News

Starting from 1 February 2010, the processing time after completion of registration for using Hong Kong e-Channel at the self-service kiosk is reduced from five working days to three working days. In other words, residents can use the e-Channel to enter and exit Hong Kong on the third working day from the next day after successful registration. Besides the ground floor of China Plaza, departure halls of Macao Ferry Terminal and Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal, the self-services kiosks are installed at the Macao SAR Government Service Center and have been in service since 13 January 2010.
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“Tak Seng On”, Macau’s Urban Best Practices Area case in the Shanghai World Expo, will be the first pavilion to complete all exterior construction works in the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). Tak Seng On is a permanent building built in the UBPA at the Puxi Section of the 2010 World Expo. While other pavilions in that section are still undergoing interior and exterior construction works, Tak Seng On is poised to complete construction on schedule and become the first ever self-built pavilion within the section to complete all constructions, including interior fittings. The final completion date is targeted in March 2010. 2010 Shanghai World Expo’s TSO will retain the original design and consist of three buildings. Being larger in size and sporting a fresher image, it highlights Macau’s efforts in preserving and reusing historical buildings. The ground floor of the pavilion features an exhibition on pawnshop operations. There will also be an exhibition on Jin Yong on the first floor, which runs mainly on the theme of “In Search Jin Yong’s Inkprints”. Jin Yong’s novels and manuscripts will be among the exhibits, while his much loved characters will be also brought to life, with an injection of spirit of Macau’s martial arts, through multimedia technology. Finally, the second floor introduces visitors to Macau’s current cultural and creative industries.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that job market situation showed continuous improvement, with the unemployment rate for October-December 2009 decreasing further by 0.2 percentage point over the previous period (September-November 2009) to 3.1%, back to the same level before the occurrence of the global financial crisis. The underemployment rate was 1.9%, same as that in the previous period. Total labour force was 322,000 in October-December 2009 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.0%, with the employed population decreasing slightly by 500 over the previous period to 312,000. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Gaming and Manufacturing Sectors increased from the preceding period, while that of Transport, Storage & Communications Sector and Real Estate & Business Activities registered a decrease. In October-December 2009, number of the unemployed decreased by 800 over the preceding period to about 9,900, with 10.7% (1,100) being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 2.8 percentage points from the previous period. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the unemployment rate of local residents stood at 3.7%, down noticeably by 0.9 percentage point quarter-to-quarter; meanwhile, the labour force participation rate of local residents dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 66.0%. For the whole year of 2009, the overall unemployment rate was 3.6%, up by 0.6 percentage point over 2008; the unemployment rate of local residents rose by 0.8 percentage point year-on-year to 4.4%.
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Chief Executive Chui Sai On was present at the welcome dinner of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Interim Marketing Meeting which is kicked off on January 25 in Macau. In the same afternoon, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U and Chief of Office for the Secretary Cheung So Mui met with MGTO officials and its 50 representatives from around the world.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U met with Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes, Deputy Director Manuel Gonçalves Pires Júnior, department heads and 50 representatives of MGTO. Speaking at the dinner, Cheong U expressed that the number of visitor arrivals to Macau has grown from 7.5 million in 1999 to 21 million in 2009. The “Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta” consolidates Macau’s position as an international tourism and leisure destination. Tourism is a vital industry in Macau and the SAR Government will advance with the objective of moderate economic diversification through tapping potential source markets, enriching tourism products, nurturing MICE industry and participating proactively in the regional development of the MICE industry. At the same time, more cultural resources will be explored and more cultural tourism products will be developed to support tourism development. He also pointed out that under the guidance of the Central Government’s policy and in line with the SAR Government’s policy direction, the diversification of tourism will be boosted with a higher and wider perspective and vision. Following the macro policy and direction, the Government will fine tune and advance the marketing promotional strategies while cooperating with the travel trade to improve the overall service quality of the tourism industry to achieve a healthy and moderately diversified development of Macau’s tourism industry, from which other related industries as well as the economy of the region will benefit. Director Antunes reported last year’s tourism development of Macau at the meeting, revealing that visitor arrivals to Macau in 2009 amounted to 21.75 million, a slight drop of 5.2%. However, the overnight stay visitors increased by 1.5 percentage point. In addition, from January to November last year, the number of overnight guests rose by 1.6 percent while the average length of stay also increased by 0.05 percentage point to 1.5 nights.
He continued that despite negative growth in many source markets in Asia, Japan, Indonesia and India saw positive gain of 3.4%, 6.2% and 30.5% respectively. Spain, with a rise of 5.6 percent in arrivals, is the only market recorded positive growth among the European markets. Furthermore, Vietnam and Russia, two targeted potential markets of MGTO, showed a 20.1 percent and 9.6 percent growth respectively. Currently, there are a total of 20,316 rooms in accommodation premises in Macau. At the Interim Marketing Meeting, MGTO hosted a Travel Trade Networking Luncheon with over 300 people attended. On the other hand, representatives of MGTO visited the newly opened hotels, the Mandarin's House and the Macau Science Center during their stay. Moreover, mini marts for MICE and leisure tourism were held for local travel trade to meet with representatives of MGTO to discuss business opportunities to attract more visitors to Macau.
On January 27, Director Antunes will lead a delegation of MGTO management team and the 50 representatives to Guangzhou and Shenzhen through the Lotus Bridge (border gate to China) for a 3-day visit. This will help the representatives to understand more on the development and tourism resources of Pearl River Delta region, so to promote regional tourism. The itinerary includes Baomo Yuan Garden in Panyu of Guangzhou, Guangdong Science Center and Lingnan (South China) Impression Garden. Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality hosted luncheon and dinner for the delegation respectively.
At present, there are 17 representation offices of MGTO around the world, Australia and New Zealand; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Japan; Mainland China; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan, China; Thailand; Belgium; Germany; Portugal; United Kingdom and Ireland, United States. Each year, MGTO capitalized the Interim Marketing Meeting to discuss with its representatives about strategies and tactics for this time of adversity. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U delivers a speech at the meetingInterim Marketing Meeting of MGTOMGTO hosts a Networking Luncheon with 300 attendeesDirector of MGTO delivers a speech at the meetingMini marts for MICE and leisure tourism are held at the Macau TowerGroup photo of Chief Executive with MGTO officials and representatives
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of visitor and non-resident arrivals was 2,531,550 in December 2009; visitor arrivals for December 2009 increased by 6.7% year-on-year to 2,035,857. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China grew by 17.8% year-on-year to 1,010,689 (49.6% of total visitor arrivals), with 397,907 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, down by 13.2% from December 2008 (458,312). Visitors from Taiwan, China (114,207) and Indonesia (28,899) rose by 10.8% and 29.9% respectively; however, visitors from Hong Kong (601,932), Malaysia (45,963), Singapore (39,559) and Japan (38,292) decreased by 6.9%, 4.9%, 3.7% and 6.5% respectively. Same-day visitors (985,135) accounted for 48.4% of the total visitor arrivals, with 487,142 coming from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals totalled 21,752,751 for the whole year of 2009, down by 5.1% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (10,989,533), Hong Kong (6,727,822), Taiwan, China (1,292,551) and Malaysia (332,529) dropped by 5.4%, 4.1%, 1.8% and 22.4% respectively, while those from Japan (379,241) registered an increase of 3.4%. In 2009, same-day visitors accounted for 52.2% of the total visitor arrivals, at 11,350,852. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 8,684,809 in 2009, down by 5.3% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour decreased by 17.5% to 5,997,964 whereas those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa rose by 56.3% to 2,403,344. Visitor arrivals by land decreased by 5.3% year-on-year to 11,448,843 in 2009; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 10,623,814 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (77.7%) and Hong Kong (14.2%). Visitor arrivals by air went down by 2.8% year-on-year to 1,619,099 in 2009. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport dropped by 2.9% to 1,583,933, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (38.2%), Mainland China (25.6%), Malaysia (8.1%) and Thailand (6.7%).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (102.28) for December 2009 increased by 0.78% year-on-year. Price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 12.64%, 6.89%, 4.81%, and 4.09% respectively, attributable to dearer prices of Autumn/Winter clothing, gasoline, gold jewellery, fresh fish and vegetables. On the contrary, apart from the 18.95% decrease of the price index of Education, lower rentals for housing and reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price indices of Housing & Fuels; and Communication down by 2.47% and 2.01% respectively. The CPI-A (101.79) for December 2009 decreased by 0.24% year-on-year, while the CPI-B (102.34) increased by 1.0%. The Composite CPI for December 2009 increased by 0.61% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; and Recreation & Culture rose by 4.88% and 2.41% respectively on account of dearer prices of new arrivals of Autumn/Winter clothing and higher charges for outbound package tours in the Christmas holidays. However, price index of Housing & Fuels decreased slightly by 0.14% due to lower rentals for housing. Meanwhile, the CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.43% and 0.66% month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the fourth quarter of 2009 fell by 0.14% over the same quarter of 2008, with decrease in the price indices of Education (-18.95%), Housing & Fuels (-2.77%), and Communication (-2.0%) but increase in the indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+13.79%) and Clothing & Footwear (+9.02%). The average Composite CPI for the whole year of 2009 was 101.48 and the annual inflation rate was 1.18%. Price indices of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 9.80%, 9.50% and 5.53% respectively, while the indices of Education; Transport; and Communication decreased by 10.53%, 5.79% and 1.74%. The CPI-A and CPI-B for 2009 rose up by 0.80% and 1.25% over 2008. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 2008/2009 based 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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The Heritage Foundation has released today its 2010 Report on the Index of Economic Freedom. Macao’s overall score has improved slightly by 0.5 from a year earlier to 72.5, making the SAR the 20th freest among 179 economies worldwide, up one place from the year before. Macao is ranked 6th in the Asia-Pacific region while its overall score is well above the world and regional averages. The study covers economies in different regions across the world, which have been assessed with 10 factors of economic freedom. Macao ranks relatively high in factors such as trade freedom, investment freedom, fiscal freedom, monetary freedom and financial freedom. The Foundation’s 2010 Report says that Macao, as a free port, has long been benefitting from global trade and investment. The overall entrepreneurial environment incorporates high efficiency and low-tax, while property rights are well respected. Foreign investors can conduct business on the same terms as locals. Sound regulatory regime assures free flows of financial resources. Since the open-up of the gaming industry in 2002, Macao has attracted more foreign investors, spurring tourism and overall consumption. Other areas of growth include finance, insurance, and real estate. In the Asia-Pacific region, Macao just ranks behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In the global ranking of economic freedom, Macao ranks 20th and has been classified as “mostly free”. According to the Heritage Foundation, economic freedom is strongly related to economic performance. Per capita incomes are much higher in societies that are economically free.
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Boosted by strong rebound in the third and fourth quarters, Macau could get a positive growth in the Gross Domestic Products for the past year. Speaking to reporters after he attended an event about Shanghai World Expo 2010 today, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said the global financial turmoil and economic downturn hindered Macao’s economic growth in the first half of 2009 and cast doubts on a year-on-year growth, Mr Tam said. However latest data showed a double digit growth for the fourth quarter, which made the Government expect a small GDP growth for the whole year. Speaking on gaming revenue, Mr Tam said the overall gaming tax exceeded 120 billion patacas, a year-on-year growth of more than 10 per cent. As global economy showed signs of recovery, Mr Tam said he expected a favourable economic growth in the first half of 2010.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, met the Roman Catholic Bishop of Macao, José Lai, at Government Headquarters today. Bishop Lai gave Mr Chui the message offered by Pope Benedict XVI in celebration of the World Day of Peace on 1 January 2010, and expressed his best wishes for progress and harmony in society and a smooth administration for the new government. Mr Chui exchanged views with Bishop Lai on education in Macao, as the Catholic Church operates a large number of schools and makes a significant contribution in nurturing Macao’s young talent. The Chief Executive said that the Government would continue to support the operations of Catholic schools.
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Jointly organized by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Taiwan External Trade Development Council and Taiwan Design Center, and co-organized by the Industrial Association of Macau and the Macau Businesswomen Association, Taiwan and Macao Seminar on the Developmenty of Creative Industries (the “Seminar”) will be held at the Macao Business Support Center (MBSC) (Alameda Dr. Carlos d´Assumpção, No. 263, China Civil Plaza, 19th Floor), on 25 January, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mr. Tony K. M. Chang, CEO of Taiwan Design Center, will be the keynote speaker. The Seminar will be conducted in the form of information exchange and discussion forum. To coincide with the elevation to a new level of the cooperation between Mainland China and Taiwan and to seek business opportunities for the Macao´s industrial and commercial sectors, a business delegation from Macao made an inspection visit to Taiwan on 1 November, 2009, during which a cooperation agreement was entered into between IPIM and Taiwan External Trade Development Council, on behalf of the Taipei World Trade Center. Per terms of the said agreement, in addition to actively organize trade missions for mutual visits, the two parties shall also focus on the development of the MICE industry and the exchange of trade information, including the joint organization of seminars and forums and personnel exchanges, as a mean to expand the depth and breadth of the cooperation while continuing to create business opportunities for enterprises based in the two territories. In order to actively implement the content of the above-mentioned Agreement, and taking into account the deep interest expressed by the Macao business delegation, during their inspection visit, on the structure and role of the Taiwan Design Center, IPIM has specifically invited Taiwan External Trade Developm×ent Council and Taiwan Design Center to jointly organize this Seminar, during which Mr. Tony K. M. Chang, CEO of the Taiwan Design Center will talk about the operation and coordination mechanism of the Center and share with the audience the success stories and experience of the Center in assisting to promote creative design, the elevation of the creative ability of talents, advancement in the exchange of international design, enhancement of industrial competitiveness and the laying of foundation for the enterprises to develop their own brands. Mr. Chang will also discuss and explore with the audience on the effective path for the development of the creative industries in Macao and explore cooperation prospects between the Center and Macao’s business community and organizations, to open up business opportunities for Macao’s creative industries. Enterpreneurs desiring to enhance the added value of their existing products and/or their own brands, operators engaged in the development and operation of cultural and creative industries as well as persons in the field of products innovation and brand design are welcome to participate in the Seminar. For registration, interested parties need only submit their personal information (including their name, occupation, e-mail address, fax number and correspondence address) by fax to IPIM (fax no.: +853 2871 0304) before 22 January, 2010. For further information, please call Mr. Tse (+853 8798 9225) or Ms. Pou (+853 8798 9168).
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