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The English-language edition of Macao Yearbook 2008, an annual publication published by the Government Information Bureau (GCS) of the Macao SAR, will hit the shelf on 22 January. Enriched by 178 photographs, the 646-page Macao Yearbook 2008 is divided into five sections: Administrative Priorities of the MSAR Government; Calendar of Events; Review of the MSAR; Overview of the MSAR; and Appendices. Consisting of 16 chapters, the Overview of the MSAR presents information on the political and administrative system; legal and judicial system; external relations; economy; gaming industry; tourism; public order; education; culture and sport; health and social welfare; media, communications and information technology; land, infrastructure, housing and public utilities; transport; geography, environment and population; religion and customs; and history. The Macao Yearbook 2008 is also enriched by more than 10 winning entries from a photographic competition entitled “New Faces of Macao”. The competition is co-organised by GCS and eight local photography organisations and four media groups in early 2008, with the aim of capturing Macau’s developments in pictures and adding aesthetic value to the yearbook. A photo entitled “Flags Flying on a Joyful Occasion” taken by Lou Ka Wai, which has won “Yearbook Cover Award” in the competition, has been selected as yearbook cover picture. This is the first time this award is presented in the photographic competition. Macao Yearbook 2008, together with a complimentary CD-ROM containing the PDF version of the publication, retails at a price of 120 patacas/Hong Kong dollars per copy, and is available at the following places: major local bookstores; the Macao Post Office (Macao Post) Philatelic Division, Rua do Campo Branch, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal Branch, Macau International Airport Branch, and Nova Taipa Branch; Government Printing Bureau; and the Public Information Centre on Rua do Campo. During the promotion period lasting until 31 March 2008, a 20-percent discount will be offered to any purchase of Macao Yearbook 2008. The Chinese and Portuguese editions of the Macao Yearbook 2008 were launched last Year.
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The Chairman of the supporting committee for the reconstruction work in Sichuan, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Mr Chui Sai On, today met with the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee Secretary Li Qibao to exchange views on reconstruction after the fatal earthquake disaster. During the meeting, Mr Li introduced to the Macao delegation the focal points of reconstruction projects, and updated them on Sichuan's social and economic developments. The Central Government hoped Sichuan Government would complete 80 per cent of the entire reconstruction project within two years, and the remaining part to be accomplished in another two years. At present, most of the reconstruction works focused on building homes, schools, hospitals, water, electricity and traffic networks. Mr Li also expressed his gratitude to the Macao Government for speeding up all the reconstruction, and he said Sichuan and Macao could step up co-operation in trading. Mr Chui briefed his counterparts the overall works done to help Sichuan in the past years. Most of the works were focused on the reconstruction in Guangyuan. After this visit he gained a better understanding on the needs of Sichuan and he would call a meeting with the supporting committee members to optimise the planning for the reconstruction, he added.
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Hosted by the Macao SAR Government, the 2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (2009 MIECF) will be held from 2nd to 4th April 2009 at The Venetian Macao, Convention & Exhibition Centre. The event has already received support from various organizations, with National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Environmental Protection, PRC as Special Supporting Organizations and various provincial and regional environmental protection departments, business associations and organizations and higher educational institutions as supporting organizations. With the theme “A Global Green Gathering – Environment, Business, Connection”, 2009 MIECF is committed to promote concept of “Environmental Greenness”. Rising to the global drive for environmental sustainability, MIECF is an event promoting Macao’s initiative on “Thinking Green, Going Clean and Living Cool” in China and greater regions beyond. It is a forum-led event with supplementary exhibition and business matching which spearheads and promotes greater local and international co-operation in the sharing of the latest green technologies and solutions for critical environmental issues demanding urgent attention and immediate response. Alike last edition, the Macao Pavilion will be established in 2009 MIECF. In order to introduce the arrangement of 2009 MIECF, in particular the registration and incentive package of Macao Pavilion to the related government departments, public organizations, business associations/associations, enterprises in environmental industry, the “Presentation of 2009 MIECF Macao Pavilion” is scheduled to be held on 21 January 2009 (Wednesday), 15:00 – 16:30 at the Multi-function Conference Hall of Macao Business Support Cente (MBSC), 19/F. We cordially invite local enterprises that are interested to exhibit their products or services during MIECF 2009 to join the above-mentioned event. For enrollment or enquiries, please feel free to contact Ms. Cheang or Ms. Tai of SME Centre on 28728212 or fax: 28727123.
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In coordination with the Central Government’s policy, the Macao Government would speed up the completion of reconstruction time from five years to three years in order to improve quality of life of the people affected by the fatal earthquake in Sichuan. Macao and Sichuan today held a working meeting where both groups reviewed the work done over the past year, and discussed the working direction for the future. During the meeting, the Chairman of the supporting committee, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On and the Mayor of Guangyuan, Sichuan, Mr Ma Hua signed agreements for six projects on behalf of the two governments. The six Macao funded projects are to build three schools, one centre for the physically challenged, one psychiatric centre and one old folks' home. Mr Chui told the media after the meeting that all these buildings would be strictly constructed in accordance to the State’s safety and quality standard. Moreover, Sichuan has proposed 61 projects with a total budget of RMB3.6 billion in the meeting, and more projects would be proposed in the latter half of this year, Mr Chui said. The Macao Government decided to donate five billion patacas to support the reconstruction works in Sichuan.
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Macao’s supporting committee for reconstruction following the Sichuan earthquake disaster visited Guangyen City today, to check on projects supported by Macao as well as study how to enhance assistance. The Chairman of the supporting committee, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, and the group visited a residential area and spoke to farmers who have moved into temporary accommodation, and asked about their livelihood. Accompanied by the Sichuan officials, the committee was briefed on the progress of the housing reconstruction scheme and visited the construction sites. Where Mr Chui inaugurated a ground-breaking ceremony in one of the most seriously damaged villages in Guangyun city. The group also visited the Jialingjiang Bridge which is being rebuilt at about RMB75 million, also supported by the Macao Government. Afterwards, the delegation visited the site of the Xiwan water plant where its construction started last December and is scheduled for completion in June 2010. The delegation will go on to Chengdu tomorrow for a working meeting with their counterparts there. Information Department
Government Information Bureau
Macao Special Administrative Region
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(Macao—16 January 2009) Macao’s supporting committee has arrived in Sichuan today to sign six protocols with the Sichuan Government to speed up reconstruction projects. The Chairman of the supporting committee, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, told the media before his departure that the Macao delegation would review the work done in the past several months, and the working plan for this year would be the focal point of the meeting. The Sichuan Government has expressed a request to speed up the completion of reconstruction period from five years to three years, he said. The supporting committee, which comprised 20 members, would visit one of the areas most seriously affected by the deadly quakes of last May, Guangyuen City, and to gain a better understanding of the tourism industry. The two governments are jointly boosting Sichuan tourism by launching series of promotional campaigns. The team is scheduled to return on 20 January.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the fourth quarter of 2008 was 145.19, up by 6.48% year-on-year. The price indices of Restaurant Service; Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco; and Clothing & Footwear surged significantly by 13.53%, 11.66% and 11.08% respectively, which was attributable to rising charges of restaurant service and dearer prices of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and pastries, as well as the general increase of the prices of men’s and ladies’ clothing. On the contrary, the price index of Accommodation registered a year-on-year decrease of 5.85% as a result of lower hotel room rates. Compared with the third quarter of 2008, TPI rose by 1.03% in this quarter. On account of higher hotel room rates during the National Day holidays, the Macao Grand Prix and Christmas holiday period, the price index of Accommodation soared by 20.35%. On the contrary, the price indices of Clothing & Footwear; and Miscellaneous Goods fell by 6.75% and 3.46% respectively. The average TPI for 2008 increased by 11.13% over 2007, with marked increase in the indices of Miscellaneous Goods (+22.45%), Restaurant Service (+14.72%) and Clothing & Footwear (+10.33%). TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors. TPI covers eight sections of goods and services, namely Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant Service; Transport & Communications; Medicine & Personal Goods; Entertainment & Culture; and Miscellaneous Goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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Director of Macau Government Tourist Office unveiled that Macau welcomed a record-breaking number of over 30 million visitors last year. MGTO will launch a series of promotional activities, focused on World Heritage, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR. The MGTO Annual Press Conference was held today (Jan 14) at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center. MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes reviewed the tourism achievement of Macau in 2008 and outlined this year’s tourism development strategies to nearly 500 attendants including MGTO representatives around the world, travel industry partners and 150 international and local media. Speaking at the press conference, Antunes pointed out that Macau's tourism industry continues to move towards diversification. The provisional figures show that visitor arrivals in 2008 surpassed the 30 million mark, registering an increase of 11% compared with 2007. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan China continue to be the three largest visitor source markets, among which, Mainland China recorded a total of 17.5 million visitor arrivals, an increase of 17 %. Both number of overnight stay and overnight guests from January to November has exceeded that of the total of 2007, with 12.97 million and 5.92 million respectively. The average length of stay has also increased to 1.5 nights. He continued that the market share of international markets in visitor arrivals hit 10%. The top ten visitor generating markets are mainly from Asia. Southeast and Northeast Asia showed exceptionally strong performance, with arrivals growing 81 % for Thailand, 41% for Singapore, 30% for the Philippines, 24% for South Korea, 23% for Japan and 12% for Malaysia, showing a healthy progress towards diversification of source markets. On the regional cooperation front, Antunes pointed out that MGTO has signed tourism cooperation protocol with Shenzhen Tourism Bureau and Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration respectively last year. Macau has also established last year an inter-departmental task force to handle the problem of “illegal guesthouse”. He expressed that diversification of tourism products and source markets are the main objectives for this year. MGTO will utilize tourism resources to enhance the development of cultural tourism. Various thematic tour routes will be developed to attract visitors of different interests, while multi-destination tourism itneraries will be explored to build up a regional tourism brand. Furthermore, a series of promotional activities will be launched to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR. New tourism products such as hop on “Heritage Bus”, free docent service at World Heritage sites will also be introduced in addition to the popular scheduled cultural performances at tourist spots. Antunes pointed out that to be in line with the diversification of source markets, apart from enforcing promotional efforts in international markets, MGTO will continue to explore potential markets,. work closely with airlines to develop international source markets with more direct flight connections and deploy e-marketing initiatives. This year, MGTO will further expand its marketing influence by adding a representative office in Indonesia to tap this potential market, while continuing to venture into forthcoming markets such as Vietnam, Eastern Europe, especially Russia, and the Middle East for a more diversified market portfolio. He noted that the SAR government is putting great effort in the development of business tourism and the MICE industry. MGTO will set up a cooperation mechanism with the trade sector for a healthy and stable development of business tourism. The cooperation network will be consolidated through the “Industry Partner Program”, and promotional events focusing on the MICE industry will be implemented, while professional training programs and a cooperation mechanism will be set up to facilitate regional cooperation. Promotional tools such as a Macau Convention Brochure, Macau Incentive Travel Guide, 2nd edition of Macau Meeting Planners Guide, MICE video will be introduced to boost business tourism. He added that MGTO will support and host a number of MICE activities, including the PATA Annual Meeting 2009 to be held in Macau this April. Antunes expressed that while continuing to employ the promotional theme "Experience Macau" under the slogan "A World of Difference, the Difference is Macau", MGTO will showcase Macau to the world through the five senses "See, Taste, Touch, Feel and Hear". MGTO's representatives will utilize their strong and extensive local networks to bring the promotional effect to its full by organizing themed itineraries in the Pearl River Delta, family tour, world heritage tour, students tour, “silver hair” tour, gala dinners and travel marts. MGTO will participate in BTL (Lisbon Travel Market) as International Guest Destination to promote Macau. He emphasized that this year is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR. To celebrate this special occasion, MGTO will launch various promotional activities with focus on the “Historic Center of Macau” and organize familiarization tours to Macau through MGTO’s 17 representatives to showcase Macau’s world heritage to the world. Other activities include photo exhibition, gala dinner and tourism briefing for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR. Antunes stressed that Macau will strive to work for the betterment of the tourism environment. To achieve this goal, MGTO will continue to implement the Performance Pledge to enhance administrative efficiency, operate Tourism Hotline 2833 3000 that provides 24 hours service, reinforce tourist education, promote quality travel practices as well as arouse the tourists’ awareness of their rights and advise citizens of the matters to note when traveling outside Macau. He said that MGTO will launch a number of e-services such as online booking system, online application status enquiry, website version of Macau Meeting Planners Guide, online referral service for RFP, e-MICE survey and e-publications. Antunes noted that with the steadfast support of the Central Government, MGTO will work hand in hand with the travel trade to enhance the diversification of the tourism industry in line with the policy dictates of the Macau SAR Government. MGTO will also address malpractices in the tourism market to enhance overall service quality, aiming to develop Macau's tourism industry healthily and to achieve diversification. As the tourism industry is vulnerable to the impact of external factors, MGTO will fine tune promotional strategies in accordance with global economic conditions. When responding to media’s inquiries, Antunes expressed that it is difficult to anticipate the impact the financial crisis will have on Macau’s tourism industry at this moment, and instead of being pessimistic, it is more important to be ready and work closely with the travel trade to grab every possible chance to turn challenges into opportunities. MGTO is studying a scheme to assist the tourism industry which will be proposed to the Tourism Development Committee to stimulate and support the continuous development of inbound tourism against economic downturn. Regarding diversification, he emphasized Macau’s World Heritage is a crucial element in proceeding towards diversification. MGTO hopes that through cooperating with travel trade partners, both locally and in source markets, quality heritage tours and tourism products will be launched for visitors to enjoy with reasonable prices. Antunes pointed out that Macau will adopt a new system to present more accurate visitor arrival figures which is essential for planning new tourism facilities and supporting services. He believed that the Statistics and Census Bureau will soon announce details on the new system. Following the press conference, a mini mart was held for the local tourism trade to meet with representatives of MGTO to discuss business opportunities to bring in more visitors. MGTO’s representatives from 17 countries and regions came to Macau to take part in MGTO’s Annual Press Conference and Interim Marketing Meeting. Over 40 representatives met with different MGTO departments to discuss promotional strategies and activities on leisure and business tourism to further expand the scope and dimension of the 20 source markets. MGTO has also invited about 60 international media representatives from ten countries and regions to Macau to join the annual press conference to get first hand information of Macau’s tourism industry and the latest development of the Macau SAR as it prepares to celebrate its10th anniversary.
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“Where there is difficulty, there is resolution and hope.” This is the message from the Vice President, Mr Xi Jinping, as he concluded his two-day visit to Macao. Mr Xi told the press before his departure though his stay in Macao was short, he has a deep understanding about Macao from the compact programmes. He encouraged the Macao Government and the people to tackle impacts brought by the global financial crisis with one heart, and to make Macao’s economy and society more prosperous. “In the economy downturn, Macao has suffered difficulties in term of economy development and people’s livelihood,” said Mr Xi. “The Macao Government has implemented a string of effective measures to deal with the difficulties. Macao Government and the society should overcome the difficulties with one heart. “Where there is difficulty, there is always resolution and hope,” said the Vice President, as he gave encouragement to the people of Macao. Mr Xi also expressed his gratitude to the scores of journalists who had been covering his visit with their wide coverage and reporting over the past two days. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, thanked Mr Xi’s for his visit and said the Vice President had bought with him the support and concern from the Central Government. Before the Vice President’s departure, he paid a visit to the Zhuhai-Macao Crossborder Industrial Zone, in the company of the Chief Executive.
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The Vice President, Mr Xi Jinping, visited a youth centre this afternoon and extended his best wishes to Macao’s education and young people. After meeting representatives of Central Government's agencies and Chinese-funded companies in Macao, Mr Xi visited the Experiential Centre for Young People in the company of the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah. At the centre, Mr Xi was entertained by young people dancing, children performing gymnastics and children models at a fashion show. Later, Mr Xi watched young people making silver ornaments, and had a go at polishing the silverwares. He also chatted with some young people learning astronomy. Mr Xi said that people did not learn from books only and centres such as this could help better nurture the next generation.
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