News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for March-May 2009 was 3.5%, down by 0.3 percentage point over the previous period (February-April), but up by 0.6 percentage point year-on-year. Total labour force was similar to the previous period, at 333,000 in March-May, with an employed population of 321,000 and number of the unemployed decreasing by 1,100 to about 12,000. Among the unemployed, 9.9% (1,200) were fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, up by 0.6 percentage point over the previous period. Except Manufacturing and Transport, Storage & Communications, the unemployment situation has shown improvement in all other sectors. Labour force participation rate for March-May 2009 (72.6%) held stable from the previous period, but fell by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. The underemployment rate was 1.7%, down by 0.1 percentage point over the preceding period, but up by 0.1 percentage point year-on-year.
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A 25-year-old Macao citizen who worked for a casino was confirmed as Macao’s second local Influenza A (H1N1) case today, the Health Bureau announced. The patient developed flu symptoms on 24 June and sought medical attention at Hospital Conde S. Januário yesterday afternoon and was tested positive for the virus later. He was considered as a locally infected case since he had no travel history seven days before the flu symptoms were developed, despite having visited Hong Kong with his wife on 15 to 16 June. His wife was regarded as a close contact person and had to stay at home for medical observation. The Bureau also reported one more imported case as a five-year-old boy was tested positive for the virus yesterday evening. The patient, a kindergarten student, visited his relatives in the Philippines with his parents from 12 to 25 June, where he attended classes from 16 to 19 June. He developed flu symptoms on 22 June and received treatment and medication in the Philippines and his body temperature returned to normal on 24 June. After returning to Macao on 25 June, he went to school for a rehearsal of graduation ceremony on 26 June and had fever again that evening. He went to Hospital Conde S. Januário for medical attention after being turned down from attending the graduation ceremony and was tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1). His parents and an aunt were regarded as close contact person that required medical observation and medication. Currently there were 12 confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) patients receiving treatment at the quarantine wards at Hospital Conde S. Januário. Four people were placed under medical observation at a designated venue and 14 people were asked to stay at home for medical observation.
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The 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee passed a bill today to give Macao jurisdiction over the new campus of the University of Macau (UM) on Hengqin Island. Macao would exercise jurisdiction over the new campus upon its completion, which is expected to be within three years. At that time the plot of land would be rented to Macao until 19 December, 2049. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said at a press conference today that the decision by the Central Government demonstrated its support nurturing talents and maintaining the prosperity and stability of Macao. It also showed the co-operation of Guangdong Province and Zhuhai in supporting Macao, Mr Ho said. On behalf of the Macao SAR Government, Mr Ho expressed gratitude to the Central Government, Guangdong Province and Zhuhai. In the last two years, the UM University Council and University Assembly had been in discussion with the Government on the feasibility of setting up a campus on Hengqin Island, and submitted a proposal last year. The Government highly regarded and supported the proposal and submitted a report to the Central Government regarding moving UM to Hengqin and authorising Macao to exercise jurisdiction over the new campus, Mr Ho said. During the 5th Anniversary celebration of the Macao SAR, the President, Mr Hu Jintao, urged Macao to speed up nurturing talents for the development of the SAR. Thus, the Central Government had approved Macao’s request and submitted a bill to the NPC in order to give Macao the power to exercise jurisdiction over the new campus on Hengqin, which is currently under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai. The new campus would be located on the eastern coast of Hengqin Island and to the south of the Lotus Bridge, just across a narrow marine channel from Macao, said the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io. The campus will cover 1.0926 square kilometres, about 20 times larger than the current campus. A tunnel will be built under the channel to enable 24-hour commuting between the Hengqin campus and Macao, and people entering or leaving the campus will not be subjected to border control. The Hengqin campus would serve as a ‘pilot project’ as part of a wider collaboration between Guangdong and Macao in the joint development of Hengqin. Macao had formed a working group to discuss with Guangdong and Zhuhai over the construction of the new campus. The current campus would not be used for gaming and commercial purpose, and would serve for educational, academic, cultural, recreational and sports activities that are relevant to the Macao community, said Mr Lau.
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The Health Bureau announced one more imported case today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 16. The 24-year-old patient, a Mainland resident, visited Macao on 5 June and visited the Philippines on 21 to 22 June. He developed flu symptoms such as fever, cough and sore throat on 23 and went to Kiang Wu Hospital for medical attention yesterday. He was tested positive for the virus and was transferred to Hospital Conde S. Januário early this morning. His friend who lived with him in Macao was considered as a close contact person and had to stay at home for medical observation. Macao’s pandemic alert remained at Level VI, Blue, which indicated no outbreaks, no fatal cases and no more than 20 patients were being treated at hospital at one time. Two patients confirmed with the virus on Monday and Tuesday respectively were discharged from hospital today after recovering from the disease, bringing the number of discharged H1N1 patient to 5. Currently there were 10 confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) patients receiving treatment at the quarantine wards at Hospital Conde S. Januário. Fifteen people were placed under medical observation at a designated venue and 16 people were asked to stay at home for medical observation.
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Two more imported Influenza A (H1N1) cases have been confirmed today, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 15, the Health Bureau announced. The 14th confirmed patient, a 24-year-old woman, visited Taiwan from 18 to 21 June for a graduation ceremony and developed flu symptoms on 24 June. She went to Hospital Conde S. Januário the next day for medical attention and was tested positive for the virus. Her parents and a friend were regarded as close contact persons and were required to undergo medical observation at home. The 15th confirmed patient, a 37-year-old Indian man, visited Macao with three family members via Hong Kong on 24 June and developed flu symptoms on the way to Macao. He went to Hospital Conde S. Januário the next day and was tested positive for the virus. The 16 people who joined a local tour with the patient were regarded as close contact persons. Six of them had left Macao before the Health Bureau could reach them and ten of them were asked to undergo medical observation in Macao. Macao’s pandemic alert remained at Level VI, Blue, which indicated no outbreaks, no fatal cases and no more than 20 patients were being treated at hospital at one time. A man confirmed with the virus last Saturday was discharged from hospital today after recovering from the disease, bringing the number of discharged H1N1 patient to 3. Currently there were 11 confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) patients receiving treatment at the quarantine wards at Hospital Conde S. Januário.
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On 27 June 2009, Saturday the ninth session of the Standing Committee of the eleventh National People’s Congress (NPC) passed a bill to authorize the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to have jurisdiction over the new campus of the University of Macau (UM) on Hengqin Island. The passage of this bill means that the Macao SAR Government will exercise jurisdiction over the new campus zone according to the laws of the Macao SAR. UM officials point out that this authorization not only demonstrates the great importance that the Central Government attaches to nurturing talents for Macao through higher education, and the determination of the SAR Government to support UM’s development, but also reflects the NPC Standing Committee’s respect for the opinions and suggestions raised by the Macao community as well as UM faculty, staff and students during the process of consultation. The new campus will offer an appropriate academic environment and advanced teaching and research facilities to enable UM to pursue its objectives of offering high quality undergraduate education and promoting innovation in scientific research, thereby developing UM into a world-class university. Dr. Daniel Tse Chi-Wai, Chair of the University Council of UM, says that the establishment of the Hengqin campus will be conducive to developing UM into a university of international standing and nurturing outstanding leaders for Macao and beyond. Furthermore, it will help strengthen the collaboration between Guangdong, Macao and Hong Kong in higher education as set out in the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta, and promote an appropriate diversification of Macao’s industries in accordance with the Hengqin Island Overall Development Plan recently ratified by the State Council. UM Rector Wei Zhao says that the construction of the Hengqin campus is an unprecedented and great undertaking which will bring far-reaching benefits for UM’s long-term development. Granted by the Central Government to UM, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is the first of its kind. He says: “UM is a young university with a short history of 28 years, but it already enjoys good reputation both at home and abroad. The Central Government’s support for UM is a recognition of the diligent efforts of all UM staff members over the past two decades. Prof. Zhao further notes that UM’s uniqueness, educational ideals and governance regime, as well as its teaching, research and administrative systems will be maintained on the Hengqin campus, which will complement the higher education system in Mainland China and help accelerate joint development. The new campus will be located on the eastern coast of Hengqin Island and to the south of the Lotus Bridge. The site is just across a narrow water channel from Macao. It will cover approximately one square kilometre (100 hectares). A tunnel will be built under the channel to enable 24-hour commuting between the Hengqin campus and Macao. Faculty, students, staff, visitors and the Macao residents will be able to access the campus conveniently through the tunnel without going through any border control. The new campus will be twenty times larger than the current one, with a minimum accommodation capacity of 10,000 students, which echoes the student enrollment target set out in the 10-Year Development Strategy. With a spacious new campus, UM will be able to pursue high quality undergraduate education and promote innovation in scientific research to the fullest extent, particularly on the following fronts: (I) Teaching: UM will increase the number of faculties from five to eight, thereby providing a more comprehensive range of academic programmes and more choices for local high school graduates. (II) Campus life: UM will introduce a residential college system. Around ten residential colleges will be set up to enrich students’ campus life and attain the objective of whole-person education. Students from different majors, backgrounds and academic levels living in the same college can experience diverse lifestyles, cultures and ways of thinking through the interaction with peers and teachers. (III) Research development: three open research bases, namely Information and Electronic Research Base, Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Base, and Energy and Environmental Research Base, will be set up to promote R/D exchange and collaboration between UM and other universities in Macao, the Pearl River Delta Region and beyond. In addition, UM will promote commercialization of its research outcomes so as to create opportunities for an appropriate diversification of Guangdong and Macao’s industries. The Hengqin campus will be a green, efficient, and eco-friendly campus. The overall design will be people-oriented and aims to reflect UM’s educational ideals. Emphasis will be on creating a comfortable, liberal, but stimulating atmosphere. The architectural style will mainly feature four unique Macao characteristics, namely “a blend of Chinese and western cultures”, “a combination of mountain and sea views”, “a reflection of the characteristics of Southern Chinese Region”, and “a style reminiscent of South European flavour”. New technologies and new materials will be utilized to create a green, efficient, energy-saving and eco-friendly university with a solid foundation for sustainable growth. The new campus will not only become a new landmark in Macao and Hengqin, but also feature a landscape that is unique among universities around the world. The architectural design will reflect UM’s educational ideals and highlight a tiered layout of the residential colleges. The new campus is expected to be completed within three years. After the construction is completed, relocation will be carried out in an orderly and stage-by-stage manner. Once the new campus is in use, the current campus will continue to serve for educational, academic, cultural, recreational and sports activities that are relevant to the Macao community. Being the leading public university in Macao, UM is dedicated to its mission of nurturing talents for the local community. Therefore it is important for UM to possess outstanding faculty members and sufficient financial resources. It is equally important to have a sufficiently large campus that allows UM to pursue its educational ideals and carry out various teaching and research activities. The Central Government’s approval for providing UM with a piece of land on Hengqin Island and the NPC Standing Committee’s decision to authorize the Macao SAR Government to exercise jurisdiction over the new campus area have solved the problem of land scarcity that has hindered UM’s development for a long time. The area per student of the current campus is only 8 square metres, far less than the minimum 67-square-metre-per-student standard set by the Ministry of Education. The embarrassing fact of “buildings with no open space” makes it impossible for UM to pursue its educational ideals to the fullest extent. Since 2002 UM has been engaged in seeking for a piece of green field to realize the dream of building a new campus, but to no avail due to the limited land resources in the densely-populated territory of Macao. In February 2006, the Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR passed the Judicial Regime of the University of Macau, establishing a new legal status for UM. In 2007 UM submitted several proposals fof land acquisition to the SAR Government, but none were considered feasible due to various valid reasons. In the same year, UM formulated its 10-Year Development Strategy, which rendered the need for building a new campus more urgent. In May 2007, the possibility of building a new campus on Hengqin Island was discussed for the first time at the Joint Meeting of the University Assembly and University Council presided over by the Chief Executive. After a field trip to Hengqin Island, the University Council submitted a formal proposal regarding the construction of a new campus on Hengqin Island to the SAR Government in mid 2008. In January 2009 following a visit paid to Macao by Mr. Xi Jinping, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China, UM was informed of the possibility of building a campus on Hengqin Island and that this campus would serve as a “pilot project” as part of a wider collaboration between Guangdong and Macao in the joint development of Hengqin, and UM immediately started the process of revising the campus construction proposal. Starting from February UM carried out 21 consultation and briefing sessions to collect opinions inside and outside campus for the revision. A draft proposal on the “Preliminary Thoughts and Concepts on UM Hengqin Campus” was subsequently submitted to the University Council and was approved after careful and intense deliberation. The proposal was then submitted to the SAR Government for consideration. The SAR Government attached great importance to this proposal, and on 24 April officially submitted a proposal to the State Council requesting the Central Government to approve the establishment of UM Hengqin campus and to authorize the Macao SAR to have jurisdiction over the new campus site. Subsequently, the bill proposing to authorize the Macao SAR to have jurisdiction over the UM Hengqin campus site was submitted by the State Council to the NPC Standing Committee on 22 June and was passed on 27 June.
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According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the portion of international business in the local banking sector remained high. At end-March 2009, the share of international assets in total banking assets dropped slightly to 82.7% from 83.1% at end-2008, while the share of international liabilities in total liabilities edged up to 76.7% from 76.1%. Foreign currencies remained as the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-March 2009, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.6% and 2.7% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 49.6% and 49.8% of total international assets respectively. On international liabilities, HKD had a share of 54.8% while OFCs accounted for 42.5%. International Banking Assets
At end-March 2009, total international assets increased 4.0% quarter-to-quarter and 2.2% year-on-year to MOP310.8 billion (USD38.9 billion). Within this total, external assets decreased year-on-year by 2.2% to MOP232.2 billion while local assets in foreign currencies rose 17.8% to MOP78.7 billion. As a major component of international assets, other external assets shrank by 1.3% over a year earlier to MOP140.6 billion mainly attributed to the shrinkage in placements of Macao banks with their overseas affiliates. International Banking Liabilities
Meanwhile, total international liabilities grew by 5.5% quarter-to-quarter but dropped by 0.3% year-on-year to MOP288.4 billion (USD36.1 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies amounted to MOP134.5 billion and MOP154.0 billion respectively. Compared with a year earlier, the former declined by 7.1% while the latter rose 6.6%. Foreign currency deposits held by residents in the local banking system formed a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 4.1% to MOP146.1 billion from MOP140.4 billion at end-2008. 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 2009, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied respectively 41.2% and 5.1% of total external assets, while claims on Portugal, France and Germany took up respective shares of 17.1%, 2.3% and 1.8%. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and China occupied 41.7% and 13.9% of the total while France, Portugal and Germany took up respective shares of 13.4%, 8.4% and 2.2%. The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in order to facilitate Macao SAR’s participation in the “Locational International Banking Statistics” project of the BIS.
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The Government announced that all kindergartens and primary and secondary schools would cancel summer classes in order to help prevent the spread of Influenza A (H1N1). The Director of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Mr Sou Chio Fai, made the announcement today at a press conference at the Influenza Response and Coordination Centre. Summer activities co-organised by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau and Macao Sport Development Board would be launched as planned, but the number of participants in each class would be capped at 30. The Health Bureau announced a newly imported Influenza A (H1N1) case, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 13. The patient, a 39-year-old Filipina croupier manager in a casino, visited the Philippines on 21 June and met family members with flu symptoms. Back in Macao, she showed flu symptoms yesterday evening at work and was sent to Hospital Conde S. Januário where she was tested positive for the virus. The Bureau had asked three casino workers who had met her briefly to stay home for medical observation. The Bureau also announced that two patients were discharged from the hospital today after recovering from the disease. Currently there were 10 confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) patients quarantine at Hospital Conde S. Januário.
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Four more imported Influenza A (H1N1) cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of such cases to 12. The Health Bureau announced today that the four confirmed cases comprised three Macao people – two men and a woman – and an Indian boy. Currently there were 11 confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) patients being treated in the quarantine wards at Hospital Conde S. Januário, two of them expected to be discharged in the next few days. Ten people were under medical observation at the quarantine camp and four were quarantined at home. So far 25 people have left the camp after having completed the medical observation. As of 17:00 today, the Influenza Response and Coordination Centre had received nearly 800 telephone inquiries, which were mainly about precautionary measures, the extent of the spread of the virus and Government’s advice on group activities and events.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today, for the first time, the results of its mortgage loans survey. New Lending Approved For the first quarter of 2009, new residential mortgage loans (RMLs) approved by Macao banks increased by 36.0% quarter-to-quarter to MOP2.3 billion. Of which, 87.4% was extended to residents. In terms of approved value, new RMLs to residents and non-residents grew at respective rates of 28.6% and 125.4%. Meanwhile, new commercial real estate loans (CRELs) approved increased notably by 54.7% to MOP2.0 billion. Of which, 75.6% was granted to residents. In terms of approved value, new CRELs to residents surged 134.4%, while those to non-residents fell 24.6%. Outstanding Balances As at end-March 2009, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP34.9 billion, an increase of 1.7% compared with the end of 2008. 88.5% of the loans was extended to residents. RMLs to residents and non-residents grew at respective rates of 1.9% and 0.4% during the first quarter of 2009. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs rose by 3.1% to MOP35.2 billion. Residents accounted for 85.3% of the loans. During the first three months of 2009, CRELs to residents grew 3.1% while those to non-residents increased by 3.5%. Delinquency Ratios At the end of March 2009, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.24%, up slightly by 0.04 percentage points during the previous three months, whereas that for CRELs slid 0.01 percentage point to 0.55%. Mortgage lending is a major business of Macao banks. It also serves as an indicator of local property-market conditions. Starting this year, the Monetary Authority of Macao conducts a comprehensive survey of mortgage loans and disseminates the results on a quarterly basis.
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