charges of restaurant services and entertainment in the Lunar New Year, as well as dearer prices of gold jewellery pushed up the price index of Restaurant Services (+18.60%); Entertainment & Cultural Activities (+15.09%); Miscellaneous Goods (+14.55%); and Accommodation (+9.20%) to register notable year-on-year increase. TPI for the first quarter of 2012 decreased by 2.93% quarter-to-quarter, of which the price index of Clothing & Footwear; and Accommodation dropped by 10.12% and 9.08% respectively on account of lower hotel room rate compared with previous quarter, seasonal sale of men and women's clothing. On the contrary, price index of Restaurant Services increased by 4.20% quarter-to-quarter. The average TPI for the last four quarters ended the first quarter of 2012 increased by 14.24% from the previous period, with marked increase being observed in the price index of Accommodation (+28.25%); Miscellaneous Goods (+17.99%); and Restaurant Services (+14.58%). The 2009/2010-based TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors. Sections of TPI goods and services are based on 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 distribution overview of the Wealth Partaking Scheme 2012 is as follow:
1. Beneficiaries
1. Holders of valid or renewable Macau SAR Resident Identity Card on 31 December 2011 are entitled to receive the cash premium. Every Macau SAR Permanent and Non-Permanent Resident Identity Cardholders will be granted 7,000.00 patacas and 4,200.00 patacas respectively.
2. Pursuant to Article 3 (2) of Law No.8/2002 regarding the circumstances of non-compulsory acquisition of resident identity card, persons below the age of 5 on 31 December 2011, will be granted the cash premium upon the obtainment of the abovementioned identification document.
3. Holders of valid or renewable Macao SAR Resident Identity Card who are currently residing abroad will be granted the cash premium, provided that they can prove that they are unable to renew their Macao SAR Resident Identity Card due to the reason of bedridden, completely or partly paralyzed. For those who have submitted the documentary proof and were granted the cash premium in the previous year, the Social Welfare Bureau is authorized to exempt them from documents resubmission if it is concluded that no new evidence is needed for the approval of current Scheme after analyzing the existing documents.
4. Macau SAR residents, who are eligible for this scheme, have not received the cash by reason of death, the respective amount can be requested by the administrator of the deceased's estate, which is required under Article 1917 of the Civil Code for the administration of the deceased estate unit its liquidation and distribution.
2. Modes of distribution
1) Bank transfer The following individuals will have the cash premium disbursed by means of bank transfer:
- Persons receiving financial assistance or subsidy for senior citizens from the Social Welfare Bureau;
- Teaching staff receiving direct subsidy as well as students in tertiary education receiving student aid from the Student Benefits Fund of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau;
- Retired civil servants receiving retirement pension and other persons receiving aforesaid pension for the family of the deceased;
- Civil servants.
2) Crossed cheque mailing
The rest qualified for being awarded the cash premium will receive the crossed cheque via mail by the Identification Services Bureau. Details are as follows:
- Beneficiaries aged 18 or above will each receive a cheque made payable to the beneficiary;
- Minor beneficiaries (under the age of 18) will each receive a cheque made payable to the beneficiary, his/her father, and his/her mother, which may be deposited either into the beneficiary's account, his/her father's account, or his/her mother's account. The crossed cheque will be sent via mail so as to enable the beneficiaries to get the cheque in the simplest way. Since it is a crossed cheque, it can only be deposited into the payee's account, in this way, even if one gets the cheque of others, in no way the cheque can be cashed. 3) Special circumstances
The Social Welfare Bureau shall be responsible for the distribution of cash premium to the following persons: persons stated in above 1 (3), minors whose guardianship has not been established, incompetent persons, and persons deprived of their liberty by rehabilitative measures or subjected to criminal punishment. 3. Schedule for Distribution
(* please find the attached file) 4. Address change for mailing purpose
The address of holders of Macau Resident Identity Card in the database of the Identification Services Bureau is the one declared by the resident during his/her replacement for the Macau SAR Resident Identity Card. To ensure that the residents can receive their cheques in time, those who have moved their residence can change their address information in the following ways:
- Prior to changing the address, the resident has to provide data for verification by entering his/her identity card number, his/her date of birth and his/her mother's name (as the names of father and mother are not shown on the identity card), at the Identification Services Bureau website (www.dsi.gov.mo); - Return directly the declaration for change of address to the Identification Services Bureau. 5. Establishment of Support Centre for Wealth Partaking Disbursement
With an effort to cope with the implementation of the Scheme, the Support Centre for Wealth Partaking Disbursement was set up. The Centre is equipped with staff and a hotline to handle and entertain enquiries related to the Scheme, as well as to help solving other problems. The hotline will be lunched on 17th April 2012, with fully opening on 23rd April. The centre is located in Avenida da Praia Grande, n.º 762-804, Edifício China Plaza, 1st floor, shop AJ. Opens on Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays), from 9:00 to 18:00 straight. The service hotline and facsimile are 2822 5000 and 2822 3000. The official website of Wealth Partaking Scheme http://www.planocp.gov.mo provides the most up-to-dated information and it is also possible to obtain information about the status of the correspondent disbursement by entering the resident identity card number, date of birth and his/her mother's name for verification.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours surged by 41.7% year-on-year to 661,320 in February 2012. Visitors from Mainland China (438,720) increased by 32.0%, with 155,036 coming from Guangdong Province; besides, those from Taiwan, China (68,233); Hong Kong (38,944); and the Republic of Korea (34,498) soared by 174.1%, 95.9% and 34.8% respectively. In the first two months of 2012, visitors in package tours totalled 1,296,313, up by 42.6% year-on-year to account for 28.2% of the total visitor arrivals, higher than the 21.4% from the same period of 2011. Outbound residents travelling in package tours increased by 5.7% year-on-year to 21,896 in February 2012. The most popular tour itineraries were Mainland China (79.0% of total), the Republic of Korea (5.0%), and Hong Kong (4.3%), with 12,502 travelling to Guangdong Province. In the first two months of 2012, residents travelling in package tours totalled 48,168, up by 23.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies soared by 80.3% year-on-year to 75,928 in February 2012; the main destinations were Mainland China (56.2% of total); Hong Kong (19.5%); and Taiwan, China (13.6%). In the first two months of 2012, those travelling under such arrangements surged by 68.3% year-on-year to 143,311. Number of available guest rooms of the 95 hotels and guest-houses totalled 22,310 at the end of February 2012, an increase of 2,227 rooms (+11.1%) year-on-year, with those of the 5-star hotels accounting for 63.5% of the total. Hotels and guest-houses received 721,036 guests in February 2012, an increase of 20.1% year-on-year; the average length of stay decreased by 0.12 night to 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses stood at 85.8%, up by 3.6 percentage points year-on-year; average occupancy rate of the hotels was 86.5%, with 4-star hotels reaching 89.3%. Number of guests increased by 14.4% year-on-year to 1,420,269 in the first two months of 2012; average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses stood at 82.3%, up by 1.6 percentage point year-on-year. In the first two months of 2012, visitor-guests accounted for 63.3% of the total number of overnight visitors, higher than the 60.1% from the same period of 2011.
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IFT strives to offer students various practical experiences in the bachelor degree programmes, enabling students to master the requirements of the industry and be prepared for the challenges in the job market. All Bachelor degree programme students are required to complete a 6-month internship programme at tourism organisations in Macao or overseas in their 3rd year of study. Since the establishment of internship programme, performances of the students are excellent and feedbacks from the industry are very positive. In the previous academic year, over 50 organisations and corporations offer internship opportunities to IFT students, including the Air Macau Company Limited, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Cultural Affairs Bureau, DFS Cotai Limitada, East Asia Airlines Ltd., EGL Tours (Macau) Company Limited, Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Grand Hyatt Macau, Hong Thai Travel Services (Macau) Ltd., L'Arc Macau, Louis Vuitton Macau Company Limited, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre, Mandarin Oriental, Macau, Melco Crown Entertainment, Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited, MGM Macau, Morning Star Travel Service (Macau) Ltd., New Yaohan Department Store, Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, Sofitel Macau At Ponte 16, Venetian Macau Ltd., Wing On Holidays (Macau) Limited, Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. and other tourism organisations. To broaden the horizons of the students, IFT aggressively explore more opportunities of overseas internship. Students can choose to join the internship programme in large corporations in the USA, Europe, South East Asia, Hong Kong and mainland China to experience the local cultures. In the past, students have worked for Grand Hyatt Dubai in United Arab Emirates, Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront in New Zealand, Golden Sands Resort by Shangri-la in Malaysia, Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya in Thailand, National Trust in UK, Pacific Asia Travel Association in Thailand, Park Hyatt Beijing in Mainland China, St. James's Hotel and Club in UK, Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island in USA, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation in India, Universal Studios Singapore in Singapore, W Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China, Wynn Las Vegas in USA and other international well-known organisations. IFT and Walt Disney World have been worked together since 2006 to offer different internship programmes to students. Currently, the programme includes, • 6-month Cultural Representative Programme of Food & Beverage Service at Disney World China Pavilion for year 3 students
• 1-year Cultural Representative Programme of Merchandise and Food & Beverage Services for graduates
• "International College Programme" offered by the Florida State University and Disney World - Participating students will attend an intensive hospitality course at the Florida State University before they perform internships at the Walt Disney World On 14 March and 16 April, Disney World International Recruitment Team was invited to IFT for a talk on the internship programme, as well as a preliminary interview to the students. The recruitment team consists of Ms. Sue Sharpe, International Recruitment Recruiter, Mr. Fernando Oliveira, Guest Service Manager of Attractions at Epcot and Ms. Cindy Yu, Administrative Officer of China Pavilion. Successful candidates will go to the Walt Disney World in Florida, USA to learn the theme park operation knowledge and customer service skill. They can also experience different cultures through the interactions with students around the world.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP128.8 billion (USD16.10 billion) at the end of March 2012. The reserves rose by 1.6% or MOP2.1 billion from the revised value of MOP126.7 billion (USD15.86 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2012 represented 20 times the currency in circulation or 158.2% of Pataca M2 at end-February 2012. 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, rose by 0.16 points month-to-month and 0.51 points year-on-year to 88.24 in March 2012. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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The Macau Grand Prix Committee (MGPC) and the Macau Government Tourist Office once again cooperated this year to organize a promotional activity at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai from 13th to 15th of April. The Macau Grand Prix promotional booth was located at the Waterscape Square with an exhibition area of 150 square meters, and the eye-catching display area included two racing vehicles: the 1990 Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix-winning machine driven by Michael Schumacher; plus the motorcycle ridden by Robert Dunlop, 1989 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix champion. The display's winners' podium was a popular feature for more photo opportunities. Located next to this was a photo exhibition area which highlighted images of Macau and excitement of the Grand Prix, giving visitors a chance to see the many different aspects of the city. In addition, promotional materials and posters were distributed to attract visitors to Macau and the Grand Prix. This year, a 'Q & A Lucky Draw' activity was held, with winners taking home a Macau Grand Prix souvenir. The successful promotion attracted a large number of visitors. Based on information provided by the F1 organizer, there were a total of 185,000 spectators over the three-day event. Participating in the event were representatives of the MGPC, namely Deputy-Coordinator Davina Chu, and members Charles Lo, Chong Coc Veng, Francisco Ribeiro, Mario Sin, Luis Lui and Doris Leong.
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Macau SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On and Mayor of Jiangmen Pang Guomei officiated at the opening ceremony of the "Guangdong Macau Week - Jiangmen" and the Secretary of the CPC Jiangmen Municipal Committee Liu Hai has attended the dinner which was held on 13 April. Jointly hosted by the Macau Special Administrative Region Government and the People's Government of Guangdong Province and co-organized by the Macau Government Tourist Office, Jiangmen Municipal People's Government and Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province, the "Guangdong Macau Week - Jiangmen" is held from April 13 to 15. Macau SAR Chief Executive leads a delegation to participate in the event and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Cheong U, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. The National 12th Five-Year Plan and "Guangdong-Macau Cooperation Framework Agreement" generate valuable opportunities for regional cooperation while strengthening and expanding the tourism cooperation scope between Guangdong and Macau. The organization of "Guangdong Macau Week - Jiangmen" will further boost the cooperation between Jiangmen and Macau and the tourism cooperation protocol signed will bring the cooperation between the two cities to a higher level. "Guangdong Macau Week - Jiangmen" comprises a series of activities including tourism seminar, travel mart, tourism and cultural exhibition, cultural performance and outdoor promotional campaign. The tourism and cultural exhibition showcases Macau World Heritage with miniatures of the Ruins of St Paul's, A-Ma Temple and Guia Lighthouse, the Macau Grand Prix, a booth highlighting the Macau Tourism and Cultural Activities Center, Macau cuisine and booths of travel trade and tourism information counter. A team of more than 130 performers, including dragon and lion dance groups, Portuguese folk and Hip Hop dancers, carnival-style stilt walkers and Macau singers will perform at the event. Following the "Guangdong Macau Week – Jiangmen", a "Macau-Portugal Food Festival" will be staged in Jiangmen to promote 42 iconic delicacies of Macau from April 16 to May 16.
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