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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said in Shantou today he noticed that the city has huge growth potentials and he hoped it could co-operate further with Macao so both cities could benefit. Mr Chui said this when he exchanged views on the latest developments in the two cities, at a meeting with the Secretary of CPC Shantou Municipal Committee, Mr Li Feng. Mr Li praised for Mr Chui., who was in Shantou leading a big delegation of officials and businessmen on a visit to enhance co-operation. He said similar with Macao, Shantou was one of the special economic zones in China, and Macao’s success in logistic, tourism, educational and cultural development would be valuable for Shantou. And Shantou would actively join hands with Macao to implement the Reform of the Pearl River Delta Development Plan (2008-2020), Mr Li said. Mr Chui said Shantou had great potentials and Macao would step up co-operation based on past experience. He also affirmed Shantou’s contribution to Macao’s economic growth. Mr Chui and Mr Li attended a business promotional conference and presided over a contract-signing ceremony between the Macao and Shantou entrepreneurs. Mr Chui also visited the East Shantou City Economic Belt, the University of Shantou, and an urban planning showroom. Mr Chui and the delegation will travel on to Chaozhou tomorrow.
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The Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On said today Macao would strengthen trading, tourism, cultural and educational co-operation with Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang. He said this in the morning as left with an official delegation to visit the three places. Before his departure, Mr Chui was asked by the media if Macao would increase air links to the three places. He said transportation was an important factor in the development of tourism and was sure that if there were adequate and sustainable demand, carriers would increase flights. When asked about the property market, Mr Chui said the government was closely monitoring the situation. It was in the process of reviewing the relevant laws and regulations and appropriate measures would be introduced if and when necessary. Members of the delegation included Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR Mr Li Benjun, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Mr Cheong U, members of the Executive Council, Mr Leong Heng Teng, Cheang Chi Keong, Leong Vai Tac and Chan Meng Kam, the Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the Secretary-General of the Executive Council and the Advisor of the Office of Chief Executive, Ms O Lam, Director of the Government Information Bureau Mr Chan Chi Ping, President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute Mr Cheong Chou Weng, advisors of the Office of Chief Executive Mr Fung Sio Weng and Kou Chin Hung. Meanwhile, a business delegation comprising more than 100 members, organised by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, are taking part in the same visit. The Secretary for Administration and Justice Ms Florinda Chan will be acting Chief Executive while Mr Chui is away.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is to leave for Shanghai tomorrow, leading the highest ranking officials and representatives of associations in Macao, to visit Shanghai 2010 World Expo. The delegation is scheduled to visit the China pavilion, the Macao pavilion and the Hong Kong pavilion during its two days in the city. Included in the delegation are the President of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Lau Cheok Va; President of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Sam Hou Fai; Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen; Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Cheong U; Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io; Prosecutor General, Mr Ho Chio Meng; the Commissioner Against Corruption, Mr Fong Man Chong; Commissioner of Audit, Mr Ho Veng On; Commissioner General of the Unitary Police Service, Mr José Proença Branco; Director-General of the Macao Customs Services, Mr Choi Lai Hang; President of the Court of First Instance and the Administrative Court, Mr Ho Wai Neng; Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng; members of the Executive Council, the Legislative Assembly, representatives of the National People Congress, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consulative Conference, leaders of Macao’s associations. The delegation will return Macao on 26 May. Ms Florinda Chan will be Acting Chief Executive while Mr Chui is away.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On is scheduled to visit Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang from 3-5 June. Mr Chui is scheduled to meet leaders of the three places and visit the large-scale infrastructure, educational facilities, heritage places, and business organisations. The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute has organised more then 100 entrepreneurs to participate in this tour. Members of the delegation would include Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR Mr Li Benjun, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Mr Cheong U, members of the Executive Council, Mr Leong Heng Teng, Cheang Chi Keong, Leong Vai Tac and Chan Meng Kam, the Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the Secretary-General of the Executive Council and the Advisor of the Office of Chief Executive, Ms O Lam, Director of the Government Information Bureau Mr Chan Chi Ping, President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute Mr Cheong Chou Weng, advisors of the Office of Chief Executive Mr Fung Sio Weng and Kou Chin Hung. The Secretary for Administration and Justice Ms Florinda Chan will be acting Chief Executive while Mr Chui is away.
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Hosted by the Monetary Authority of Macao (“AMCM”) and co-organized jointly by the Financial Stability Institute (“FSI”) and the South East Asia New Zealand Australia (“SEANZA”) group of central banks, the regional seminar on “Stress Testing Practices and Techniques” was held on 25th -27th May in Macao. This was the second time that FSI and SEANZA held a regional seminar in Macao since the one entitled “Corporation Governance for Banks” held in 2008. FSI was founded in 1999 by the Bank for International Settlements and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to assist global financial supervisory authorities to reinforce their supervision on financial system through training, publication and exchange of information. SEANZA is an organization of financial supervisory authorities organized by central banks of South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand in 1956. AMCM became a member in 1998. Besides delegates from AMCM, the seminar was attended by delegates from central banks and supervisory authorities of the Mainland of China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Topics covered in the seminar included the latest development of international standards of stress testing, experience acquired from stress testing carried out in the EU, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia and the Asia/Pacific region as well as related capital requirements and provisioning measures. Guest speakers were experts from FSI, European Central Bank, Banca d’ Italia, Banco de España, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Australia Prudential Regulatory Authority, HSBC and Standard & Poor’s . In its welcome remark, AMCM introduced briefly the economic and financial development of Macao after the international financial tsunami and pointed out that stress testing has become an essential measure in bank risk management and supervision. The results of stress testing over a long period of time have fully indicated the continued sturdiness of the Macao banking system.
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Guangdong and Macao today signed a number of agreements to further enhance co-operation, as delegates met at the Guangdong-Macao Joint Co-operation Conference. The Conference, held at the Macao Government Headquarter, was presided over by the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, and the Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Huang Hua Hua. The heads of governments gave keynote speeches before the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, and the Deputy Governor of the Guangdong Province, Mr Wan Qin Liang concluded by highlighting the fruitful results of the latest bilateral co-operation. Under “One country two systems”, “Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta Plan (2008-2020), and “Hengqin Overall Development Plan” auspices, both sides agreed to strengthen co-operation in opening up Hengqin Island to tailor-make a new tourism route between Guangdong, Macao and Taiwan, strengthen international tourism promotions, and enhance co-operation on business tourism. The two governments signed an agreement on tourism co-operation and two memorandums on further co-operation and on studying the feasibility of building facilities to studying Chinese medicine. Both sides also discussed topics such as cross-border infrastructure, transportation planning, co-operations on business, and education.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total merchandise export for April 2010 increased slightly by 0.1% year-on-year to MOP694 million, attributable to a 12.6% increase of re-exports (MOP506 million); meanwhile, value of domestic exports fell by 22.9% to MOP188 million. The value of total merchandise import amounted to MOP3.53 billion, up by 19.3% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.83 billion was recorded for April 2010. In the first four months of 2010, total value of merchandise export fell by 7.0% year-on-year to MOP2.52 billion, of which the value of domestic exports declined by 36.3%, but that of re-exports expanded by 15.5%; meanwhile, total value of merchandise import grew by 19.3% to MOP13.40 billion. The trade deficit from January to April 2010 widened by 27.7% year-on-year to MOP10.88 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down by 5.3 percentage points year-on-year to 18.8%. Analyzed by destination of exports, value of merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP1.19 billion) and Mainland China (MOP387 million) from January to April 2010 increased by 24.7% and 0.3% respectively year-on-year, while that to the USA (MOP266 million) and the EU (MOP128 million) decreased by 56.5% and 47.8% respectively. Exports of Textile & garment amounted to MOP514 million, down substantially by 51.7% year-on-year to account for 20.4% of the total merchandise export; however, value of Non-textile exports (MOP2.01 billion) grew by 21.9%, with that of Copper & articles thereof and Jewellery rising notably by 139.4% and 119.1% respectively. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, in the first four months of 2010, value of merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP4.12 billion) and the EU (MOP2.92 billion) expanded by 21.7% and 20.7% respectively year-on-year. The value of imports of Consumer goods rose by 40.8% year-on-year, with that of Motor cars & motorcycles growing significantly by 115.2%; nevertheless, the value of imports of Capital goods and Raw materials & semi-manufactures fell by 18.9% and 3.4% respectively. From January to April 2010, total value of merchandise import and export amounted to MOP15.92 billion, up by 14.2% compared with MOP13.94 billion in the first four months of 2009.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released summary of the GDP for the first quarter of 2010. The rates of change refer to the year-on-year change in real terms, unless otherwise specified. The gaming and tourism sector saw vibrant growth in the first quarter of 2010, with gross gaming revenue (excluding gratuities) soaring by 57.1% year-on-year in nominal terms, and total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) rising further from a 0.8% increase in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 14.3%; decline in merchandise exports tapered off from 41.8% in the previous quarter to 12.8%; however, gross fixed capital formation shrank continuously to post a decrease of 38.9%. Integrating the respective information, GDP for the first quarter of 2010 expanded by 30.1% in real terms, up from the 27.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2009. As regards major GDP components, private consumption expenditure rose by 2.3% in the first quarter of 2010, moderating from the 4.8% increase in the previous quarter. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market grew by 7.0%, while that abroad dropped by 2.1%, with the expenditure in Mainland China amounting to MOP 763 million. Government final consumption expenditure increased by 1.7%, lower than the 9.2% growth in the previous quarter, with compensation of employees rising by 5.3% whereas net purchases of goods and services declining by 16.9%. As a gauge of investment, gross fixed capital formation contracted by 38.9%, slackening further from the 34.9% decrease in the fourth quarter of 2009. Total private investment shrank by 39.2%, with construction and equipment investment decreasing by 55.6% and 2.6% respectively. Total government investment went down by 15.8%, in which construction investment rose by 17.4%, while that of equipment fell by 60.5%. Integrating data of both sectors, overall construction investment plunged further from 41.2% in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 55.0%; however, decrease in overall equipment investment narrowed from 12.6% in the previous quarter to 3.3%. In terms of visible trade, decrease in the total value of merchandise exports tapered off substantially from the previous quarter to decline by 9.4% in nominal terms or 12.8% in real terms. Analyzed by destination, merchandise exports to the United States, the European Union and Mainland China decreased by 58.8%, 48.2% and 7.2% respectively in nominal terms, while merchandise exports to Hong Kong and Taiwan, China rose by 24.6% and 40.7% respectively. Total value of merchandise imports rose by 20.0% in nominal terms or 16.5% in real terms, putting an end to the protracted decline since 2008. As regards invisible trade (exports of services), exports of gaming services soared by 58.5%; total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) also increased by 14.3% upon 12.1% rise in visitor arrivals and the 9% growth of the per-capita spending. Integrating the principal data on exports of services, overall exports of services expanded by 51.3%, up from the 41.6% increase in the previous quarter; meanwhile, imports of services accelerated significantly from an increase of 16.4% in the previous quarter to 53.9%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total land area of Macao measured 29.5 km2 at the end of 2009, up by 1.0% year-on-year; however, the population registered negative growth as a consequence of a substantial decrease in non-resident workers, lowering the population density from 19,000 per km2 in 2008 to 18,000 per km2. Total lane length of public roads was 413.1 km, and the motor vehicle density was 460 vehicles per km. The Rua do Campo air quality monitoring station recorded 301 days of good air quality in 2009. However, the monitoring station at the Northern District, Big Taipa Hill and Rua do Campo registered 7 days, 3 days and 2 days respectively when the observed value of respirable suspended particulates exceeded the standard value. In 2009, the lowest pH value of rainwater was 3.8 (precipitation with pH value lower than 5.6 is classified as acid rain). The quality of potable water from the distribution network and Water Treatment Plants of Macao conformed to the standard according to the results of the analysis carried out by the Laboratory of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau. The salinity level of potable water was classified as Low in 2009. The approval rate of water samples taken from the 10 public swimming pools ranged from 86% to 100%. In addition, water quality of the Hac Sa and Cheoc Van beaches was acceptable. Macau Waste Systems Company Limited (CSR) collected 160,000 tonnes of domestic garbage in 2009, down by 11.0% year-on-year; volume of garbage collected from the business sector rose by 16.5% year-on-year to 88,000 tonnes, whereas that of construction waste decreased by 19.2% to 1,567,000 m3. Moreover, 325,000 tonnes of garbage were processed in the Incineration Plant, an increase of 8.8% over 2008. As regards waste water treatment, the average capacity of waste water treated was 183,000 m3 per day. A total of 4,533 cases of noise complaints were reported in 2009, down by 2.3% year-on-year, mostly about noise from conversation and shouting, and disturbance from neighbours. With regard to educational activities on environmental protection, the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau organized 525 promotional activities in 2009, with approximately 413,000 participants.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that under the influence of the seasonal factor, consumption of Electricity decreased by 9.4% over the previous quarter to 743 million kWh in the first quarter of 2010, of which consumption by the Business and Public sectors (617 million kWh) dropped by 9.1% and that by Households (126 million kWh) fell by 10.6%. Local generation of Electricity totalled 205 million kWh, up by 13.6% quarter-to-quarter; imports of Electricity decreased by 15.0% to 579 million kWh, bringing its relative importance to total available supply to drop by 5.2 percentage points to 75.0%. Imports of Natural Gas for electricity generation increased substantially by 90.8% from 14.04 million cubic metres in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 26.78 million cubic metres. With persisting low temperature in the first quarter of 2010, consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased by 7.2% quarter-to-quarter to 11,488 tonnes, of which consumption by both the Business (7,258 tonnes) and Household (4,159 tonnes) sectors rose by 7.2%. Meanwhile, imports of LPG increased by 10.0% to 12,364 tonnes, with the average price of imports registering an increase of 9.1%. The average price of all types of fuels increased from the previous quarter, with that of Bottled LPG and Unleaded Gasoline rising by 8.1% and 4.9% respectively quarter-to-quarter, and 32.8% and 18.7% respectively year-on-year. At the end of the first quarter, stock of LPG totalled 3,672 tonnes, up by 32.6% quarter-to-quarter; stock of Common Kerosene (246,000 litres) and Fuel Oil (20.79 million litres) increased by 20.4% and 16.0% respectively.
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