News

The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, today urged voters to vote on today’s Legislative Assembly Election 2009. Speaking to the press after casting her vote, she urged the voters to exercise their civil rights and participate in the building of an even better Macao.
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The Chairman of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Fong Man Chong, said today that computer system failure had occurred temporary at three polling stations due to the quantity of data flow. Now the operation of the system had been back to normal. Mr Fong and other members of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly visited the polling stations this morning.
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The Legislative Assembly Election 2009 will be held tomorrow. The fourth-term Legislative Assembly will be consisted of 29 members, 12 of whom will be elected directly, 10 indirectly and seven appointed by the Chief Executive. In accordance with the Legislative Assembly Election Law, the Chief Executive will appoint the seven legislators within 15 days after receiving the general counting result. All permanent residents aged 18 or above registered by the end of 2008 may cast their vote in the direct election. The number of registered voters totalled 249,886, an increase of 13.25% comparing to the previous Legislative Assembly Election. Its votor turnout rate was 58.39%. A total of 28 polling stations across Macao, Taipa and Coloane will be opened from 09:00 to 21:00. Voters may vote at a designated polling station nearby their residence. Voters should bring their permanent resident identity card to the designated polling station for identification. They should vote by using the chop provided and stamp a ‘tick’ on the ballot paper, otherwise the vote will be considered as void.
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The Government today announced plans to expand the social security system to ensure all residents have some money when they retire. The expansion will cover all permanent residents aged 22 or above, whether they are homemakers, self-employed businesspeople or unemployed. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said the new system would be implemented once it is approved by the Legislative Assembly. The Government will also open a savings account for permanent residents aged 22 and above, and deposit a sum of money in it, to set the ground for the introduction of a mandatory central provident fund, to encourage employers and employees to save for their retirement, said Mr Tam. The sum to be deposited into each account would depend on the surplus of the fiscal year 2008, and likely in the following years. The Government would introduce the necessary legislation to enhance the social security system, Mr Tam said.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the second quarter of 2009. The survey covered Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities, but excluded own-account workers. The survey results were extrapolated according to the information collected from 906 statistical units successfully interviewed. At the end of the second quarter of 2009, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 27,098 paid employees, up by 6.7% year-on-year, with 16,428 working in Retail trade. In June 2009, the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees rose by 4.2% year-on-year to MOP8,650, with those of Sales representatives and Salespersons amounting to MOP11,010 and MOP7,170 respectively. Transport, Storage & Communications took on 7,709 paid employees, up by 2.1% year-on-year. In June 2009, the average earnings for full-time employees increased slightly by 0.3% year-on-year to MOP14,920. Drivers of passenger/cargo transport by land earned an average of MOP11,880. Security Activities had 3,804 paid employees, up by 0.7% over the second quarter of 2008. The average earnings for full-time employees in June 2009 dropped slightly by 0.2% year-on-year to MOP7,400, with Security guards earning MOP 7,000 in average. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 665 paid employees, up by 5.2% year-on-year. The average earnings for full-time employees in June 2009 increased by 2.1% year-on-year to MOP11,270. At the end of June 2009, Wholesale & Retail Trade and Transport, Storage & Communications reported 1,686 and 295 vacancies respectively, down significantly by 51.2% and 67.6% year-on-year; Security Activities had 480 vacancies, a year-on-year decrease of 1.0%. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 64.4% of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade and 51.0% of those in Transport, Storage & Communications required working experience. As regards educational attainment, 42.5% and 59.6% of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade and Transport, Storage & Communications required senior secondary education or higher, while 85.4% of those in Security Activities required primary education only. Besides Cantonese, Mandarin (59.2%) was the more preferable language skill of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today, for the first time, statistics of bank credit to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Macao. New Lending Approved In the first six months of 2009, new SME credit limit approved by Macao banks increased by 19.7% from the second half of 2008 to MOP6.2 billion. The collaterialised ratio, that is the part of credit limit with tangible assets pledged, stood at 39.3%, down 22.0 percentage points compared with the last survey period. Credit Utilisation As at end-June 2009, the outstanding value of total SME loans reached MOP19.5 billion, with a decrease of 1.4% compared with the end of 2008. By economic sector, “construction and public works”, “wholesale and retail trade” and “manufacturing” posted the largest shares of 41.2%, 17.9% and 11.2% respectively. The share of SME loans outstanding in domestic loans to the private sector dropped slightly by 0.7 percentage points from six months ago to 21.0%. Concurrently, the utilisation rate, that is the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, declined 4.7 percentage points to 61.1%. Delinquent Loans At the end of June 2009, the outstanding balance of SME delinquent loans rose slightly by 1.06% from six months earlier to MOP0.43 billion. The delinquency ratio was 2.22%, up by 0.05 percentage points. Starting this year, the Monetary Authority of Macao conducts a comprehensive survey of SME credit and disseminates the results on a semi-annual basis.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today the credit card statistics for the second quarter of 2009. The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 336,995 at the end of June 2009, up 1.89% from the previous quarter. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 272,889, 55,265 and 8,841 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective increases of 2.22%, 0.46% and 0.95% quarter-to-quarter. Compared with the same period last year, RMB cards grew 10.64% whereas MOP cards and HKD cards dropped 0.74% and 15.55% respectively.
As at the end of June 2009, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao amounted to MOP6.16 billion, down 1.95% from end-March 2009. Credit card receivables reached MOP1.05 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP0.46 billion, accounting for 43.61% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, was 1.17%. In the second quarter of 2009, the credit card turnover edged up slightly by 0.26% from the last quarter to MOP1.53 billion. The cash advance turnover amounted to MOP0.12 billion, accounting for 8.03% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, dropped 12.03% from last quarter to MOP1.48 billion.
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Organized by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), the “Celebrate Macau!” Roadshow 2009 is held on 11-12 September at Elements in Tsim Sha Tsui, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Macau SAR and promote the 56th Macau Grand Prix. Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes, Director of MGTO and Coordinator of Macau Grand Prix Committee (MGPC) led the delegation of MGTO and MGPC to join the carnival on 12 September and officiated the opening ceremony with Mr. Liu Tiesen, Deputy Director of Asia Tourism Exchange Centre. The “Celebrate Macau!” Roadshow 2009 was kicked off by an upbeat crossover music performance of Pipa and Saxophone which impressed every audience and reflected Macau as a unique city where Eastern and Western cultures converge. The performance was followed by the chit-chat between guests model Vanessa Yeung, artist Suki Tsui and racing hero Kenneth Chung to share their travel experience in Macau and introduce the newest gourmet and entertainment in Macau. Aiming to showcase Macau’s diversified cultural developments and tourism elements, MGTO arranged a 4-themed performance that consisted of Portuguese dance, Samba dance and modern dance. Apart from the Grand Dance performance, the Queen of flair tender in China, Zheng Wen was invited to perform an eye-catching flair tender show. Her performance was followed by the Sensational Macau Runway, which applied the promotional theme of MGTO – using the 5 senses of “see, hear, taste, touch, feel” to inspire the audience to a sensational exploration of Macau through fashionable costumes. The on-stage performances ended with a toasting ceremony hosted by the MGTO Director and officials to count down the 56th Macau Grand Prix and the 10th Anniversary of Macau SAR Establishment Day. In addition to the stage performance, there are four exhibition areas at the “Celebrate Macau!” Roadshow including: (1) Macau Grand Prix – exhibition of F3 racing car and motor racing simulating game for audience to experience the exciting races on the Guia Circuit; (2) Macau World Heritage – introduction of the Historic Centre of Macau which was recognized by the UNESCO in 2005; (3) Star Trek – display of selected movies which are shot in Macau; (4) Celebrate Macau Photo Exhibition – selected photos from Hong Kong residents to record Macau’s contemporary establishment and their sweet memory of Macau. The 56th Macau Grand Prix will be held from 19-22 November. Competition schedule and ticketing details can be downloaded from www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tourssaw continuous decrease, down notably by 35.7% year-on-year to 261,349 in July 2009. Visitors in package tours from Mainland China (163,255); Taiwan, China (19,887) and Japan (14,618) decreased by 42.2%, 20.4% and 7.1% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (26,146) increased by 7.1%. In the first seven months of 2009, visitor arrivals in package tours fell by 10.1% year-on-year to 2,535,849. In July 2009, the number of Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours dropped by 25.1% year-on-year to 14,826. Mainland China (62.9%); Taiwan, China (8.8%); and Singapore & Malaysia (7.2%) were the most popular tour itineraries. In the first seven months of 2009, residents travelling outbound in package tours decreased by 15.8% year-on-year to 106,464. Meanwhile, 43,303 residents travelled outbound under own arrangements with services of travel agencies, up by 24.6% over July 2008. Mainland China (49.6%); Hong Kong (20.3%) and Taiwan, China (16.7%) were the main destinations. In the first seven months of 2009, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements rose by 10.2% year-on-year to 239,930. At the end of July 2009, total number of guest rooms available in the hotel sector increased by 1,879 (+11.5%) from a year earlier to 18,152 rooms. In July 2009, a total of 525,731 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments, down by 10.5% year-on-year, with the majority of guests coming from Mainland China (43.3%) and Hong Kong (29.3%). The average occupancy rate fell by 10.8 percentage points year-on-year to 68.1%, with 4-star hotels leading at 71.7%. The average length of stay of hotel guests increased by 0.13 night year-on-year to 1.49 nights. The cumulative number of hotel guests decreased by 4.3% in the first seven months of 2009 to 3,630,454. In the first seven months of 2009, visitor-guests of hotels accounted for 61.4% of the total number of tourists, up from 56.9% in the corresponding period of 2008.
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The three-day "China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM) ", which is one of China's leading MICE tradeshow, ended in Beijing yesterday (10th September). In order to strengthen exchange and cooperation opportunities between our industry partners and their counterparts in the China, as well as to promote Macau as a new MICE destination in Asia, the Macau Business Tourism Centre (MBTC) of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) lead a group of industry partners to Beijing to exhibits at the CIBTM 2009. The Macau pavilion is the second largest in terms of exhibiting space in this trade show, with 23 co-exhibitors coming from the industry , almost three times as much as the previous edition, including event organisers and planners, hotels, travel agencies and association, etc. The design of the pavilion celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR and it was so eye-catching that many buyers from the Mainland and overseas were attracted to stop at the pavilion, to learn more about the city, its MICE industry development and the newly extended "Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program" launched by MGTO. The business tourism industry is considered by the Macau SAR Government as a key focus in its strategy to diversify tourism and the economy, while China is an important tourist and business market of Macau, therefore, we believe that through the network of CIBTM, we can source more potential and high quality buyers in the mainland and even around the world, which in turn will help strengthen Macau’s position as one of Asia’s premier MICE destinations. In addition, greater support will be extended to the local MICE industry to help strengthen promotional efforts around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region. For instance, the Macau Business Tourism Centre of MGTO will continue to lead our industry partners to participate in major MICE trade shows, e.g. the Incentive Travel & Convention Meetings of Asia (IT&CMA) in Bangkok in October and the European Incentive & Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM) in Barcelona in December. To support the travel trade in tackling the current adversity and to be in line with the celebrations of the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR, MGTO has launched the "Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program" on May 18, which has started to deliver results. MGTO extended the program on August 1 and it consists of three main categories: Conventions and Meetings, Exhibitions and Incentives. Any event organizers or planners able to secure their events in Macau before 31 December 2009 are entitled to apply for the support. More information is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/cn/index.php
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