News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of visitor and non-resident arrivals was 2,552,109 in March 2009. Visitor arrivals totalled 1,884,175, down by 11.8% from March 2008. Analysed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China were 977,479 (51.9% of total visitor arrivals), a decrease of 11.1% year-on-year, with 447,465 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, down significantly by 32.9%. Visitors from Hong Kong (545,648) and Malaysia (36,465) dropped by 15.9% and 23.8% respectively; however, those from Taiwan, China (119,206) and Japan (35,543) increased by 5.5% and 23.1%. Same-day visitors (1,002,504) accounted for 53.2% of the total visitor arrivals, with 501,900 coming from Mainland China. The cumulative visitor arrivals totalled 5,454,170 in the first quarter of 2009, down by 9.6% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (2,758,310), Hong Kong (1,732,726) and Taiwan, China (313,860) decreased by 14.2%, 1.6% and 3.2% respectively, while those from Japan (102,663) registered an increase of 17.0%. Same-day visitors accounted for 53.7% of the total visitor arrivals, at 2,930,026. Analysed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 2,277,787 in the first quarter of 2009, similar to that of the same quarter of 2008 (2,277,002). Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour registered a decrease of 26.8% to 1,510,463, but those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa surged by 597.5% to 686,407. Visitor arrivals by land dropped by 16.5% year-on-year to 2,801,096 in the first three months of 2009; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 2,594,791 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (76.5%) and Hong Kong (15.4%). Visitor arrivals by air went down by 7.6% to 375,287 in the first quarter of 2009. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport decreased by 7.6% to 368,834, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (38.9%), Mainland China (23.5%) and Thailand (8.9%).
…

The wealth partaking and health care voucher schemes announced by the Chief Executive last week would cost the Government 3.37 billion patacas, the spokesperson of the Executive Council, Mr Tong Chi Kin, said today. Permanent residents would receive 6,000 patacas each while non-permanent ones would get 3,600 patacas, costing 2.886 billion patacas and 241 million patacas respectively, Mr Tong said. Holders of valid or renewable Macao SAR Resident Identity Card as of 31 December 2008 are entitled to the cash subsidy. Children under five, who are not required to apply for identity cards, would also get the payouts should they obtain the identification document. The health care scheme giving every permanent resident 500 patacas in vouchers would cost the Government 240 million patacas. To make the necessary financial arrangement, the Executive Council had discussed a draft law to revise the government budget in 2009, as well as a by-law on the wealth sharing scheme, Mr Tong said. The draft law will be sent to the Legislative Assembly for examination.
…

The Macao Government would give MOP6000 to each permanent resident and MOP3600 to each non-permanent resident, to help them tackle inflation. The Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah said payouts would begin in mid-May at the earliest. He announced the continuance of the Wealth Partaking Scheme Schedule for Distribution policy, which started from last year, when he attended the plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly today. After considering the Government’s overall revenue in 2008 and issues that arose in the global financial crises, the Government decided to give Macao permanent residents the money, he said. Meanwhile, the Government would also launch a medical subsidy scheme for permanent resident, he said. Under the scheme, each is entitled to have a book of medical coupons with a total value of MOP500 they could use visiting private practitioners in Western or Chinese medicines, and when visiting dentists. The medical coupons could not be used in public hospital and medical institutions aided by the Government. Mr Ho said that the medical coupons could be passed on to other family members, but they could not be sold. Speaking on the housing subsidy scheme, Mr Ho said that the study was in the final: the Government would continue to exchange ideas and collect opinions with the banking and real estates sectors. On the other hand, Mr Ho said, the Government would perfect the social security system by passing details of the planned Central Provident Fund for the elderly to the Legislative Assembly in May. On the issue children of Macau residents who were born in the Mainland to come to Macao, Mr Ho said that he had expressed his concern on this several times when he met with Beijing officials. He said he is confident the problem would be solved in a reasonable time. Information Department
Government Information Bureau
Macao Special Administrative Region
…

To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Foundation of the Union General of Community Association of Macau, Macao Post announced that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up located at Macau Forum at 17H00 to 21H00 on 16th May 2009 providing the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “25th Anniversary of Foundation of the Union General of Community Association of Macau”. A commemorative envelope will be distributed to public, and various philatelic products will also be available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps.
…

To celebrate the International Museum Day, Macao 2009, Macao Post announced that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at Cultural Center Square at 14H00 to 18H00 on 3rd May 2009 providing the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “International Museum Day, Macao 2009”. A commemorative envelope will be distributed to public, and various philatelic products will also be available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps.
…

The Government has revised its plan for reclamation by cutting the proposed area from 500 hectares to 400 hectares, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today. He said the Government adjusted the plan slightly after taking into consideration the opinion of related ministries and departments of the Central Government. Answering questions at the Legislative Assembly today, Mr Lau said with the adjustment, the total area for development would also be reduced from 398 to 350 hectares. Mr Lau re-iterated that the reclaimed land would not be used for building gaming premises or low density houses. He said about 60 per cent would be designated for open areas such as plazas, green areas, roads and public facilities, with areas reserved for public housing and projects that would benefit the diversification of Macao’s economy. Two of the reclamation zones would be in the northeast of Macao Peninsula (Zone A), the south of Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Zone B), and three in the north of Taipa (Zone C, D and E). Zone A will cover 138 hectares and is designated for residential buildings, schools, green and public facilities, with some of the areas for the MICE industry and other projects. Zone B will cover 47 hectares and will be used for public institutions, roads, green areas and seashore avenues. Zone C, D and E will cover 165 hectures and will be used for residential buildings, transportation infrastructure, green areas and recreational facilities. Mr Lau said that the Government would consult the public on the plan when it has been approved by the Central Government.
…

The International Culinary Academy @ IFT is a new work team that was set up in April 2009. The objectives are to advance the development of the arts of culinary in Macao through various research projects, to enhance communications and exchange in the industry, as well as to coordinate both locals and international culinary and F&B related events for a more diversified tourism development. The Institute For Tourism Studies and Alliance Française de Macao has the great honour in inviting Dr. Hervé This to deliver a talk in “Evolution in Cooking Arts – Molecular Gastronomy” on 23 April at the Institute For Tourism Studies. This is the first big event coordinated by the International Culinary Academy @ IFT. In recent years, molecular gastronomy has become the trend in modern culinary. Many restaurants taking this theme opened gradually in South-East Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The concepts of molecular gastronomy are to explore traditional cooking methods through a scientific discipline. Such as experimenting the effects of different cooking temperatures and times have on food, or adding in different substances to the food and observe its physical and chemical changes. These results will then be applied to create a brand new cooking method and culinary experiences. The concepts of molecular gastronomy were brought up by Dr. Hervé This as early as in 1980s. Dr. This is a French physical chemist. He works at the “Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique” and his main are of interest is molecular gastronomy. He has got a degree in “Physico-Chime des Materiaus” (Physical Chemistry of Materials) and a PhD in Molecular Gastronomy. He has written several books on the subject which can be understood even by those who have little or no knowledge of chemistry, with two of them translated in English. He also collaborates with the magazine “Pour la Science” in order to present scientific concepts to the general public. He is a corresponding member of the “Académie d’Agriculture de France” and more recently, the scientific director of the foundation “Food Science & Culture”, which he created at the French Academy of Science. Some of his discoveries include the perfect temperature for cooking an egg (around 65°C, the white coagulates, but not the yolk), and the use of an electrical field to improve the smoking of salmon. He also found that beating an egg white after adding a small amount of cold water considerably increases the amount of foam produced, up to one cubic meter for one egg white. Every month he adds one new “invention” in the Arts and Science section of the website of the Michelin three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire. In this 2-hour seminar, Dr. Hervé This will equip participants with the evolution, development, experiment and basic theory of the latest trend in kitchen cooking art – Molecular Gastronomy, through an in-depth talk and basic demonstration. The seminar will be held on 23 April at 1500 – 1700 at the IFT. Interested parties are welcome to apply online on or before 22 April. There is no charge for this seminar. For enquiry, please call 8598 3016 / 8598 3041. For application: http://www.ift.edu.mo/cn/programmes/paces_current_courses.aspx
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for March 2009 rose by 2.35% year-on-year to 125.41, of which the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages went up by 12.93% and 9.49% respectively. Among the subgroups of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, notable increase was observed in the price indices of rice (+32.21%), fresh fish (+31.41%), canned meat (+27.72%), fruit (+12.57%) and vegetables (+10.95%). For the subgroups of Clothing & Footwear, price indices of women’s clothing (+14.19%) and footwear (+14.14%) registered marked increase. Meanwhile, the price indices of Miscellaneous Goods & Services and Health increased by 4.64% and 4.51% respectively, due to dearer prices of articles and products for personal care, and rising charges for hairdressing and grooming services, as well as medical consultation service. On the contrary, the price indices of Transport and Education registered year-on-year decrease of 8.88% and 7.49% respectively, on account of falling gasoline prices and airfares, as well as increase of tuition subsidies to students studying in schools not joining the free education network. The CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2009 were 127.55 and 124.84 respectively, up by 2.29% and 2.32% year-on-year. The Composite CPI for March 2009 rose by 0.43% month-to-month, with the price indices of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages; and Clothing & Footwear increasing by 1.32% and 1.19% respectively, attributable to soaring prices of vegetables and fresh fish, as well as higher prices of new arrivals of clothing. However, the price index of Housing & Fuels decreased by 0.34% due to lower rentals for housing. Moreover, the CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 0.52% and 0.39% respectively month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the first quarter of 2009 increased by 3.30% year-on-year to 125.61. For the 12 months ended March 2009, the average Composite CPI rose by 7.11% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP3,000 to MOP9,999. The CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP19,999.
…

The Business Forum under the topic “Discovering Opportunities in Tough Times” – the summit of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Meeting – was held today at the MGM Grand Macau with close to 200 participants, including speakers, guests and media. PATA invited around 20 speakers, among tourism industry personalities and academics to discuss the problems and trends of the development of the tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region. The key guest speakers were General Manager of Visa China Sheng Li and Google Inc. vice president of sales for Greater China region John Liu. Former CNN presenter Lorraine Hahn moderated the forum. Sheng Li oversees all aspects of Visa’s business in China. Prior to his appointment as General Manager, Sheng was Head of Marketing for China. In this role he was instrumental in putting together Visa’s marketing campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Sheng has also worked at Visa’s headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area where he was responsible for global sponsorship marketing strategy development, among others. Sheng Li is originally from Beijing. Prior to join Visa, Sheng Li worked in Asia, Europe and the U.S. with companies such as Nike and IMG. John Liu joined Google in 2008. He oversees Google’s sales and business development in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Liu was awarded "Ten Outstanding IT Business Leaders of China" in 2006. Prior to joining Google, he served six years at SK Telecom as its CEO and President in China. Liu completed both his Master’s degree in Operation Research in 1992 and PhD in Telecommunication Network Management in 1994 at the Technical University of Denmark. PATA Chairwoman Phornsiri Manoharn, PATA president and chief executive officer Gregory Duffell and Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) director, João Manuel Costa Antunes, also spoke at the Business Forum. The organizers invited international, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau media to report on the event, and a media center was set up at the MGM Grand Macau. The day ended with a dinner hosted by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Chui Sai On, to the participants of the PATA Annual Meeting. PATA is the most influential tourism association in the Asia Pacific. MGTO joined PATA in 1966. PATA’s membership includes nearly 100 government, state and city tourism bodies, more than 55 airlines and cruise lines, and hundreds of travel industry companies. In addition, thousands of travel professionals belong to a global network of PATA chapters. For more information about PATA, please go to: www.pata.org This press release is available at: www.macautourism.gov.mo
…

The Tourism Crisis Management Office has urged Macao citizens in Brazil or those planning to visit the country to be aware of the recent dengue fever outbreak there and take the necessary preventive measures. In case of emergency, they are asked to contact the Chinese Consulate-General in Rio de Janeiro at 0055-21-87204727, or the tourism hotline at 853-28333000. According to the notice issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Consulate-General in Rio de Janeiro said more than 40,000 cases of dengue fever have been reported in several cities in State of Bahía, Brazil, recently. The epidemic has killed 32 people so far and the State Government had declared a state of emergency in seven cities.
…