News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the principal indicators of the Construction Sector reversed the rapid development in the past years to register year-on-year decline in 2008, except Gross Value Added, which was attributable to the effect of the financial tsunami and suspension of the construction of some major tourism and gaming facilities. In 2008, a total of 1,510 establishments were operating in the Construction Sector, down by 111 over 2007, with the number of persons engaged decreasing by 3.3% to 26,241. Total Value of Construction Work amounted to MOP52.63 billion, down by 3.9% year-on-year; Intermediate Consumption, including construction materials, went down by 4.9% to MOP41.68 billion. Moreover, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy totalled MOP11.56 billion, up slightly by 1.2%. There were 1,088 construction projects carried out in 2008 and 515 were those of the private sector, with the respective total value falling by 1.0% year-on-year to MOP49.92 billion, of which the value of construction of major tourism and gaming facilities and hotels shared MOP42.56 billion (85.3% of total value of private construction work), down by 2.4% over 2007. Value of construction of private residential work registered an increase of 21.2%, at MOP5.23 billion. The government sector took up 573 construction projects, with the respective value shrinking by 38.0% year-on-year to MOP2.71 billion, of which construction of infrastructure decreased by 57.6% to MOP1.04 billion; however, construction of public housing rose notably by 2.5 times to MOP328 million. In 2008, a total of 883 construction projects were carried out in the Macao Peninsula, with the value of construction (MOP18.74 billion) accounting for 35.6% of the total. Meanwhile, value of construction of the 30 projects in the CoTai area (MOP31.24 billion) shared 59.4% of the total. Coverage of the Construction Survey included the construction establishments licensed by the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau that were engaging in private and public construction work.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 18.8% year-on-year to 361,403 in September 2009, attributable to a 35.0% increase of Mainland visitors (241,481); besides, those from Japan (31,450); Taiwan, China (22,930); and Indonesia (9,971) rose notably by 81.6%, 14.7% and 125.8% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (17,410) decreased markedly by 52.5%. In the first three quarters of 2009, visitor arrivals in package tours dropped by 6.1% year-on-year to 3,284,659. In September 2009, the number of Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours saw continuous decrease and fell by 25.3% year-on-year to 11,821, with Mainland China (76.3% of total); Japan (5.4%); and Taiwan, China (4.7%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first nine months of 2009, residents travelling outbound in package tours dropped by 14.9% year-on-year to 144,792. Meanwhile, the number of residents travelled outbound under own arrangements using services of travel agencies surged by 42.1% year-on-year to 43,902 and the main destinations were Hong Kong (41.4% of total); Mainland China (31.5%); and Taiwan, China (11.7%). In the first nine months of 2009, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements up by 15.2% year-on-year to 329,728. At the end of September 2009, total number of guest rooms available at the hotel sector increased by 1,354 (+8.1%) from a year earlier to 18,146 rooms. In September 2009, a total of 543,182 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses, up by 14.7% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (47.2% of total) and Hong Kong (23.2%). The average hotel occupancy rate rose by 5.5 percentage points year-on-year to 72.3%, with 3-star hotels leading at 75.1%. The average length of stay of hotel guests increased by 0.03 night to 1.5 nights. The cumulative number of hotel guests decreased slightly by 0.2% in the first three quarters of 2009 to 4,805,090. In the first nine months of 2009, visitor-guests of hotels accounted for 61.1% of the total number of tourists, up from 57.1% in the corresponding period of 2008.
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The staff and students of the Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT) have raised MOP13,995 for the 8．8 Chinese Taiwan flood catastrophe. Registrar of IFT, Mr. Antonio Chu and representatives from the IFT Student Union, delivered the money raised to Mr. Mike Chen, Director of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Center, to help fund Chinese Taiwan’s recovery. In light of the devastating flood in Chinese Taiwan (8 August), lots of buildings collapsed and many people lost their families. IFT’s staff and students have started a relief campaign to help the victims. The campaign included individual donations and the “Charity Music Show for 8．8 Flood Disaster in Chinese Taiwan” organised by the IFT Student Union. The Charity Music Show, performed by IFT students and staff, attracted over 200 audiences. All income from ticket sales was donated to Taiwan flood relief. IFT encourages its students to take part in community and charity work. There are also many in-school events which are co-organised with various charity organisations, these include the charity dinner organised by Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management Year 2 students to raise fund for the Action Oasis of the Chinese Educators Association of Macau; and the upcoming bookmark sale and “Loss of Preciousness” Charity Night co-organised by Bachelor of Science in Tourism Event Management Year 3 students and Macau Caritas. IFT believes that by encouraging the students to participate in charity works, they can learn to treasure what they have got while helping the needy.
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Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), a series of activities have been held from May to December 2009, including the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition, thematic seminar, comic series on statistics “The 18 Changes of Macao” and release of the Commemorative Publication. University Students’ Statistical Project Competition The Competition took place in May and June, which aimed to enhance students’ interest and ability on the application and analysis of official statistics and to get to know Macao better through statistical data and scientific methods. The Competition was well received with participation of about 400 students submitting nearly 100 entries. The assessment of entries took two rounds, with the ten best teams being shortlisted to the final to compete for the prizes on 10 October. On the day of the final, each team was given only fifteen minutes to present a Powerpoint with highlights of the project to the panel of judges. The panel was presided by Prof. Frederick W. H. Ho, ex-Commissioner for Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR and Statistical Advisor to the National Bureau of Statistics of China; other members included Mr. Sou Tim Peng, Director of Macao Economic Services; Ms. Vanessa Kong, Director of DSEC and President of the Consultative Committee on Statistics (CCE); Dr. Benjamin S. S. Chan, Director of Research and Statistics Department of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) and Vice-President of CCE; and Ms. Ana Cheng, Deputy Director of DSEC. The judges would select in accordance with the content of the Powerpoint presentation, proper use of statistical data, analysis and logical reasoning, etc., together with questions raised to the contestants on the theme topic presented. After the presentation, Prof. Ho praised the effectiveness of the Competition and the high quality of the entries in his concluding remarks; he highly appreciated the enthusiasm and considerable effort of all the participating teams. Prof. Ho believed that the Competition could encourage proper use of statistics among the students. He added that statistics is just like a “guiding light”, with which students can act consciously and be able to optimize the advantage of statistics. Lastly, Prof. Ho praised DSEC for its continuous effort on the development of the statistical system towards international standards. The Winner of the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition is “Road Traffic” (a cash prize of MOP15,000); the First Runner-up is “Tears Behind the Diamond – A Study on Income Inequality in Macau” (MOP8,000), and the Second Runner-up is “Develop Macau as a Sustainable Tourism Destination in Terms of Hotel Industry” (MOP5,000). Excerpt from the final is available on DSEC website. Thematic Seminar on Statistics In an effort to raise the professional knowledge of its staff, DSEC invited Prof. Frederick Ho to give a thematic seminar on 23 October, the Day of Official Statistics, focusing on implementation of statistical projects, data collection and dissemination, external relation, positioning of the organization, etc. The three-hour interactive discussion looked at the relationship between statistics and media, the partnership of media and effective data dissemination and statistical promotion. DSEC colleagues participated actively in the seminar and Prof. Ho answered each of the questions in details. In view of the effectiveness of the seminar, DSEC is considering to organize more professionals to talk and share their views with its staff, to extend their vision and enhance their professional knowledge. Gala Dinner A gala dinner was held at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in the evening, with the theme “Building on Past Success, Meeting the Future Challenges”. In her welcome remarks, the Director of DSEC emphasized that the Official Statistics must enhance the quality of work to keep pace with the social and economic changes. In addition to the participation of nearly two hundred staff, the invited guests included Commissioner for Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr. Fung Hing Wang and three Assistant Commissioners; Chief of Cabinet of Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ms. Lok Kit Sim; Director of Macao Economic Services, Mr. Sou Tim Peng; President of the AMCM, Mr. Anselmo Teng; Statistical Advisor to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Prof. Frederick Ho; and members of the Consultative Committee on Statistics. During the gala dinner, the Award of Appreciation was presented to the senior staff who have been working for DSEC for 25 and 15 years; in addition, the Award was also presented to three senior members of the Consultative Committee on Statistics, Mr. Vong Kok Seng, Mr. Kwok Kai Hin and Mr. Fong Ka Wai, for their valuable contribution to the development of the Official Statistics. Prizes were also awarded to the Winner, the First and Second Runners-up and the Distinguished teams of the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition, as well as Distinguished participants of the 2011 Census slogan competition. “The 18 Changes of Macao” Comic Series From September to December 2009, DSEC publishes a thematic comic series entitled “The 18 Changes of Macao” on the daily or weekly Chinese, English and Portuguese newspapers every Wednesday and Friday, which aims to illustrate the social and economic changes of Macao over the past 25 years, to enable the public to understand that the official statistics is closely related to everybody’s daily life. Commemorative Publication DSEC has prepared a Commemorative Publication in celebration of its Silver Jubilee, a presentation of the enthusiasm for statistical work, to convey the importance of “Statistics Tells”. For a copy of the Commemorative Publication, please contact Ms. Yu at 8399 5332.
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Seminar on Conserving Water and Combating Salt Tide in Macau and Zhuhai, together with the Prizing-giving Ceremony of the Working Group’s Slogan and Logo Competition is to be held at Macau Cultural Center this Sunday by the Working Group on the Development of a Water Conservation Society of the Macau SAR government. Representatives from Zhuhai Water Bureau and Pearl River Water Resources Commission are expected to attend the seminar. By means of the event, the Working Group hopes to reinforce people’s awareness on water conservation in Macau and Zhuhai so as to combat the salt tide together.
The Working Group has just launched the “Household Water Conservation Rebate Program”, facilitating water conservation in the community. In order to involve small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as other large-scale leisure and entertainment facilities in the water conservation campaign, the Group will offer small and medium-sized enterprises incentives to encourage water conservation, and will meet with the representatives from the large-scale entertainment facilities to further discuss feasible water conservation measures very shortly.
The Working Group appeals to the public and the business sector to take effective measures proactively to save water. The effectiveness of using water can be achieved through reducing unnecessary water use and adopting multiple uses of water. Head of the Working Group, Susana Wong Soi-Man, emphasized that Macau is not going to implement water rationing. The fact is only that the salinity level of drinking water is expected to rise. She said that the people in Macau do not need to be overworried. Meanwhile, she appealed to all the Macau citizens to participate in the water conservation campaign and contribute their part in securing drinking water safety.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that number of operating Transport, Storage & Communications establishments totalled 2,195 in 2008, up by 150 from 2007, engaging a total of 14,942 persons (+13%). Total Receipts (MOP 15.59 billion) and Total Expenditure (MOP 14.33 billion) increased by 3% and 9% respectively year-on-year. In addition, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy dropped by 8% to MOP 4.07 billion; however, Gross Fixed Capital Formation soared by 54% year-on-year to MOP 1.25 billion. In 2008, there were 2,159 establishments operating in the Transport & Storage Sector, up by 147 over 2007; number of persons engaged totalled 12,944 (+14%). A total of 1,739 establishments operated in Land Transport (81% of total), 393 in Supporting & Auxiliary Transport Activities, of which 155 were Travel Agencies. Total Receipts of the Transport & Storage Sector rose by 2% from 2007 to MOP 11.87 billion, with receipts from Passenger and Cargo Transport decreased by 2% to MOP 7.16 billion (60% of total). Total Expenditure was MOP 11.84 billion, up by 11% year-on-year, of which Operating Expenses (MOP 6.72 billion), Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 2.96 billion) and Compensation of Employees (MOP 1.82 billion) rose by 6%, 11% and 29% respectively from 2007. However, Gross Value Added of the Transport & Storage Sector decreased by 17% over 2007 to MOP 2.18 billion on account of the sharp increases of the costs of Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid and Operating Expenses. On the contrary, Gross Fixed Capital Formation surged by 220% year-on-year to MOP 807 million, attributable to the acquisition of new assets of the Air Transport industry. In the Communications Sector, a total of 36 establishments were operating in 2008, an increase of 3 over 2007; total number of persons engaged rose by 9% to 1,998. Total Receipts of the Communications Sector amounted to MOP 3.72 billion, up by 6% over 2007, with receipts from the provision of Communications Services and Sales of Goods totalling MOP 3.19 billion (86% of total). Total Expenditure rose marginally by 0.3% year-on-year to MOP 2.49 billion, of which Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 1.11 billion) and Operating Expenses (MOP 678 million) accounted for 45% and 27% of the total respectively. Gross Value Added (MOP 1.89 billion) of the Communication Sector rose by 6% over 2007, while Gross Fixed Capital Formation (MOP 443 million) dropped by 21%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that a total of 12,332 Wholesale & Retail establishments, market stalls and fixed stalls on the street were operating in 2008, an increase of 529 compared with 2007. At the end of 2008, number of persons engaged went up by 4% to 37,687. Total Receipts and Total Expenditure amounted to MOP38.37 billion and MOP36.35 billion respectively, both up by 19% over 2007. In addition, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy increased by 16% to MOP5.62 billion, Gross Fixed Capital Formation rose by 14% to MOP898 million. There were 10,448 operating Wholesale & Retail establishments in 2008, an increase of 604 compared with 2007, of which 786 were engaging in the Sale of Motor Vehicles & Automotive Fuel, 4,512 (43% of total) in Wholesale Trade and 5,150 (49%) in Retail Trade. Number of persons engaged totalled 34,508, up by 5% year-on-year. Sales and Other Receipts of the Wholesale & Retail establishments amounted to MOP37.29 billion, up by 19% from 2007. Analyzed by industry, receipts of the Wholesale establishments rose by 18% to MOP18.35 billion (49% of total); receipts of the Retail establishments soared by 25% to MOP15.79 billion (42%) and those of Motor Vehicles & Automotive Fuel stood at MOP3.15 billion (9%). Total Expenditure of the Wholesale & Retail establishments increased by 19% over 2007 to MOP35.46 billion. In terms of expenditure items, Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid amounted to MOP28.97 billion (82% of total); Operating Expenses and Compensation of Employees were MOP3.89 billion and MOP2.60 billion respectively. In addition, number of operating market stalls and fixed street stalls decreased by 75 year-on-year to 1,884 in 2008, of which 796 were market stalls and 1,088 were fixed stalls on the street. Number of persons engaged went down by 7% year-on-year to 3,179. Receipts and Expenditure of the stalls amounted to MOP1.08 billion and MOP893 million respectively, up by 2% and 1% over 2007.
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David Wong, Executive Assistant Manager of Food and Beverage Department of Institute For Tourism Studies, has been selected as Associate Judge in the inaugural competition of the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition (Hong Kong ICWSC), the world’s first truly Asian wine competition, held on 31 October to 04 November 2009. David, on top of his managerial role in the Institute’s F&B department, also lectures on theory of culinary, food and beverage management and wine studies of the Bachelor Degree Programme. IFT, being the Authorised Training Centre of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), David is one of the main instructors of the certificate courses. He holds a Master of Arts in Hospitality Management from Birmingham College, UK, a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) and a Cornell Master Certificate in Hotel Management. He has also written a cookbook titled “The Art of Modern Portuguese Cuisine” and is the founder of the Macau Culinary Association. David is an honorary advisor for the Association of Bartenders and Sommeliers in Macau and is an approved tutor of Wine and Spirit Education Trust certificate courses. David has many years of experience in the industry, having worked with the late Jean Bordier (Mellieur Ouvrier de France and Chairman of the Master Chefs of France) at the L’Aubergade in France, Anton Mosimann at his private club in London, Raymond Blanc at his 2 Michelin star “Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons” in Oxford, UK and Rick Stein (OBE) in Padstow, UK follow by working in Asia at Mandarin Oriental, Westin and Sheraton properties. The Hong Kong IWSC saw a top class panel of Asia’s most esteemed wine judges from PRC, Chinese Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and India; a move that ensured results were an accurate reflection of the pan-Asian palate. Debra Meiburg MW, Director of the Hong Kong IWSC said, “We are delighted to have David Wong on the esteemed panel of judges. David is a well respected member of the Asian wine community and has demonstrated independence and a commitment to recognising quality wines in the region.” As the largest wine competition in Asia, judges tasted nearly 1300 wines from around the world at the Hong Kong IWSC. Key procedures included blind tasting, anonymously-poured sample and a judging panel selected from outside of the wine trade community (including wine journalists, commentators, educators, food and beverage professionals, wine buyers and private collectors) implemented to ensure the absolute integrity of the competition’s results. IFT is gratified by the appointment of David Wong as the Associate Judge of the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition. This is an acknowledgment of the standard of IFT’s faculty and by actively participating in internationally organised events, teaching experience can be further enhanced through knowledge and experience sharing among participants.
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20th December 2009 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region, and the Macau Government Tourist Office is exhibiting once again at London’s World Travel Market, from 9th to 12th November, to showcase the exciting developments that have taken place in Macau during the past decade and others in the pipeline, and to encourage increased tourism to the destination from the UK and around the world. Held at London’s ExCel exhibition venue, World Travel Market is one of the global events for the travel industry. Staged annually in London, WTM is a four day business to business event, showcasing destinations and travel suppliers from around the world to industry buyers and media. It is a unique opportunity for the travel trade to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business under one roof and to keep abreast of the latest developments within the industry. The 2008 show played host to an amazing 49,963 travel industry professionals from every corner of the globe. This year’s event opened on Monday 9th November and concludes on Thursday 12th November 2009. The 27m² MGTO booth is located within the Asia section and is shared by the Venetian Macao Hotel Resort and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), which is promoting the PATA Travel Mart 2010 to be held in Macau next September. Representatives for the MGTO include: Deputy Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Isabela A. Trabuco and Alorino Noruega, as well as representatives from MGTO’s UK representative office: Sue Whitehead, Becky Smith and Claire Winsor. On the evening of Monday 9th November, the MGTO is sponsored a PATA dinner, held at the House of Commons for travel trade and media guests. This is the fourth time that the MGTO has sponsored this prestigious event, hosted within the world famous Houses of Parliament on the banks of the River Thames. Deputy Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said, “The MGTO is delighted to, once again, be involved with this fantastic event. World Travel Market is a hugely important global occasion and PATA’s annual House of Commons dinner is a ‘must’ for the cream of the travel trade. Our association with both places Macau firmly on the world map, raising the profile of our destination and further endorsing our position within the global travel community”. The MGTO is highlighting a number of exciting initiatives at WTM 2009, including a fantastic new online training programme for UK travel agents. The training scheme, named Macau Specialist, aims to enhance travel agents’ product knowledge of the destination and increase their selling power. UK agents will be encouraged to visit the stand throughout the show and try the scheme for themselves to find out what puts the wow into Macau! Visitors to WTM are also likely to see a number of MGTO branded taxis on their journeys to and from the show. The UK Representation Team has branded 50 London taxis with vibrant Macau imagery and these vehicles have been driving on routes throughout Greater London from 1st October, right through until the end of the year, ensuring fantastic exposure for Macau! On the eve of the 10th anniversary celebrations, 2009’s World Travel Market is set to be a rewarding and exciting show for Macau, showcasing the best of the destination on a truly global platform!
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total Value of Production & Other Receipts of Macao registered continuous decline in 2008, down by 13.2% year-on-year to MOP14.31 billion; Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy amounted to MOP3.56 billion, a decrease of 10.6%; Intermediate Consumption fell by 14.0% to MOP10.75 billion, whereas Gross Fixed Capital Formation increased by 125.0% to MOP1.47 billion. In 2008, there were 1,045 establishments operating in industrial production, a decrease of 70 over 2007; total number of persons engaged dropped by 15.5% to 24,901. In 2008, the principal indicators of the Manufacturing sector saw year-on-year decrease on account of shrinking domestic exports upon weakening external demand amidst the global financial crisis. Value of Production & Other Receipts of the Manufacturing sector decreased by 17.7% over 2007 to MOP11.40 billion, attributable to the decline of those of the Manufacturing of Wearing Apparel and Textiles that dropped by 19.9% and 14.4% to MOP6.15 billion and MOP1.64 billion respectively. Gross Value Added of the Manufacturing sector fell by 22.3% to MOP2.12 billion, while Intermediate Consumption and Gross Fixed Capital Formation went down by 16.6% and 83.6% respectively. On the contrary, with increasing consumption of electricity and introduction of natural gas in electricity generation, Value of Production & Other Receipts of Electricity, Gas & Water Supply increased by 10.7% over 2007 to MOP2.90 billion, and Gross Value Added rose by 15.6% to MOP1.43 billion; Intermediate Consumption registered an increase of 6.3% to MOP1.47 billion. Upon a completed renovation of the electricity distribution network and the operation of a new natural gas supply company, Gross Fixed Capital Formation of the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector rose significantly by 325.4% to MOP1.42 billion.
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