News

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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A delegation of Macau participated in the 8th worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings & events (IMEX 2010) at Messe Frankfurt in Germany from 25th – 27th May this year. With the aim to further explore business opportunities and elevate Macau’s presence in the European market, the Macau Business Tourism Department (MBTC) of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) exhibited together with 6 industry partners in the IMEX 2010, which include representatives of resort hotels, DMCs (destination management companies) and industry associations from Macau. MGTO received a total of 9 group appointments and 13 individual pre-scheduled appointments during the trade show. In addition, there was a fairly number of hosted buyers approached the Macau promotional booth for product updates and inquiry about the latest version of the “Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program’. On the occasion, a cocktail reception was organized on 26th May at the Macau promotional booth which had successfully attracted more than 50 hosted buyers to attend, to network and to establish business contacts with our industry partners. To assist international meetings and event planners to understand what Macau can offer, the newly debut MICE promotional video was played and the new 2010 version of the Macau Meeting Planner’s Guide was also disseminated at the show. The guide provides handy information such as MBTC introduction and services, general information of Macau, convention and accommodation facilities, as well as contact details of local service providers such as DMCs, conference and event management companies. IMEX is one of Europe’s most important congress and conference trade shows. According to the organizer, 3,500 exhibitors from more than 150 countries are represented at the IMEX 2010, and it is anticipated that the fair will attract more than 3,800 hosted buyers this year. AACVB – Greater efforts for Asia Taking the opportunity of IMEX 2010, the Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (AACVB) held a meeting in Frankfurt of Germany on 24th May. After the re-launch in May last year, AACVB has been accelerating its promotional efforts to drive more MICE traffic to the Asian region. Representatives from Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Thailand attended the meeting. Apart from project updates by each member, exploration of future cooperation and marketing programs were also discussed during the meeting.
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The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is promoting Macau at the World Travel Fair 2010, which opened today in Shanghai and runs until 29 May. MGTO Deputy Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes led a delegation with officials and travel trade to the event to showcase Macau’s potential as a leisure and business tourism destination. Shanghai World Travel Fair (WTF) opened this morning at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. Shanghai Tourism Administration Director Dao Shuming launched the three day long event, with Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes being one of the invited guests for the ribbon cutting ceremony of WTF. WTF is a big scale outbound tourism fair in Mainland China and this year is expected to attract more visitors and participants, as Shanghai is a draw for tourists and travel trade for being the host of World Expo 2010, providing a bigger exposure to Macau’s promotion. The Macau delegation headed by Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes to WTF includes MGTO officials and Macau travel trade representatives from Air Macau and several local hotels, in a total of around 20 people. The Macau booth at WTF takes the form of a heritage building and is decorated with MGTO’s colorful campaign “Experience Macau!”, giving a glimpse of the historic and the new Macau. In the afternoon, MGTO hosted a cocktail reception at the Macau booth to boost relations with travel trade, media and other guests. A WTF Awards Ceremony will take place in the evening during the welcome dinner of the exhibition. On Friday, an Outbound Tourism Forum will take place as part of the WTF program. MGTO deputy director will be one of the guest speakers at the daylong event. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes will talk about Macau’s tourism goals and strategies, the city’s tourism resources and the latest tourism developments. The forum’s agenda includes a release of an Outbound Tourism Market Report of the Yangtze River Delta of China, among other topics. Mainland China is Macau’s top visitor source market and a priority focus for MGTO’s promotions. In the first four months of the year Macau welcomed 8.2 million visitors (a 12.4 percent year on year increase), of which 4.3 million or 53.3 percent came from Mainland China, 20 percent more than the same period last year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for February-April 2010 was 3.0% and the underemployment rate was 2.0%, up by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage point respectively over the previous period (January-March 2010). Total labour force was 323,300 in February-April 2010 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.1%, both remained unchanged from the previous period. The employed population totalled 313,700 and the number of the unemployed was 9,600, of which 4.9% were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 1.0 percentage point over the previous period. Analyzed by industry, employment of Real Estate & Business Activities saw increase from the previous period, while that of the Construction Sector and Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities registered a decrease. In comparison with February-April 2009, the labour force participation rate and the unemployment rate dropped by 1.5 and 0.8 percentage points respectively; meanwhile, the underemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the first quarter of 2010. Survey coverage comprised the Manufacturing; Hotels & Restaurants; Financial; and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sectors, excluding own-account workers, as well as insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies. At the end of the first quarter of 2010, the Manufacturing sector had 15,203 paid employees, down significantly by 22.7% year-on-year, with those working in Manufacture of Wearing Apparel decreasing notably by 35.6% to 7,679. In March 2010, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) of full-time employees rose by 11.2% year-on-year to MOP5,780, with Sewing machine operators earning MOP3,480 in average. The Hotels & Restaurants sector took on 48,287 paid employees, up by 4.2% year-on-year, with 31,483 working in hotels. In March, average earnings of full-time employees rose by 1.3% year-on-year to MOP9,970. Earnings of Housekeeping staff amounted to MOP6,080. The Financial sector had 5,507 paid employees, down slightly by 0.8% year-on-year, with 4,630 working in banks. The average earnings of full-time employees in March rose by 5.6% year-on-year to MOP18,550 and that of Bank tellers was MOP10,760. The Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector had 1,057 paid employees, up slightly by 0.4% year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in March went up by 1.3% year-on-year to MOP22,230. At the end of March 2010, the Manufacturing sector reported 1,457 job vacancies; the Hotels & Restaurants sector had 3,696 vacancies, and the Financial and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sectors had 214 and 23 vacancies respectively. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 73.9% of the vacancies in the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector and 61.6% of those in the Manufacturing sector required working experience. As regards educational attainment, 98.1% of the vacancies in the Financial sector and 95.7% of those in the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector required senior secondary education or higher. With respect to the indicators that measure the inflow and outflow of human resources, as well as staffing needs of the sectors, the Hotels & Restaurants sector had the highest employee turnover rate and recruitment rate, at 6.8% and 6.0% respectively; meanwhile, the job vacancy rate of the Manufacturing sector stood at 9.2%.
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