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A Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos (DSEC) disponibiliza informação resumida relativa à situação do emprego em Macau no primeiro trimestre de 2010. Os principais indicadores, como taxas de actividade (71,1%) e desemprego (2,9%), já foram divulgados em Abril de 2010. Durante o primeiro trimestre de 2010 a população activa totalizou 323,3 milhares de pessoas, destas 313,8 milhares pertencem à população empregada e 9,5 milhares à população desempregada. Relativamente ao trimestre antecedente, registou-se uma subida de 1.000 indivíduos na população activa equivalente à população empregada que cresceu 1.400, menos a população desempregada que diminuiu 400. Na distribuição do emprego por ramos de actividade, a maioria da população empregada dedicava-se a actividades culturais e recreativas, lotarias e outros serviços (23,4%), enquanto 14,3% trabalhava nos hotéis, restaurantes e similares. Em termos de profissão, os empregados administrativos (incluindo os “croupiers”, fiscais de bancas e operadores de serviços de apostas, etc.) e o pessoal dos serviços, vendedores e trabalhadores similares compunham a maior parte da população empregada, que representavam 26,1% e 22,7%, respectivamente. A mediana do rendimento mensal da população empregada global cifrou-se nas 9.000 Patacas e a mediana do rendimento mensal dos residentes empregados situou-se nas 10.000 Patacas neste trimestre, mantiveram o nível registado no trimestre anterior. No trimestre em análise, a população subempregada foi de 5,8 milhares de indivíduos, dos quais: 81,2% dedicavam-se à construção e 7,8% ao sector dos transportes, armazenagem e comunicações. Os desempregados que se encontravam “à procura de novo emprego” representavam 94,1% do total da população desempregada, enquanto 5,9% eram pessoas desempregadas que se encontravam “à procura do primeiro emprego”. No que respeita aos níveis de escolaridade temos que, 40,2% das pessoas empregadas tinham habilitação inferior ou equivalente ao ensino primário; 30,7% ao ensino secundário geral e 19,6% ao ensino secundário complementar. Em termos de distribuição dos desempregados por ramo de actividade económica anterior, 28,5% dos desempregados que se encontravam “à procura de novo emprego” trabalhavam na construção e 22,7% nas actividades culturais e recreativas, lotarias e outros serviços. Quanto à profissão anterior dos desempregados “à procura de novo emprego”, 25,1% eram empregados administrativos, enquanto que 22,6% eram pessoal dos serviços, vendedores e trabalhadores similares.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (103.68) for April 2010 increased by 2.56% year-on-year, attributable to the price increases of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Transport. Price indices of Transport; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Clothing & Footwear rose by 9.11%, 5.26%, 5.04% and 4.83% respectively, on account of dearer prices of gasoline, seafood and vegetables, rising gold prices, higher charges for meals bought away from home and new arrival of Spring clothing. On the contrary, apart from the 9.81% decrease of the price index of Education, reduced charges for mobile phone services drove the price index of Communication down by 3.39%. Moreover, in spite of lower rentals for housing, the decrease was partially tapered off by the rising prices of LPG, bringing the price index of Housing & Fuels down slightly by 0.24%. The CPI-A (103.36) and CPI-B (103.81) for April 2010 increased by 2.05% and 2.73% year-on-year respectively. The Composite CPI for April 2010 increased by 0.65% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 4.26%, 0.83% and 0.62% respectively, attributable to new arrival of Spring clothing, dearer prices of gasoline and seafood, as well as higher charges for meals bought away from home. However, price index of Communication fell slightly by 0.03% on account of lower prices of mobile phones. The average Composite CPI for the first four months of 2010 increased by 1.78% year-on-year. For the 12 months ended April 2010, the average Composite CPI rose by 0.75% over the preceding period. 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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Macao and Foshan would step up co-operation on tourism, culture and industry by utilising fully the benefits created by the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This was agreed on today when the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, met with the Secretary of CPC Foshan Municipal Committee, Mr Chen Yunxian, in Foshan. Mr Chen gave an introduction on the latest economic development of Foshan to the Mr Chui and his delegation at the beginning of the meeting. He told Mr Chui that the Foshan government would like to strengthen co-operation with Macao. Mr Chui said there was a close relationship between Foshan and Macao as Foshan citizens have actively participated in Macao’s economy. He also invited Mr Chen and Foshan Government officials to visit Macao. Mr Chui and the delegation visited the Foshan Creative Industry Park and the Shunde Industrial Design Park before returning to Macao.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 6,386 building units were purchased and sold at MOP10.02 billion in the first quarter of 2010 according to Stamp Duty records, down by 3.1% and 5.6% respectively quarter-to-quarter. The majority (3,884 units) were residential units amounting to MOP7.94 billion, down by 14.6% and 10.0% respectively over the previous quarter, of which 3,106 units were situated in the Macao Peninsula and 768 in Taipa. Regarding the price of transaction, 1,428 residential units were sold for MOP1,000,000 or less; 1,209 units for over MOP1,000,000 to MOP2,000,000. Analyzed by year of completion of the building, 1,835 residential units were completed in 1990-1999, 1,085 units in 2000 and after and 964 units in 1989 and before. As regards the size of unit, 1,901 units (48.9% of total) had an area of 50 to 99.9 square metres. The average transaction price of residential units rose by 4.7% quarter-to-quarter to MOP26,845 per square metre of usable area, with the average price of those in the Macao Peninsula increasing by 5.0% to MOP26,674 per square metre, and the average price of those in Taipa rising by 3.4% to MOP27,342 per square metre. With regard to transaction of residential units under Intermediate Transfer of Title, the average price stood at MOP44,865 per square metre, down slightly by 0.2% from the previous quarter. The average price of office units rose by 2.4% quarter-to-quarter to MOP23,740 per square metre, and that of industrial units went up by 3.7% to MOP6,526 per square metre. There were 3,370 cases of real estate sale and purchase contracts made in the first quarter of 2010; the number of units transacted rose by 5.4% quarter-to-quarter to 4,307 whereas the total value went down by 21.5% to MOP4.98 billion. Moreover, total value of mortgage loans amounted to MOP8.07 billion, down by 11.0% quarter-to-quarter. In the first quarter of 2010, construction of new buildings with a gross floor area of 124,615 square metres has been started, which will provide 508 units, 496 parking spaces for cars and 93 parking spaces for motorcycles upon completion. In addition, gross floor area of buildings completed totalled 64,769 square metres, altogether providing 149 units (of which 136 are residential units), down sharply by 84.4% and 85.4% respectively quarter-to-quarter; number of parking spaces for cars and motorcycles completed plunged by 92.2% and 78.5% to 146 and 138 respectively.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP157.3 billion (USD19.66 billion) at the end of April 2010. The reserves rose by 0.7% from MOP156.2 billion (USD19.53 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP19.9 billion or 14.5%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-April 2010 represented 31 times the currency in circulation or 258.4% of Pataca M2 at end-March 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, rose by 0.05 points month-to-month but fell by 2.01 points year-on-year to 90.57 in April 2010.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today visited Jiangmen, Zhaoqin and Foshan to enhance communication with cities in the Pearl River Delta. Mr Chui and the official delegation he led visited a food processing facility and warehouse in Jiangmen before they met with the Secretary of CPC Jiangmen Municipal Committee, Mr. Chen Jixing. Mr Chui told Mr Chen that the new administration of the Macao SAR had high regards for the Reform of the Pearl River Delta Region Development Plan (2008-2020), and would fully co-operate with Guangdong and Hong Kong in this area. He said Jiangmen’s tourism, training and business promotion had developed very fast and that attracted Macao to step up bilateral co-operation. Mr Chen Jixing said that under framework of the Plan, Macao and Jiangmen could strengthen co-operation on logistics, tourism and education. The delegation was welcomed to a luncheon hosted by the Jiangmen Municipal Committee before they left for Zhaoqing where they visited the Zhaoqing Hi-tech Industry Development Zone and a training centre for teachers. When the Secretary of CPC Zhaoqing Municipal Committee, Mr. Qin Weidong met with Mr Chui, Mr Qin described the relationship between Zhaoqing and Macao as very close as there were more than a hundred Macao entrepreneurs who had invested in agriculture, industry, tourism and real estate in Zhaoqing, totalling more than US$400 million. He said he expected Macao and Zhaoqing to strengthen co-operation on business and trading, service industry, tourism, education and culture. Mr Chui said he totally agreed with Mr Qin’s point of view and promised that Macao’s relevant departments would follow up. He also said that after Guangdong and Hong Kong had signed the “Hong Kong-Guangdong Cooperation Framework Agreement”, Guangdong and Macao had set up an ad hoc group to study details of co-operation on the Reform of the Pearl River Delta Region Development Plan and the “Hengqin Overall Development Plan”. He also said that the Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Huang Huahua would visit Macao at the end of this month to discuss the details on the draft of the Macao-Guangdong Co-operation Framework Agreement at the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Joint Conference to be held in Macao. After the meeting, the delegation attended the welcome banquet hosted by Mr Qin. The delegation will visit Foshan tomorrow. The delegation included the Chief-of-Office of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the Secretary-General of Executive Council, Ms O Lam, the Director of Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, Advisor of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Fung Sio Weng and Mr Kou Chin Hung, and Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive, Ms Tam Ka Wa.
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Following the first Macao Franchise Expo held in 2009, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) will continue to organize the Macao Franchise Expo 2010 (2010 MFE) this year. Invited as organizers this year, two local industry associations: the Macao International Brand Enterprise Commercial Association (MIBA) and Macau Chain Stores and Franchise Association, together with the organizers of previous MFE, Brazilian Franchise Association, Association of China and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan, Licensing and Franchising Association of Hong Kong and will co-organize the 2010 MFE with Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). In addition to the support of China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA) and International Franchise Association (IFA), 2010MFE also gets the support of the Japan Franchise Association (JFA). 2010MFE will be held at the Macao Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre from 8 to 10 July 2010, and co-ordinated by the Association of Advertising Agents of Macau, with an estimate of exhibitor booth over 100. The Expo is a major franchising business event to promote international franchise business, chain operations and brand agency businesses through the organisation of exhibitions, business negotiations and forums. Making the best use of Macao’s role as a convention and exhibition service platform to promote franchise cooperation 2010 MFE will include exhibitions, forum/seminar, business matching sessions and product presentation. To make the best use of Macao’s role as a convention and exhibition service platform, business projects include product agencies, franchising and chain operations will be presented in the form of an exhibition, with supplementary services including marketing and publicity and consultancy services. Other trade and economic activities including business matching and trade negations will be arranged for participants to serve as a platform for co-operation and exchanges. Helping SMEs’ business transformation and exploring new markets In conjunction with the SAR Government’s policy of supporting and assisting SMEs, the introduction of franchise operations will meet the needs of business starters to establish themselves and SMEs’ needs in the upgrade of technological enhancement operations and business transformation. 2010 MFE aims to provide local enterprises with more opportunities for co-operation and new business, allowing local SMEs to grasp business opportunities with franchise business and brand agencies. In order to motivate local enterprises to participate, those who apply before May 26, 2010 could enjoy a 20% “Early Bird” discount offer; nevertheless, eligible Macao enterprises can also apply for “Individual Exhibition Participation Financial Incentives” and receive up to 60% subsidies. Both offers can be enjoyed at the same time. For instance, a standard booth at MOP$3,200.00, when applied with both discount offer, could be as low as MOP$1,024.00. A convergence of multiple franchise brands worldwide, and a comprehensive “One-stop Support Services” Based on the strong foundation of the previous MFE, 2010 MFE will bring together around 100 enterprises (increment 40% vs previous MFE) in franchising, chain operations and brand agencies from Mainland China, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, USA, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Portugal, involving food and beverages, retail, business services, fashion, entertainments, education, business strategic planning and consulting services sectors. Moreover, a comprehensive “One-stop support service” will be stationed at the venue to serve the local enterprises in order to let them understand more about the franchising, chain operations. Free pre-arranged and on-site business matching by MFE Business Matching Service Team As part of the series of business negotiation activities, free pre-arranged and on-site business matching sessions will be available. Registration of chain operations and franchises are in progress, interested enterprises please log on and provide details of your business intent. For further information, please contact the MFE Business Matching Service Team or visit the official website for registration and obtain updated business matching information on 2872 8328, Fax: 2872 7506, Email: matching@ipim.gov.mo. Official Website: www.mfe.mo, business-matching website: www.bm.ipim.gov.mo.
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The Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT) hosts a public lecture titled – “Re-Weaving the Threads, Re-Connecting the Places: Cultural Mapping and Valuation of Mong-Ha Heritage” on 14 May, where Year 4 students of IFT Bachelor of Science in Heritage Management programme will present their findings on the Mong-Há Village. IFT has chosen Mong-Há Village as case study in the Heritage Management Programme – “Economics of Heritage Conservation” course. Guided by internationally renowned heritage specialists, Dr. Richard A Engelhardt, Regional Adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO and Dr. Johannes Widodo, Assistant Professor of the National University of Singapore and complemented by Macao based heritage professionals Mr. Steven Chan, Vice-President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao S.A.R. Government, Dr. Francisco Pinheiro, Technical Advisor of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and Mr. Ong Chin Ee, Lecturer of IFT, Year 4 students of the degree programme has performed field work from 3 to 14 May at the site of Mong-Há village. The Economics of Heritage Conservation course identifies, analyses and appraises the economic and social values of the totality of Macao’s heritage assets, utilising international-standard inventory, mapping and assessment methodologies. Building upon the efforts of cultural mapping Coloane Village last year, the students will extend their study to Mong-Há, an area less understood but containing rich cultural heritage resources. The course is conducted in intensive daily module with guided field work, in which they will evaluate and record the heritage assets. The course is designed to introduce to the students the essential tasks as a heritage management professional, which include: l The ability to identify, analyse and appraise the built heritage as a public resource; l The ability to document built heritage resources in a proper way to ensure their asset values remain intact and/or is enhanced through appropriate and timely investment; l The ability to innovate creative solutions to integrate the build heritage into socio-economic development; and
l The ability to convince decision-makers and stakeholders the efficacy and potential benefits of these solutions. Dr. Richard A. Engelhardt is a Visiting Professor at IFT and has directed archaeology and heritage conservation projects throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific region for the past 30 years. Among his responsibilities at UNESCO, he is UNESCO Charge de Mission and Senior Advisor for Culture and he was the Regional Adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific; and served as Chairman of the International Jury for the annual UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Awards competition. Dr. Engelhardt is also the Co-Convenor of the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management. Dr. Johannes Widodo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and the Director of CASA (Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture) at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Widodo's area of specialisation includes architecture, urban history and morphology of Southeast Asian cities, Asian modernity, and heritage conservation in Southeast Asian context. Dr. Francisco Pinheiro is a Technical Advisor at the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Adjunct Professor at the Inter-University Institute of Macao and part-time lecturer at the IFT. He has worked in educational programs and projects since 1990s and has taken part in several municipal projects and promoted the recovery of dilapidated areas and artifacts, including the proposed guidelines and plan for the recovery and rehabilitation of the Coloane Village. Ong Chin-Ee is Lecturer in Heritage and Tourism at The Institute For Tourism Studies in Macao (IFT). He teaches heritage and tourism subjects and is part of the IFT team tasked with developing and delivering cultural heritage specialist guide and cultural tourism site-manager training for UNESCO and UNESCAP in Asia.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply resumed its growth in March. Total deposits increased while external loans grew at a fast pace. The overall loan-to-deposit ratio therefore rose slightly from a month ago.
Money supply
Currency in circulation decreased 4.7% whereas demand deposits increased 3.2%. M1 thus rose 1.8% compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 2.9%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 2.7% to MOP215.9 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 17.4% and 9.8% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 28.2%, down 1.1 percentage points over a month ago or 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. Concurrently, the share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 54.6%, up 1.7 percentage points month-to-month or 1.1 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits rose 2.9% from the previous month to MOP210.8 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and other foreign currency deposits declined at respective rates of 0.7% and 1.0% while HKD deposits rose 6.1%. Concurrently, non-resident deposits stayed flat at MOP73.0 billion and public sector deposits with the banking sector rose 3.3% to MOP16.0 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 2.2% from the previous month to MOP299.7 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 22.6% and 46.3% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector grew slightly by 0.4% in March to MOP105.1 billion. Among which, MOP30.6 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP67.8 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 29.2% and 64.5% of the total respectively. Loans to “transport, warehouse and communications” and “personal housing loans” increased quarter-to-quarter at respective rates of 32.5% and 9.8% whereas those to “non-monetary financial institutions” and “manufacturing industries” dropped 20.2% and 14.7%. Meanwhile, external loans grew 4.9% to MOP106.2 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.8% (MOP0.9 billion) and 41.2% (MOP43.8 billion) of the total respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
As resident deposits and public sector deposits with the banking sector grew faster than domestic loans to
the private sector, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-March 2010 dropped by 1.2 percentage points month-to-month to 46.3%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors stood at 70.5%, up slightly by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.
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The popularity of the Internet enables quick and effective dissemination of information around the world and creates a business environment which is not restricted by time or geographical boundaries. The application of e-commerce enables SMEs to conduct businesses with trade partners around the world and establish an extensive global partnership network. Enterprises can promote their products and businesses on the service platform provided by e-commerce operators to create more business opportunities and widen publicity for themselves. To assist SMEs to make use of E-Commerce to gain wide publicity, SME Service Centre of Macao Trade and Investment and Promotion Institute (IPIM) and eBay Hong Kong will organize a seminar on “Opportunities using online business - How to expand sales channel” on 18 May 2010, 3 p.m. at Macao Business Support Centre. The seminar comprises of two sections: eBay Hong Kong will introduce how SMEs can utilize online business be a platform to sell their products, introduction of eBay’s "Trading Assistant Program" and actual operations. In the experience sharing, eBay Power Seller will be invited to share their experience. Through keynote presentations and experience sharing, the seminar aims to enrich SMEs’ understanding how to using the E-Commerce to promote theirs brands, products and services and gain wide publicity, thus, enhance competitiveness and create endless business opportunities. In addition, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in the future, through information exchange, education, training and discussion forums, and through eBay online platform and offline promotion services to help SMEs to promote their online business in Macau. The seminar will be conducted in Cantonese (with simultaneous interpretation in English). Registration is now open to interested parties (especially enterprises from manufacturing and retail sector targeting to explore overseas market). To sign up, please contact Mr. Ho or Ms. Leong of SME Service Centre (Tel：28728212; Fax: 28 728213；Email: smec@ipim.gov.mo )。
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