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Macao health authorities would continue to monitor the spread of Influenza A (H1N1) in Asia, Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah said today. Speaking to the press in Liaoning Province, a day after the Government raised the pandemic alert from level IV to level V, Mr Ho said the Government had announced a string of measures at schools, hospitals and terminals to try to prevent the virus from entering Macao. At the conclusion of his five-day visit to three northeast provinces, Mr Ho said the meetings with the leading officials of the three provinces had enhanced bilateral relationship and encouraged business co-operation between their enterprises. The three provinces had all along been the nation’s heavy industry bases and the development of the tertiary industry had accelerated in the past decade, which created enormous investment opportunities to Macao businesspeople, he said. The Government would introduce more policies and measures to encourage Macao business people to invest in Mainland, and would consider setting up a trade promotion office in one of the provinces, he said. Mr Ho met the Governor of Liaoning Province, Mr Chen Zhenggao, who said at their meeting today that the province looked forward to more co-operation with Macao. Mr Ho and his delegation, comprising more than 100 businesspeople and officials, also attended a trade seminar and visited some attractions and enterprises in the province. They are scheduled to return to Macao in the evening.
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Macao has raised its pandemic alert from level IV to level V today following reports of community outbreaks of Influenza A (H1N1) in Japan and more confirmed cases in neighbouring regions, said the Health Bureau. And five Filipinos who sat three rows behind Hong Kong’s third confirmed case on a flight from New York to Hong Kong went to Macao and were tested negative for the virus. Since they had close contact with patient, they will be quarantined until Saturday. The five Filipinos, a couple and their children aged 8 to 14, arrived in Macao yesterday and stayed overnight at Venetian Macau. They showed no symptoms of influenza and were in a healthy condition. As Macao raised the pandemic alert to level V, the Government would strengthen the preventive measures at terminals, schools and hospitals. The Health Bureau urged Macao residents travelling abroad to seek medical treatment there if they developed symptoms of influenza and not travel long haul or long distance.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, arrived in Liaoning today, the last stop on his five-day visit to northern China, and met Secretary of CPC Committee, Mr Zhang Wenyue, and Vice Governor, Teng Weiping. Praising Liaoning’s achievement in industrial reform and development, Mr Ho said Liaoning and Macao could further co-operate in the future. Macao could act as a business platform for entrepreneurs from Liaoning and expand their markets, said Mr Ho. Faced with the global financial turmoil, Macao is confident that it could surmount the difficulties, with the support of the Central Government and Liaoning Province, he said. The Secretary of Liaoning CPC Committee, Mr Zhang Wenyue, said the province would fully co-operate with Macao, especially in the areas of tourism and culture. Mr Zhang also praised the achievements of the Macao SAR since its establishment and the Government’s reaction to the global financial turmoil. Mr Ho and his delegation left Jilin for Liaoning Province this afternoon. In the morning, they visited a vehicle company and hosted a reception for the Jilin Provincial Government for its hospitality. Tomorrow they are scheduled to attend a trade seminar and visit some attractions and companies, before returning to Macao in the evening.
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Macau International Airport (MIA) will conduct an exercise of “Communicable Diseases Response 2009” from 04:30 to 07:30 on 20 May, which has been scheduled at the beginning of this year by the Facilitation and Security Committee. The exercise, coordinated by the Health Bureau of Macao Special Administrative Region, will involve the participation of all the entities responsible for the safety and the security of the Macao airport. The exercise is a form of joint training and will assess the effectiveness in implementing the emergency preparedness plan to cope with communicable diseases through air travel in case such an incident occurs in the airport. In view of the outbreaks of communicable diseases in the world, the objective of the exercise is to strengthen the skills of the airport personnel in handling suspected case as to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases through the aircraft to Macao, protecting the safety of aircraft crew and passengers and ensuring that Macau International Airport is a safe and secure airport in the world.. The exercise will simulate a suspected communicable diseases case found on the aircraft in order to test, evaluate and reinforce the capability of the participants in dealing with the emergency plans.
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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 May 22. Tong Qiao Hui, an associate professor at the School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, will give a lecture on “Temples in Macao dedicated to the Earth God”. The history of Macao’s development and architecture consists not only of politically significant architecture. Non-mainstream and non-western local constructions also merit attention. Worshiping the Earth God is an integral part of Macao’s local culture and the local Earth God temples reflect residents’ beliefs and special interests. These Earth God temples have witnessed the city’s historical changes, and their influence on the formation and development of the city should not be neglected. There are numerous temples in Macao dedicated to the Earth God built in different architectural styles. Following a summary of the origin and development of Earth God temples in Macao there will be an exploration of the cultural aspects relating to this religious practice, and the distribution, location and settlement structure of Macao’s Chinese community. An analysis of Macao’s Earth God temples’ architecture, construction methods, components and decorative details, with case studies, will provide further detailed elaboration. Also, comparisons will be made between Earth God temples in Macao and in other regions, and with local temples of other Chinese religions. Born in 1976, Tong Qiao Hui is currently an associate professor and MA student supervisor at the School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, China. She is a member of the Wuhan Conservation Committee of Historic Cities and is engaged in the teaching and scientific research on architectural history and theory. Her research areas cover the protection and restoration of city cultural arteries and the comparison of East and West architectural cultures. Tong obtained a PhD in Architectural History and Theory from Southeast University, Nanjing, with her doctoral research focused on urban architectural heritage. In 2007 she was awarded a research grant to study temples in Macao dedicated to the Earth God. 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 8598 6537.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that per-capita spending of visitors decreased by 5% year-on-year to MOP 1,638 in the first quarter of 2009. Analyzed by place of residence, per-capita spending of Mainland visitors took the lead, at MOP 3,948; per-capita spending of those from South East Asia; Taiwan, China and Hong Kong was MOP 1,757, MOP 1,592 and MOP 1,040 respectively. Compared with the first quarter of 2008, per-capita spending of tourists went down by 1% to MOP2,329, and that of same-day visitors dropped by 15% to MOP 492. In the first quarter of 2009, per-capita non-shopping spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors decreased by 1% year-on-year to MOP 981, of which the expenses on Accommodation and Food & Beverage accounted for 44% and 36% of the total respectively. Besides, per-capita shopping spending dropped by 11% to MOP 657, with expenses on Local Food Products and Clothing sharing 32% and 20% respectively. Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,534 in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 3% year-on-year. Mainland visitors had the highest per-diem spending of MOP 2,689 and that of Taiwan, China; South East Asia and Hong Kong visitors was MOP 1,360, MOP 1,220 and MOP 1,040 respectively. The average length of stay of visitors decreased by 0.1 day over the first quarter of 2008 to 1.1 days, with Mainland visitors staying an average of 1.5 days. The average length of stay of tourists dropped by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.6 days, while that of same-day visitors remained unchanged at 0.2 day.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the stagnant property market of Macao continued in the first quarter of 2009. Based on Stamp Duty records, 1,664 building units amounted to MOP2.13 billion were sold and purchased, down by 16.9% and 20.5% respectively over the previous quarter, with 28.0% (466 units valued at MOP931 million) being new units within the property tax exemption period, down by 37.8% and 39.2% respectively over the previous quarter. The majority (801 units) of these transactions were residential units and the corresponding value amounted to MOP1.27 billion, down by 37.7% and 41.0% respectively quarter-to-quarter. Among the residential units, 592 were situated in the Macao Peninsula and 204 in Taipa. In terms of the transaction price, 55.4% (444 units) were sold for MOP1,000,000 or less and 21.5% (172 units) for over MOP2,000,000 to MOP4,000,000. Analysed by year of building completion, sale and purchase of 263 residential units were completed in 2000 and after, 289 units in 1990-1999 and 249 units in 1989 and before. As regards the floor area of the units, 41.9% (336 units) had an area of 50 to 99.9 square metres, and 31.3% (251 units) had an area smaller than 50 square metres. In the first quarter of 2009, the average transaction price of residential units dropped by 5.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP17,112 per square metre of usable area, of which the average price of those in the Macao Peninsula decreased by 7.0% to MOP14,436 per square metre, while the average of those in Taipa stayed at similar level as the preceding quarter, at MOP24,871 per square metre. Meanwhile, the average price of residential units purchased and sold under Intermediate Transfer of Title was MOP29,123 per square metre, down by 1.3% quarter-to-quarter. The average price of office units stood at MOP22,228 per square metre, up by 16.8% quarter-to-quarter; the average transaction price of industrial units rose by 21.5% to MOP6,421 per square metre. There were 1,118 cases of real estate sale and purchase contracts made in the first quarter of 2009, involving 1,291 units valued at MOP1.39 billion, down by 24.9% and 34.9% respectively quarter-to-quarter. In the first quarter of 2009, approvals were granted to the construction of 8 buildings with a gross floor area of 106,000 square metres, which will provide a total of 59 units, 16 parking spaces for cars and 30 parking spaces for motorcycles upon completion. Meanwhile, construction of 8 new buildings with a gross floor area of 22,000 square metres has been started, upon completion, will provide 28 units (18 were residential units). In addition, a total of 14 buildings with a gross floor area of 178,000 square metres were completed, altogether providing 768 units (722 were residential units), 1,180 parking spaces for cars and 353 parking spaces for motorcycles.
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The Health Bureau today urged residents going abroad to take precautions against the Influenza A (H1N1) virus and keep good personal hygiene. This followed reports of more imported cases in Beijing and Hong Kong, and possible community outbreaks in Kobe and Osaka, Japan. China’s Ministry of Health last night notified Macao of an imported case and Hong Hong’s Department of Health this evening informed Macao of its third imported case. The latter took CX831/AA6091 in New York on 15 May and arrived n Hong Kong yesterday. He was detected for having fever at the airport and was sent to hospital, where he was tested positive for the virus. Hong Kong authorities were trying to locate the passengers of the plane and it is believed no Macao residents were on the flight. However the Health Bureau urged anyone with information on the passengers to call its hotline 28561122. Japan reported eight local confirmed cases in Kobe on Saturday and 13 cases in Osaka the next day, suggesting the country could be the first in Asia with an outbreak. The Health Bureau would continue to pay attention to the situation in Japan and reports from the Japanese health authorities and the World Health Organization. The Bureau was also aware of the first confirmed case in India. It urged residents travelling abroad to immediately seek medical treatment should they develop symptoms of influenza. Meanwhile, the Hospital Conde S. Januário treated 97 children and 35 adults with respiratory illness symptoms today and medical teams at terminals checked body temperatures of more than 148,000 people entering Macao. They also dealt with 53 enquiries Three Macao residents, all family members, were tested negative for the virus. They developed fever and respiratory illness symptoms after returning from the USA and sought treatment at the hospital. To date there is no probable or confirmed human case of influenza A (H1N1) reported in Macao.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said in Jilin today that the province was one of the most important old industry bases that brought enormous business opportunities for Macao businessmen. On his five-day visit to the northeast of the country, Mr Ho met with the Secretary of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee, Mr Wang Min, and the Governor, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee, Mr Hang Changfu. During the meeting in the afternoon, Mr Ho praised the province, with rich natural resources and good ecological environment, for having perfected the business and investing condition that boosted boundless trading opportunities. Moreover, under the framework of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the two places would re-inforce co-operation in the area of trading, investment and tourism, among other areas, said Mr Ho. Mr Wang briefly introduced the latest development of Jilin Province. He said there was a strong complementary relationship between these two places. He also said that he hoped to maintain a good bilateral relationship to cope with financial crises jointly.
Mr Han introduced to Mr Ho the concepts and directions for the future co-operation between Jilin and Macao. He said the two places might strengthen co-operation in trading, tourism, food processing, medical treatment and other areas. Mr Ho attended a trade and investment seminar where the Secretary for Economic and Finance, Mr Francis Tam, delivered a keynote speech. The delegation will continue on to Liaoning in Shenyang tomorrow.
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The Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah and the Macao business delegation continued their visit in Heilongjiang today and attended a trade and investment seminar. Speaking at the seminar, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said he saw a surge in business exchanges between the two places after the establishment of the SAR a decade ago, thanks to the contribution of the business and industrial sectors. Macao would continue to bolster trade between the two places using the favourable terms offered in the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), Mr Tam said. The SAR would make use of its advantages as a service platform to boost the trade of Heilongjiang, especially with the Portuguese-speaking countries, and continue to support the co-operation and trade between Macao and Heilongjiang. Mr Tam said the Government would continue to adopt proactive measures to gradually turn Macao into an international leisure and tourist hub and regional trade and services platform. Prior to the trade seminar, Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah and his delegation visited an aircraft company and a food company. The Chief Executive and his delegation hosted a banquet for the Heilongjiang officials to thank them for their hospitality, before leaving for Changchun, Jilin Province, to continue his five-day visit in northeast China.
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