News

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) promotes tourism in two important outbound cities of India, Mumbai and New Delhi. MGTO organized well-received Mini Marts in Mumbai (May 18) and New Delhi (May 20) and welcomed 145 and 125 Indian tourism representatives respectively. 7 Macau tourism industry representatives from Aviation, travel agencies, hotels, resorts, MICE and entertainment segments joined MGTO to promote their products and seek business opportunities in India. Staffs of MGTO Marketing Division, Product and Special Project Department, in conjunction with representatives of the Macau tourism industry introduced the latest tourism situation, leisure tourism, convention facilities and tourism products to the participants. Meanwhile, industry representatives of Macau engaged in one-on-one discussions with Indian counterparts, essentially airlines and travel agents for MICE and leisure segments. Last year, Macau received over 100 thousand visitors from India, registered a growth of 30 per cent over 2008. The first four months of this year, Macau received nearly 40 thousand visitors from India, with an increment of 67.8 per cent over same period of last year.
…

Following the visit of the Macao Financial Sector delegation organized by the Monetary Authority of Macao (“AMCM”) to Maputo three years ago, and since the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bank of Mozambique, Anselmo Teng, Chairman of Board of Directors of AMCM and Wilson Vong, Deputy Director of AMCM Banking Supervision Department, were invited to participate in an international symposium organized by the Bank of Mozambique in Maputo, to celebrate its 35th Anniversary on 17 May 2010. The seminar was attended by more than 700 delegates from financial regulatory authorities of Portugal, Portuguese speaking countries and African nations; and from financial institutions of Mozambique. The Governor of Bank of Mozambique, Principal Advisor of IMF African Department, Secretary General of the South African Development Community, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Vice-Governor of the Bank of Portugal, Chairman of AMCM, Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Brazil and Minister of Finance of Mozambique made theme speeches surrounding the impact of financial tsunami on Africa, South America, Europe and Asia and the lesson derived therefrom. The attendees discussed with one another proactively on this topic. Chairman Teng delivered his theme speech entitled “International Financial Crisis, Impact on Asia and Lesson for Macao”. The speech introduced the latest economic development of Asia and the Mainland of China, summarized the economic and financial situation of Macao before and after the crisis and the prospect, elucidated the lesson learned by Macao and the global village, which included strengthening of macroprudential supervision, regulation of long term risk capital requirements, aversion of regulatory arbitrage, supervision of financial derivatives and credit rating agencies. Simultaneously, Mr. Teng emphasized the traditional linkage between Macao and Portuguese speaking countries, which embodied the fulfilment of the function of Macao as the economic and commercial liaison platform between China and Portuguese speaking countries. Through participation in this seminar, communication between AMCM and financial regulatory authorities of Portuguese speaking countries has been enhanced. There is also an increased understanding of the most up-to-date financial strategies adopted by Portugal, Brazil and African nations in response to the financial tsunami.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of visitor and non-resident arrivals totalled 2,628,113 in April 2010. Total visitor arrivals increased by 13.1% year-on-year to 2,111,563. Same-day visitors (1,076,157) accounted for 51.0% of the total visitor arrivals, with 529,445 coming from Mainland China. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China grew by 17.3% year-on-year to 1,052,610 (49.8% of total visitor arrivals), with 390,031 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, up by 13.9% from April 2009 (342,458). Visitors from Hong Kong (694,595) and Japan (26,590) rose by 13.4% and 25.0% respectively; besides, visitors from the Republic of Korea (25,268) and India (12,622) also registered notable increases. However, those from Taiwan, China (111,872) and Malaysia (30,408) decreased by 3.8% and 4.9% respectively. Visitor arrivals totalled 8,226,784 in the first four months of 2010, up by 12.4% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (4,386,985); Hong Kong (2,421,414); and Taiwan, China (442,087) increased by 20.0%, 3.2% and 2.8% respectively. Moreover, visitors from the Republic of Korea (108,421) and India (39,609) also registered remarkable growth. In the first four months of 2010, same-day visitors accounted for 51.7% of the total visitor arrivals, at 4,257,017. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 3,391,805 in the first four months of 2010, up by 10.9% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour increased by 4.6% to 2,160,671, with the majority coming from Hong Kong (52.1%) and Mainland China (24.9%); meanwhile, those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa went up by 24.9% to 1,107,183. Visitor arrivals by land increased by 13.9% year-on-year to 4,261,467 in the first four months of 2010; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 3,908,709 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (78.7%) and Hong Kong (14.0%). Visitor arrivals by air rose by 9.8% year-on-year to 573,512 in the first four months of 2010. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport went up by 10.4% to 566,691, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (36.3%); Mainland China (29.6%); and Malaysia (8.0%).
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that value of retail sales for the first quarter of 2010 was MOP 6.85 billion, of which retail sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery took the largest share of 23%, at MOP 1.57 billion. This was followed by retail sales of Goods in Department Stores (16%), Adults' Clothing (10%), Leather Goods (9%), Goods in Supermarkets (8%), Motor Vehicles (6%), Cosmetics and Sanitary Articles (3%), Communication Equipment (3%), Automotive Fuels (3%), Household Electrical Appliances (3%) and Goods in Pharmacies (3%). Value of retail sales for the first quarter of 2010 surged by 36% from the revised MOP 5.03 billion a year earlier. Compared with the revised MOP6.53 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, value of retail sales rose by 5%, with notable increase in the retail sales of Leather Goods (+20%) and Household Electrical Appliances (+19%). However, value of retail sales of Motor Vehicles and Automotive Fuels decreased by 11% and 3% respectively. In the first quarter of 2010, about 42% of the retailers reported decrease in the sales volume from the fourth quarter of 2009, up by 8 percentage points from the previous quarter; 58% reported that the sales volume remained stable or showed increase. In terms of retail prices, about 57% reported that the prices were stable, 21% stated that the prices increased whereas 22% reported the prices decreased. Compared with the first quarter of 2009, about 66% said that the stock level was normal in the first quarter of 2010, while 21% indicated that the stock level was low. Regarding the business outlook for the second quarter of 2010, about 61% expect sales volume will increase or remain stable compared with the first quarter, while 39% expect a decrease. Meanwhile, about 87% expect the retail prices will remain stable or increase, whereas 13% expect a decrease. After removing the effect of price changes, volume of retail sales for the first quarter of 2010 rose by 25.1% year-on-year, with remarkable increase being observed in the sales volume of Household Electrical Appliances (+68.9%), Leather Goods (+56.1%), Motor Vehicles (+40.9%), Goods in Department Stores (+36.7%), Communication Equipment (+36.3%), Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (+30.8%) and Adults' Clothing (+29.5%). Quarter-to-quarter, volume of retail sales in the first quarter of 2010 registered an increase of 3.0%, with that of Household Electrical Appliances and Leather Goods rising by 20.2% and 18.0% respectively.
…

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.
…

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.
…

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.
…

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.
…

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.
…

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.
…