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Starting from 10 December 2009, eligible Macao Permanent Residents, aged eleven or above, can voluntarily enrol in advance for using the Automated Passenger Clearance System (e-Channel) to enter and exit the Hong Kong SAR with their valid Electronic Macao SAR Permanent Resident Identity Card. At present, over 100,000 Macao Permanent Residents have enrolled for using Hong Kong e-Channel, including 92,000 people registered at the Identification Services Bureau’s self-service kiosks and 12,000 people registered at the enrolment counter of the Hong Kong Immigration Department.
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According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector remained high during the first quarter of 2010. At end-March 2010, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell to 84.1% from 84.8% at end-2009, whereas the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities rose to 78.0% from 77.5%. Foreign currencies remained as the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-March 2010, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 1.9% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 45.9% and 53.7% of total international assets as well as 47.8% and 50.4% of total international liabilities respectively. International Banking Assets
At end-March 2010, total international assets increased by 2.7% from three months earlier or 19.7% year-on-year to MOP371.8 billion (USD46.5 billion). Within this total, external assets jumped by 25.6% to MOP291.7 billion in a year while local assets in foreign currencies rose slightly by 2.0% to MOP80.1 billion. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits jumped by 26.7% over a year earlier to MOP266.1 billion, mainly attributable to the 84.4% increase of loans to overseas non-bank borrowers. International Banking Liabilities
Meanwhile, total international liabilities expanded by 4.2% from three months ago or 19.6% from a year earlier to MOP344.7 billion (USD43.1 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies amounted to MOP175.6 billion and MOP169.1 billion in respective order. Compared with a year earlier, the former soared by 30.6% while the latter increased by 9.9%. Foreign currency deposits held by residents in the local banking system formed a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 10.6% to MOP161.6 billion at end-March 2010 from MOP146.1 billion a year earlier. Breakdown of External Banking Assets and Liabilities by Region
The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to the regions of Asia and Europe. At end-March 2010, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied respectively 38.5% and 10.6% of total external assets, while claims on Portugal and the UK took up respective shares of 13.0% and 4.0%. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and China occupied 44.1% and 18.4% of the total respectively while France and Portugal took up respective shares of 9.4% and 7.4%. The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements in order to facilitate Macao SAR’s participation in the “Locational International Banking Statistics” project of the international organisation.
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On 14 June 2010, the University of Macau (UM) held Forum on Institutional Advancement and Fundraising: Community Partnership for Excellence, the first of its kind in UM’s history. The purpose of the forum was to strengthen UM’s ties with domestic and foreign universities and to provide a platform for attendees to exchange experience in institutional advancement and fundraising activities. Six experts from leading universities actively involved in institutional advancement, fundraising, and management of endowment funds, attended the forum to exchange views and experience with UM’s top management, members of the University Council and University Assembly of UM, and members of the Trustees Committee of the University of Macau Development Foundation (UMDF), on a wide range of topics, including “The Objectives & Functions of Institutional Development/Advancement”, “Building Community Partnership and Donor Relationships”, “Strategies & Management of Fundraising Activities”, and “Governance/Management of Foundation and Endowment Funds”. Attendees had in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics, including “The Objectives & Functions of Institutional Development/Advancement”, “Building Community Partnership and Donor Relationships”, “Strategies & Management of Fundraising Activities”, and “Governance/Management of Foundation and Endowment Funds”. Six keynote speakers included Mr. Ricky Cheng, Director of Institutional Advancement of The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Ms. Angela Chapman, Director of Advancement of the National University of Singapore; Prof. William H. Mobley, Professor Emeritus of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and President Emeritus of Texas A&M University; Dr. Guy K. Diedrich, Vice Chancellor of Federal Relations and Commercialization of The Texas A&M University System; Ms. Krista Slade, Executive Director of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Asia-Pacific Region; and Ms. Jennifer Bott, Chief Executive of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Foundation, Australia. Speakers shared their experience garnered from many years of involvement in fundraising activities and provided detailed analysis of the principles, significance, and commonality of fundraising activities in world-class universities as well as the economic and brand value of university foundations, experience about successful fundraising, and how universities can earn recognition from the society and build community partnership. They noted that world-class universities mostly have university foundations, and usually universities with higher alumni giving rates also have higher university rankings. Indeed, “alumni giving rate” has become an important indicator of a university’s brand value and teaching quality. They remarked that when carrying out fundraising activities, a university should build good relations and mutual trust with the donors and clearly convey the university’s vision and missions to the donors to make them understand that giving to education is an important path to realizing the shared educational dream and will have far-reaching effects on the progress of human society. Undeniably, attracting large donations is important for all universities that aspire to make significant progress and realize sustainable development. However, attracting small donations from the alumni is equally important. A study of the fundraising performance of some top universities over the past decade reveals that more than 80% of the alumni who donated USD one million or above made repeated donations to their alma maters during the first five years of graduation; and donations from the alumni accounted for approximately 40% of the total donations received by the universities in question. The findings show that fostering a culture of giving to education in the society is undoubtedly very important for a university’s fundraising effort, but cultivating among the alumni a fine tradition of repaying the alma mater is just as important. The opening ceremony began at 9:30 a.m. Dr. Tse Chi Wai, Chair of the University Council of UM, representative of the founding members of UMDF, and Vice Chair of the Trustees Committee of UMDF, said in his speech at the opening ceremony: “The forum we host today is the first of its kind for the University of Macau, and the theme of the forum is on Institutional Advancement, which is a new subject of interest for this University. As we all know, in spite of the fancy name, Institutional Advancement is about finding more resources to support the Institution; so that it can further advance along the path it has set for itself. In the case of the University of Macau, what we would like to learn in the Forum is how to make use of the fundraising mechanism we have set up since Dec. 7 of last year to help advance the University of Macau.” Dr. Tse said that the new UM campus has brought about new challenges and opportunities for UM, and UM will seize the opportunities to realize the goal of becoming a world-class university. UM Rector Wei Zhao pointed out in his speech that UM’s goal is to become “a first-class university with unique regional characteristics”. He said that to better fulfill its educational missions, UM has launched a series of reforms in teaching, research and governance, and the most important initiative is the establishment of UMDF. Rector Wei Zhao said that establishing university foundations is a common practice of many top universities in the world, and the purpose of UMDF is to strengthen the university’s ties with the community and obtain donations from the alumni and the community to support the university’s long-term development. He said UMDF obtained committed and received donations of approximately MOP 300 million within only six months of its establishment, and in the following year UM will use a small percentage of the funds to recruit top-notch professors from around the world; sponsor undergraduate students for participation in the residential college system piloted on the current campus; reward outstanding teaching and academic performance; and sponsor strategic teaching and research projects. Rector Wei Zhao said that he is confident that with the unreserved support of UMDF, UM will progress towards the goal of becoming a world-class university in an “orderly, stable, and systematic” manner.
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Organised by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and co-organised by fourteen governmental entities, chambers of commerce and trade promotionagencies from Macao, the Mainland and Hong Kong and co-ordinated by Macao Convention & Exhibition Association, Macau Fair & Trade Association and The Association of Advertising Agents of Macau, the 15th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) will be held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 21st to 24th October 2010.
Being the largest annual trade and economic event in Macao, last year’s MIF attracted exhibitors from 48 countries and regions and over 60,000 visitors. A total of 1,032 business-matching sessions were conducted, and 60 letters of intent/memorandum of understanding/agreements were signed, amounting to approximately MOP4.3 billion. During the 4-day event, more than 36 forums, conferences, seminars and presentations were held and attended by over 5,000 participants.
To promote the convention and exhibition industry of Macao, the 15th MIF would like to invite all interested and potential enterprises in the trade to participate in this international trade and economic event of Macao. The six areas of services which will be open for second phase tender include: 1. PR Services for Welcome Dinner
2. Opening Ceremony
3. Souvenirs
4. Conference and Forum Hardware and Software Service Provider
5. Transportation for VIPs
6. “One-Trip, Multi-Stop” Business Service Interested enterprises with valid Macao business registration and have been engaged in the respective area for at least 2 years are welcomed to contact the MIF Administrative and Service Centre before 5:00pm Wednesday, 23rd June, to register your interest in submitting tender for the above services and obtain information on the briefing session. For more information, please visit MIF website: www.mif.com.mo, contact our staff by phone 2882 8711 or fax to 2882 8722.
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The Historical Archives of Macao will hold another of its popular conservation workshops on Saturday 19th of June from 14.00 to 17.00. This time the focus will be on binding a soft cover notebook. No previous experience is required but participants must be at least ten years old. Please visit the Historical Archives of Macao (open Mon-Fri, 09:30-18.30, Sat, 13.00-18.00) on Tap Seac Square to register beforehand and pay the workshop fee of MOP$20 (inclusive of materials and equipment for the workshop). Places are limited and will be distributed according to order of registration. For more information about individual workshops this year, please visit http://www.archives.gov.mo. For further details, please contact Ms. Esther Chu of the Macao Historical Archives of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at 85986537.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government will organize an Academic Research Lecture in the Cultural Affairs Bureau Auditorium (Edifício do Instituto Cultural, Tap Seac Square, Macao) at 6:30pm on Friday 18 June. Zhang Ting Mao, a professor at the History Department of Jinan University, will give a lecture on “The Changing Role of Macao’s Port in the Late Qing Dynasty”. The lecture will present the changing role of Macao’s port during the late Qing Dynasty based on a study of the sea trade through Macao’s port. Through extensive reference to statistical information on Macao’s port in the “Macao Government Gazette” and other Portuguese materials, the study finds Macao’s sea trade kept growing despite increased competition. In the more than 70 years before the Qing Dynasty ended, China opened ports in different parts of the country to foreign trade. There was an unprecedented expansion in trade volume and distribution of trading ports in China. Nevertheless, according to data of Macao’s cargo-handling capacity reflected by the number and tonnage of incoming and outgoing vessels over the seven decades, Macao’s trade volume experienced temporary ups and downs, but the long-term trend was still upwards. The increase of ports only led to a change in the role of Macao’s port: Macao, aside from being a port for receiving goods for local use, had also gradually developed into an entrepôt for the region. Zhang Ting Mao is a professor at the History Department and Ph.D. supervisor at Jinan University. His major research area is the history of Sino-Portuguese relation and the history of Macao. He has published 40 articles on these research areas in different academic journals both inside and outside China. He is the author of [History of Macao Sea Trade in the Ming and Qing Dynasties] and the co-author of another four books. In this lecture, he will share some of the findings in his research grant award project “Study of Macao Sea Trade in the Late Qing Dynasty”. The lecture will be given in Mandarin with Cantonese, Portuguese and English simultaneous interpretation. Entrance is free. For further details, please contact Ms Chu of the Macao Historical Archives of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at 85986537.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 20.3% year-on-year to 572,157 in April 2010. Visitors from Mainland China (429,510) and Hong Kong (22,594) rose by 17.8% and 6.3% respectively, and those from Japan (16,882) and the Republic of Korea (15,019) also registered notable increase; however, visitors from Taiwan, China (24,567) decreased by 12.8%. In the first four months of 2010, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 8.6% year-on-year to 2,006,113. In April 2010, the number of Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours decreased by 4.2% year-on-year to 17,940, with Mainland China (77.7% of total); Japan (6.1%); and Taiwan, China (5.5%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first four months of 2010, Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 69,474, up by 4.9% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to 36,627; the main destinations were Hong Kong (35.2% of total), Mainland China (29.8%) and Taiwan, China (16.9%). Outbound residents travelling under such arrangements rose by 8.6% year-on-year to 137,364 in the first four months of 2010. At the end of April 2010, total number of available guest rooms of the hotel sector increased by 2,053 (+11.7%) year-on-year to 19,631 rooms. A total of 664,286 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses in April 2010, up by 15.1% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (51.8% of total) and Hong Kong (22.8%). The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses increased by 7.2 percentage points year-on-year to 80.7% and that of hotels reached 81.3%, with 4-star hotels leading at 87.0%. The average length of stay of guests increased by 0.1 night to 1.4 nights. The cumulative number of guests reached 2,546,761 in the first four months of 2010, up by 15.0% over the same period of 2009. In the first four months of 2010, visitor-guests of hotels and guest-houses accounted for 60.6% of the total number of tourists, down from 62.0% in the same period of 2009.
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Macao Post announces that the Temporary Post Counter for the 20th Anniversary of Macao SAR Government Consumer Council, that originally arranged at St. Dominic’s Church Square will now be set up at the Philatelic Shop of Macao Post Headquarters according to the request of the Organizer. The service hour remains as from 12:00 to 15:00.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, on an annual basis, new approvals of mortgage lending continued to increase notably in the first quarter. On outstanding balance, residential mortgage loans (RMLs) rose at a faster pace than commercial real estate loans (CRELs). New Lending Approved For the first quarter of 2010, new RMLs approved by Macao banks increased by 5.4% quarter-to-quarter to MOP7.0 billion; of which, 93.0% was extended to residents. In terms of approved value, new RMLs to residents grew 14.5% whereas those to non-residents fell notably by 48.6%. When compared with the same period last year, new approvals of RMLs surged markedly by 208.3%. After a notable rise of 88.0% in the previous quarter, new CRELs approved decreased by 16.0% quarter-to-quarter to MOP5.3 billion; of which, 95.0% was granted to residents. In terms of approved value, new CRELs to residents and non-residents fell at respective rates of 12.8% and 50.6%. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs increased by 164.3%. Outstanding Balances As at end-March 2010, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP48.4 billion, an increase of 9.5% from three months earlier or 37.7% from a year ago. The resident component made up 87.6% of the total. Outstanding RMLs to residents grew by 11.3% whereas those to non-residents fell 1.6% during the first quarter of 2010. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs rose 6.3% from end-December 2009 or 11.5% from end-March 2009 to MOP39.3 billion. Residents accounted for 84.6% of the loans. Outstanding CRELs to residents and to non-residents rose 4.1% and 20.1% respectively in the first quarter of 2010. Delinquency Ratios At the end of March 2010, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.15%, down 0.04 percentage points from three months earlier or 0.09 percentage points from a year ago. The ratio for CRELs went up 0.11 percentage points from end-December 2009 but down 0.20 percentage points from end-March 2009, to 0.34%.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) participates in the 24th Hong Kong International Travel Expo (ITE HK) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from today (10th) to 13th June to promote leisure and business tourism of Macau. MGTO Director Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes was invited to officiate the opening ceremony. In recent years, tourism development in Macau has experienced tremendous progress and offers world-class travel products to the visitors. To showcase the diversified tourism elements to the international and Hong Kong trade buyers and consumers, MGTO led the largest-ever delegation of MGTO officials and 41 Macau trade representatives from hotels, travel agents, airlines, shipping companies and DMCs to the fair. An in-booth cocktail was hosted on the first day of the fair to greet over 200 Hong Kong travel trade partners, MICE organizers and media friends. As our tourism industry evolves, tourism product and source market diversification are the current strategic objectives of MGTO. Thus, the “Experience Macau!” familiarization tour was organized on 9th June for ITE hosted overseas buyers to visit Macau’s World Heritage, unique tourist spots and new hotels and MICE facilities. The tour attracted 15 international buyer representatives from Mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, the United States and Mexico. In Hong Kong, the “Experience Macau In Style” campaign is launched to promote Macau as an iconic stylish travel destination. To kick off the campaign, celebrity chef Miss Kit Mak was invited to attend the MGTO’s on-site seminar on 12th June to share her stylish travel experience in the “Taste Macau In Style” tour in Macau. The “Taste Macau In Style Booklet” will also be distributed on the consumer days (12th to 13th June) of ITE HK. “The 24th International Travel Expo Hong Kong (ITE HK) and the 5th MICE, Business & Incentive Travel Expo” is held from 10th to 13th June 2010 at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is a prime travel expo held annually in Hong Kong, and has attracted an international portfolio of exhibitors and visitors, providing a platform for mutual exchange among the travel industry. According to official release, there are over 600 international exhibitors from 50 countries and regions participating in the Expo.
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