News

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP165.7 billion (USD20.72 billion) at the end of July 2010. The reserves rose by 1.2% from MOP163.7 billion (USD20.42 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP25.0 billion or 17.7%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-July 2010 represented 33 times the currency in circulation or 271.4% of Pataca M2 at end-June 2010. 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, fell by 1.04 points month-to-month but increased by 0.81 points year-on-year to 91.25 in July 2010. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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For the third consecutive day the Cross-departmental Working Team continue its operation to raid premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and conducts inspections in the streets. Today, two more premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were cracked and such enforcement actions will continue. During the operation today (Aug 15), 16 premises were checked. Five premises where accessed, of which 3 were normal residences. Two premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, and 20 occupants were detained. Since the law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation” took effect on August 13, a total of 61 premises were checked, 20 premises were accessed, of which 6 were normal residences. Fourteen premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, a total of 64 occupants were detained, including 2 operators who are also working as touts, an operator (a couple who jointly run a premise suspected to provide accommodation illegally), one managing staff and one who failed to fulfill her duty of cooperation. Staff from MGTO’s Inspection Division, together with additional manpower from other subunits, joined force with the Public Security Police Force (PSP) to take action around the clock and swooped in districts with higher density of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, conducted inspections in the streets and seized touts. At the same time PSP patrols are also vigilant to suspect, increasing the combat strength and broadening the search area. Following the operation, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, managing staff and touts and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the above premises and sealed the doors. Directors and concerned department heads of MGTO also took on-call duties around the clock to give command and coordinate operations to combat the malpractice. Parallel with the measures against illegal accommodation, MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau proactively promote the new law to visitors and citizens. Pamphlets are available for visitors at all MGTO counters and more staff from MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau has been stationed at various checkpoints to distribute leaflets. After cracking premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally the Cross-departmental Working Team is also handing out to occupants the pamphlets. A new round of promotional activities will also be launched soon.
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The Cross-departmental Working Team continues its operation to raid premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and conducts inspections in the streets. Today, three more premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were cracked and such enforcement actions will continue. Staff from MGTO’s Inspection Division, together with additional manpower from other subunits, joined force with the Public Security Police Force to take action around the clock and swooped in districts with higher density of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, conducted inspections in the streets and seized touts. During the operation today (Aug 14), four premises were checked. Three premises were sealed, 12 occupants were detained, including an operator (a couple who jointly runs a premise suspected to provide accommodation illegally) and one overstayer who refused to collaborate and was fined MOP3,000 for violating her duty to cooperate. Since the law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation” took effect on August 13, a total of 34 premises were checked, 12 premises were accessed, of which two were normal residences. Ten premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, 41 occupants were detained, including two operators who are also working as touts, an operator (a couple who jointly run a premise suspected to provide accommodation illegally), one managing staff and one who failed to fulfill her duty of cooperation. Following the operation, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, managing staff and touts and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the above premises and sealed the doors. Directors and concerned department heads of MGTO also took on-call duties around the clock to give command and coordinate operations to combat the malpractice. Parallel with the measures against illegal accommodation, MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau proactively promote the new law to visitors and citizens. Pamphlets are available for visitors at all MGTO counters and more staff from MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau has been stationed at various checkpoints to distribute leaflets. A new round of promotional activities will also be launched soon.
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The Cross-departmental Working Team continues its operation to raid premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and conducts inspections in the streets. This morning, two more premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were cracked and such enforcement actions will continue. Staff from MGTO’s Inspection Division, together with additional manpower from other subunits, joined force with the Public Security Police Force to take action around the clock and swooped in districts with higher density of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, conducted inspections in the streets and seized touts. During the operation today (Aug 14), three premises were checked, with one unanswered door. Two premises were sealed, seven occupants were detained, among which one overstayer refused to collaborate and was fined MOP3,000 for violating her duty to cooperate. Since the law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation” took effect on August 13, a total of 33 premises were checked, with 22 unanswered doors, 11 premises were accessed, of which two were normal residences. Nine premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, three suspected offenders were seized, including two operators (also working as touts) and one managing staff. 36 occupants were detained, including one who failed to fulfill her duty of cooperation. Following the operation, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, managing staff and touts and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the above premises and sealed the doors. Directors and concerned department heads of MGTO also took on-call duties around the clock to give command and coordinate operations to combat the malpractice. Parallel with the measures against illegal accommodation, MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau proactively promote the new law to visitors and citizens. Pamphlets are available for visitors at all MGTO counters and more staff from MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau has been stationed at various checkpoints to distribute leaflets. A new round of promotional activities will also be launched soon.
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Law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation” took effect today (August 13), and from midnight, the Cross-departmental Working Group mounted a citywide operation and searched premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and conducted inspections in the streets. Till now, seven premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were cracked successfully. Acting Director of MGTO Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes expressed that the operation has delivered initial results and such enforcement actions will continue. All staff from MGTO’s Inspection Division, together with additional manpower from other subunits, joined force with the Public Security Police Force to take immediate action after the law took effect and swooped in districts with higher density of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, conducted inspections in the streets and seized touts. In the first round of operations, 25 premises were checked, with 18 unanswered doors. 7 premises were temporarily sealed, 3 suspected offenders were seized including two operators (also working as touts) and one managing staff. 26 occupants were detained. Following the operation, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, managing staff and touts and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the above premises and sealed the doors. Directors and concerned department heads of MGTO also took on-call duties around the clock to give command and coordinate operations to combat the malpractice. To enforce the law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation”, office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture guided the operation planning. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U chaired a Cross-departmental Working Team meeting attended by directors of concerned departments before the law took effect, where he stressed the determination of the government in combating illegal accommodation. The Cross-departmental Working Team also held meetings to discuss operation planning while MGTO met with Public Security Police Force frequently for co-ordination work. In line with the newly implemented law, staff of MGTO are equipped with trainings provided by the Judiciary Police to enhance techniques and skills in inspecting, searching and obtaining evidence, inquiring and questioning and compiling cases. At the same time, additional staff have been deployed internally and MGTO has also started recruiting more inspectors to cope with the long-term operations. As the law has also added new measures to cut the supply of water and electricity, MGTO also held meetings with Macau Water Supply Co. Ltd and CEM to discuss the related procedures and arrangements. Directors and concerned department heads also met with legislator, representatives from General Union of Neighbors Association of Macau and committees of affected apartment owners to introduce the measures against the malpractice as well as to exchange and collect opinions on enforcement of the new law.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that per-capita spending of visitors increased by 3% year-on-year to MOP 1,575 in the second quarter of 2010. Analyzed by place of residence, per-capita spending of Mainland visitors took the lead, at MOP 2,397; per-capita spending of those from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China amounted to MOP 1,349, MOP 1,068 and MOP 787 respectively. Compared with the second quarter of 2009, per-capita spending of tourists rose by 26% to MOP 2,635 and that of same-day visitors surged by 41% to MOP 665. In the second quarter of 2010, per-capita non-shopping spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors decreased by 20% year-on-year to MOP 813, of which expenses on Accommodation and Food & Beverage accounted for 46% and 34% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita shopping spending grew by 49% to MOP 761, with expenses mainly on Local Food Products (24%), Clothing (18%) and Jewellery/Watches (17%). Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,575 in the second quarter of 2010, a year-on-year increase of 15%. Mainland visitors had the highest per-diem spending of MOP 2,397 and the respective spending of visitors from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China was MOP 1,349, MOP 1,068 and MOP 787. The average length of stay of visitors shortened by 0.2 day to 0.9 day over the second quarter of 2009, with Mainland visitors staying an average of 0.9 day. The average length of stay of tourists increased by 0.1 day to 1.7 days, while that of same-day visitors stayed unchanged at 0.2 day.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours surged by 167.0% year-on-year to 489,023 in June 2010, as visitors in package tours for June last year were still under the adverse effect of the human swine influenza. In comparison with June 2009, visitors from Mainland China (337,558), Hong Kong (23,357), Japan (22,591) and Taiwan, China (22,152) rose substantially by 210.6%, 51.5%, 142.3% and 75.4% respectively, and those from India (12,231) and the Republic of Korea (11,777) also registered notable increase. In the first half year of 2010, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 34.8% year-on-year to 3,064,939. In June 2010, Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours soared by 81.6% year-on-year to 21,984, with Mainland China (74.1% of total), Japan (7.2%) and Taiwan, China (6.1%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first six months of 2010, residents travelling in package tours totalled 110,559, up by 20.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies rose by 28.7% year-on-year to 43,001 and the main destinations were Hong Kong (31.9% of total), Mainland China (31.0%) and Taiwan, China (17.0%). In the first half year of 2010, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements increased by 10.5% year-on-year to 217,313. At the end of June 2010, total number of available guest rooms of the hotel sector increased by 1,389 (+7.6%) year-on-year to 19,560 rooms. A total of 603,004 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses in June 2010, up notably by 35.3% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (50.4% of total) and Hong Kong (20.6%). The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses rose substantially by 15.2 percentage points year-on-year to 75.7%; average occupancy rate of hotels stood at 76.5%, with 4-star hotels leading at 77.3%. The average length of stay of guests decreased by 0.03 night to 1.5 nights. Number of guests reached 3,800,614 in the first half year of 2010, up by 22.4% over the same period of 2009. In the first six months of 2010, visitor-guests of hotels and guest-houses accounted for 60.9% of the total number of tourists, down from 61.7% in the same period of 2009.
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The Macao Government today donated 50 million Renmenbi for support rescue works in mudslide-stricken Zhouqu county in Gansu. More than 1,110 people are reported killed and some 600 were still missing last weekend. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said all Macao residents were deeply concerned with tragedy and extended their condolence to the victims and their families. He wished them smooth rescue operations and reconstruction.
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To encourage local enterprises to utilise e-commerce during daily business operations, SME Service Center of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and Hong Kong Trade Development Council organized the Seminar on “How to Create Quality Company and Brand Image through Online Business Platforms and Exhibitions” on 12 August 2010 at Macao Business Support Center. The objective of the seminar is to facilitate enterprises to promote their products and businesses through online service platform, achieve greater publicity for their products and services, hence create more business opportunities.。 The seminar worked in line with the “E-Commerce Promotion Incentive Measures” launched by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and carried the theme “Building quality enterprise and brand image”. During the first part, Mr. Carven Yiu and Ms Salina Lee, Directors of Mindlinks Training and Consultancy, shared insights on exhibition strategies, attract overseas buyers and gain accesss to merchandising trends. Mr. Angus Wong, Senior Regional Sales Manager of Hong Kong Trade Development Council introduced about the services of hktdc.com, which has been recognised as IPIM’s Accredited E-Commerce Operator in April 2010. He encouraged enterprises to take advantage of online promotional channels and joining exhibitions to search for overseas buyers. A total of 102 participants from local associations and enterprises took part in the seminar, including Mr. Tylor Ian, Acting Senior Manager of Macao Business Support Center of IPIM, Mr. José Tang, Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of Industrial Association of Macau, Mr. Iong Ieng Chun, Vice President of The Macao Small and Medium Enterprises Association, etc.
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Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) has the honour of inviting culinary expert of the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Schools to feature again the “Le Cordon Bleu Master Chef Week at IFT” since 2009. Cuisine chef instructor Philippe Guiet will visit Macao to showcase his expertise in “French and French Thai Fusion Cuisine Culinary Art” - the theme of this year’s programme. Le Cordon Bleu, one of the leading schools for teaching classical French cuisine, patisserie and boulangerie, was founded in Paris, France in 1895. Over the last century, Le Cordon Bleu has evolved from a cooking school to an international network of 29 international schools across 5 continents, in the area of culinary arts and hospitality institutes, maintaining at the same time the highest standards of culinary excellence. Born in Vendée, France, Chef Philippe Guiet obtain his Restaurant Management Diploma at the Lycée technique d’hôtellerie Guyenne in Bordeaux. He joined Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute in 1990 and is currently the school’s Technical Director as well as a Cuisine Instructor. He oversees the culinary curriculum, recipe development and academic evaluation systems. During his visit in Macao, Chef Guiet will demonstrate the culinary concept in French cuisine, adding an interesting twist by using local food in a French style. Also included is the French Thai Fusion Cuisine concept.
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