News

In order to get hold of information on the market supply of infant milk powder and to review the infant milk powder hotline services, Consumer Council met with Health Bureau (SSM), Economic Services Bureau (DSE), Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) and representatives of 7 milk powder brands (Mead Johnson, Abbott, Friso, Snow Brand, Nestle NAN, Wyeth, and Cow & Gate) earlier. Representatives of the milk powder brands agreed to keep in touch with milk powder manufactureres and ensure the supply of infant milk powder in Macao. Meanwhile, suppliers indicated that they would monitor their hotline services and resolve any questions of local parents, especially to provide emergency supply of infant milk powder when parents are unable to purchase any in the market. The number of complaint cases received by Consumer Council have been reduced obviously after the hotline information of the 7 milk powder brands has been listed on the Council's website. The Council will continue to work with other deparmetns and milk powder suppliers to make sure the hotlines work normally and suppliers can provide services to consumers in time. For more information about the milk powder hotline services, please visit the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo).
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Consumer Council's online quiz on the Regulations of 'Consumer Arbitration Centre' has ended; over 3,000 correct entries have been received and are entitled to the lucky draw. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of 'Consumer Arbitration Centre' and 'World Consumer Rights Day' on 15th March, Consumer Council organized an online quiz to promote the services and Regulations of 'Consumer Arbitration Centre'. Over 3,000 correct entries have been received and 40 winners will be drawn later. The list of winners will be announced on the Council's website and winners will be notified individually. A total number of 40 winners of the online quiz will be awarded with MOP500 cash voucher each. Consumer Council expresses its appreciation to the public for participating in the said event.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of both residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) grew in January 2013. With regard to outstanding balance, RMLs and CRELs also witnessed increases. New Lending Approved In January 2013, new RMLs approved by Macao banks rose 13.7% month-to-month to MOP3.0 billion; of which, 96.8% was extended to residents. In terms of value, new RMLs to residents increased 21.3% whereas the amount to non-residents dropped 60.9% compared with a month earlier. When compared with the same period of 2012, new approvals of RMLs witnessed marked growth of 123.4%. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) rebounded 28.7% month-to-month to MOP0.1 billion. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 92.6% of the total, grew 31.4% while the amount to non-residents went up 2.4%. When compared with the same period of 2012, this type of bank mortgage expanded significantly by 384.6% New CRELs rose 61.6% month-to-month to MOP3.8 billion; of which, 83.8% was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents and non-residents increased 41.4% and 516.5% respectively. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs expanded significantly by 309.2%. Outstanding Balances As at end-January 2013, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP98.1 billion, an increase of 1.5% from one month earlier or 28.3% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.0% of the total. Compared to end-2012, outstanding RMLs to residents and non-residents grew 1.6% and 0.8% respectively. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs went up by 2.5% from end-December 2012 or 14.2% from end-January 2012 to MOP70.6 billion. Residents accounted for 91.1% of the loans. Compared with one month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents and non-residents grew 2.7% and 0.4% respectively. Delinquency Ratios At the end of January 2013, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.06%, up 0.01 percentage point from one month earlier but stayed flat from a year ago. The ratio for CRELs went down 0.01 percentage point from end-December 2012 but up 0.06 percentage points from end-January 2012 to 0.16%.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is preparing a Macao Cultural and Creative Industries map with the aim to promote this sector and enhance the popularity of local cultural and creative spaces. The map will feature 40 cultural and creative entities, selected from the existing Database for Cultural and Creative Industries. IC invites all cultural and creative entities not yet registered in this database to submit applications for this purpose. Deadline of registration is March 28, 2013. The cultural and creative entities to be featured in the map must be active and regularly in contact with the public. IC will base its selection on a comprehensive evaluation, which will include criteria such as the entity's development potential, its activities or product sales, as well as its brand image. The map will also contain information on Macao's World Heritage sites, museums and similar venues, in an attempt to further boost the city's cultural and touristic activities. The "Information Collection Form: Macau's Cultural and Creative Professionals" can be downloaded from the websites of the Cultural Affairs Bureau's (www.icm.gov.mo/dpicc/) or the Macau Cultural and Creative Industries (www.macaucci.com/). The form should be printed out, filled in and submitted, along with the supporting electronic file and attachments, to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (Tap Seac Plaza, Cultural Institute Building, Macao) or the Department for the Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries (Av. da Praia Grande No. 567, BNU Building, 12th Floor A-D, Macao). Those already included in the cultural and creative industry database do not need to re-apply, but may submit any supplementary and updated information to IC. For enquiries, please call 85986716 or 85986721, during business hours, or email: info.dpicc@icm.gov.mo.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals increased by 11.5% year-on-year to 2,376,840 as the Lunar New Year fall in February this year; same-day visitors (1,263,616) accounted for 53.2% of the total. In February 2013, visitors from Mainland China (1,508,599) increased by 17.4% year-on-year, with 719,055 coming from Guangdong Province, 58,427 from Zhejiang Province and 50,539 from Shanghai; Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) totalled 754,692. Moreover, visitors from Hong Kong (602,137) increased by 15.8%, while those from Taiwan, China (81,096) and the Republic of Korea (39,380) decreased by 2.7% and 13.3% respectively. Long-haul visitors from the US (12,105), Australia (6,571), and Canada (5,236) decreased by 6.6%, 21.4% and 4.6% respectively year-on-year, but those from the UK (4,348) and the Russian Federation (2,044) increased by 3.3% and 9.8% respectively. The average length of stay of visitors held stable from a year earlier, at 0.9 day in February 2013. Overnight and same-day visitors had an average stay of 1.8 days and 0.2 day respectively. In the first two months of 2013, visitor arrivals totalled 4,689,161, up by 2.1% year-on-year and same-day visitors accounted for 52.4% of the total. Mainland visitors (2,982,384) increased by 7.3% year-on-year, with 1,370,758 travelling under IVS; however, visitors from Hong Kong (1,111,963) and Taiwan, China (157,937) decreased by 4.0% and 6.5% respectively.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes met today (21) at the Russian capital the chairman of Moscow City Government Committee on Tourism and Hotel Industry, Sergei Shpilko. The Moscow Tourism chairman highlighted the relevance of Russia-China tourism relations and said he is looking forward to see this close cooperation also being extended to Macau. During the meeting, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and Sergei Shpilko, briefed each other on the tourism industry development situation of their respective destinations, and discussed about possibilities to enhance tourism cooperation relations. Sergei Shpilko remarked that Russia attaches great relevance to its tourism cooperation relations with China. He noted that 2012 was "The Year of Russian Tourism in China" and 2013 is "The Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia", with Russia giving great relevance to the boost of China and Russia tourism cooperation, and hopes that this good tourism cooperation can also be extended to Macau. The also chairman of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry - entity which fosters development of international cooperation for the Russian tourism industry - Sergei Shpilko suggested to MGTO to study the possibility of organizing a mega familiarization trip of Russian travel operators to Macau, in order to provide a platform for travel trade of both sides to conduct business contacts directly and discuss cooperation opportunities. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talked about the promotional plans for the Russian market following the opening of a representative office in the country, pointing out that Moscow city will be the first marketing target for MGTO to attract Russian visitors to Macau, with the next step expected to be the Eastern part of Russia, where potential travelers are more keen to travel to Asian destinations. MGTO director mentioned also that she expects to attract Russian visitors to visit not only Macau, but also to see the city as part of a leisure and business multi-destination itinerary that also includes Guangdong and Hong Kong. The mutual visa free policy is in force between Macau and Russia since October 2012. MGTO has opened a representative office in Moscow this year to tap into the potential of the Russian tourism market and to diversify visitor source market. MGTO organized a dinner yesterday (20) to foster networking and exchange between the Russian and Macau travel trade at one of the historical hotels located in Moscow's Red Square area. Taking advantage of the peak season for tourism industry trade shows at the Russian capital, MGTO organized a number of events to promote Macau as a leisure and business tourism destination for Russian travellers.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the impact of the Lunar New Year pushed up the Composite CPI (121.46) for February 2013 to increase by 6.16% year-on-year, attributable to dear prices of fresh food and produce, higher charges for eating out and outbound package tours. In comparison with February 2012, notable increase was observed in the price index of Recreation & Culture (+11.72%); Housing & Fuels (+8.88%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+7.42%) on account of rising charges for eating out and outbound package tours, as well as general increase in prices of fresh food and produce during the holidays. On the contrary, price index of Education and Communication decreased by 3.14% and 1.34% respectively. The CPI-A (121.26) and CPI-B (121.96) increased by 6.69% and 6.08% respectively year-on-year. The average Composite CPI for the first two months of 2013 increased by 5.60% year-on-year; prices of fresh food and produce, and eating out contributed to an increase of 2.4 percentage points in the Composite CPI. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 6.19% and 5.50% respectively. The Composite CPI for February 2013 soared by 1.04% month-to-month, of which the price index of Recreation & Culture and Transport increased by 7.55% and 2.13% respectively. However, price index of Clothing & Footwear decreased by 3.97% upon seasonal sale of Winter clothing; receded prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas tapered off the increase in Housing & Fuels. The CPI-A and the CPI-B increased by 1.11% and 1.04% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended February 2013, the average Composite CPI increased by 5.99% from the preceding period, of which the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+26.22%); and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+8.07%) rose significantly, while that of Communication decreased by 3.33%. The average CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 6.40% and 6.12% respectively. The 2008/2009-based Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
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A carnival will be held by Consumer Council on 23rd March (Saturday) from 3PM to 5PM at Dr. Carlos D Assumpção Park in celebration of 15th anniversary of Consumer Arbitration Centre. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of 'Consumer Arbitration Centre, Consumer Council organizes several carnivals in different local communities on Saturdays in March. Three carnivals have already been held at Vasco da Gama Garden, Largo de Camões in Taipa, and at the leisure areas on Rua Quatro do Bairro Iao Hon in the past three weeks. Participants learnt about consumer rights and services of the Arbitration Centre through various on-site games. Consumer Council will hold the last carnival in March on 23rd March at Dr. Carlos D Assumpção Park. On-site quiz games, booth games and information about the Arbitration Centre will be exhibited during the event. Consumer Council indicates that different promotional activities will be held in the future to promote the fair, free, and fast services provided by the Arbitration Centre for consumer disputes that are more complicated and involves claims which do not exceed MOP50,000. For inquiry, please call 8988-9315.
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The Macao SAR delegation, led by the Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan, attended the hearing of the UN Human Rights Committee at Geneva in Switzerland to present an in-depth interpretation of the MSAR existing laws, including the Basic Law and various single-line laws, the implementation and protection of human rights covered by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whilst introducing the initiatives of enhanced measures for protecting and safeguarding the population's rights and interests since the establishment of the MSAR Government. The delegation continued their second round of the UN Human Rights Committee hearing in Geneva yesterday (19th) (local time) to respond to the Members' questions relevant to the status of the MSAR's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During the two-day meetings, members asked questions in several aspects on the implementation of the Convention, most of them concerning the fundamental rights such as employment, freedom of movement, freedom of information, protection of children and women, the legal procedural rights, and so forth. In her closing remarks, Secretary Chan thanked the Human Rights Committee for the open, frank and constructive dialogue during the two-day hearing; agreeing that the MSAR Government recognized the importance of the reporting mechanism and took into account the Human Rights Committee recommendations. The Chairman of Committee, Nigel Rodley, said in his concluding remarks that the report submitted by the SAR Government presents detailed information and the team that was present at the session was professional, which enabled the Committee to understand better the situation in Macao. He commended on the seriousness and the positiveness of the delegation's response to contribute an excellent dialogue between the two parties. He referred to the Committee's concerns on the MSAR's political system development, its immigration policy and functions of the Ombudsman. According to Article 40 of the Macao Basic Law concerning the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights", the "International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" and the International Labour Convention as applied to Macao shall remain in force through the implementation of relevant MSAR laws. The MSAR Government continues to review the implementation of the Convention to achieve further effective implementation in the Region. The MSAR Government taking the recommendations and opinions from the United Nations Human Rights Committee will continue to take necessary measures to protect the human rights for the Macao residents and to implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Region.
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Collecting aviation safety information from different channels, hence identifying safety threats and giving safety recommendations or warnings is one of the effective ways to prevent an accident or an incident, which is also an objective that the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) aims to achieve in enhancing aviation safety. Since some years ago, AACM started to plan for a voluntary reporting system for safety information and with endeavours, has finally devised the Macao Confidential Aviation Reporting System (MACCARES). The Authority held the first introductory session to the industry today (20 March 2013) to promote the objectives and the operational procedures of the system, as well as urge the operators to further promote the system internally within their organizations and encourage staff to report safety concerns to the Authority. Presently, apart from the reporting system for accident and serious incident, the operators report occurrences other than accident and serious incident to AACM through the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System. The MACCARES, which will soon be launched, is a reporting system built on the voluntary, confidential and non-punitive principle. Any person who notices an occurrence or an act of non-compliance relating to aviation safety can complete the reporting form with the necessary information and then send it by post or through email to the Authority. Due to the fact that the MACCARES should be operated with the legal support of Law no. 2/2013 – "Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation and Aviation Safety Information Protection Law", the system will become operative on the same date as the effective date of the law on 21 May 2013. Safety information collected by AACM through MACCARES will be analyzed. Statistical reports with de-identified data will be generated, published and shared with the industry so that each entity can learn from experience and make improvement. In the case if a report shows a situation that poses immediate threat to aviation safety, AACM will address a safety alert to the concerned operator at the earliest time. The Authority points out that each report is handled by one staff member in the accident prevention and investigation group in AACM. When complete information is obtained, the staff member will de-identify the information and record the remaining information in the MACCARES database. To conform with the confidential principle, the email that contains the report will be deleted and the original report that is sent to AACM by post will be returned to the reporter through registered mail. The Authority emphasized that the system works on the confidential and non-punitive principle, in order to encourage the active participation from the operators. AACM will not penalize the operators or any person by using the information collected from this reporting system. To enhance the promotion of the system to the industry in order that the latter can better understand the objectives and the operational procedures for their future participation, AACM has produced promotional pamphlets (with the reporting form incorporated) and posters in Chinese, Portuguese and English and will launch an online special session for the system in their website. The reporting form will be distributed to the operators and can be picked up in Macau International Airport whereas the electronic copy can be downloaded from the AACM website. In addition, for the purpose of encouraging different levels of industry personnel to report any safety concern to AACM so that the Authority can collect as much safety information as possible, the Authority will organize a number of introductory sessions each aiming at a different category of staff. The first introductory session that took place today was done at 10:00 in AACM office, being part of the agenda of the regular Safety Management System Meeting held between AACM and the industry. Attendees from the industry were personnel responsible for safety management in Air Macau Company Ltd., East Asia Airlines Ltd., JetAsia Ltd., Macau Jet International Co. Ltd., the Administration of Airports Ltd. and Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd. In addition to introducing MACCARES and requesting the operators to help promote the system internally, AACM also made a detailed introduction of the Law no. 2/2013 – "Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation and Aviation Safety Information Protection Law". The MACCARES was developed on the basis of the need to comply with the requirements of Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Besides, the audit result of ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme which Macao participated in 2009 indicated a finding that Macao should be equipped with a voluntary incident reporting system in the area of accident investigation. AACM then established an internal accident prevention and investigation ad hoc working group to study into the legislation on accident investigation and the formulation of MACCARES, the process during which the regulations and the practice in other countries such as mainland China, Canada, United States of America, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and so on were taken into reference.
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