News

The Government is introducing another package of measures to relieve the pressure caused by inflation on the people -- including a one-off 5,000 patacas subsidy to all permanent residents and 3,000 patacas to non-permanent residents. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, announces these measures when he attended a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly this afternoon to answer legislators’ questions on various issues. He disclosed that the subsidy, estimated to cost the Treasury 2 to 2.3 billion patacas, is expected to be given out in July. Government figures show that there are about 461,000 permanent residents and 66,100 non-permanent residents in Macao. Moreover, the Government would waive inspection fee for all imported or exported live and fresh food, such as vegetable and poultry, to lower operational costs of the business sectors, affecting the eventual retail price. This would cost the Government 12 million patacas. As global agricultural prices are on the rise, the Government plans to provide low-cost storage space for rice importers, to help to lower their costs and eventually the selling price of rice. To ensure a stable supply of rice, the Government would maintain exchanges with the Mainland and other rice exporting countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam. Moreover, to prevent the arbitrary increase in prices, the Government would take initiatives to provide more information on the prices of daily goods to the market and the public. Mr Ho also announced subsidies for families on the waiting list for public housing. At a press conference after the plenary session, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said the Government would continue to adopt different measures to curb inflation. Furthermore, the Government is adjusting the social security system to ensure a secure future for the people, said Mr Tam.
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Government would reserve more land for public housing, release allowance to families who are on waiting list for public housing and require contractors to employ local workers for public works, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today in the Legislative Assembly. Twelve plots of land in Seac Pai Van, Coloane, will be reserved for building public housing, which covers an area of 42,300 square metre that could produce 306,000 square metres of floor area, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, explained in a press conference afterwards. He added that this measure was included in the project of building 19,000 public housing units before 2010. The Government will enhance transparency of the progress of building public housing by facilitating the content of the website of the Housing Bureau, and by other means. Moreover, the Government announced that a housing subsidy will be given to families on the waiting list for public housing, a policy to offset rising rental expenses. Families with one or two members will receive a monthly subsidy of 750 patacas while those with three or more will be given 1100 patacas per month. This policy, to be in effect for one year, will cost the treasury 85 million patacas. Moreover, the Government will introduce a pilot policy that requires contractors undertaking general public works projects of less than 10 million patacas to employ local workers only, apart from posts requiring special skills that could not be provided by local workers. The employment of imported workers in such projects will only be approved after rigorous examination. The Government will evaluate the effect of this policy and make adjustment when necessary, said Mr Lau.
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The number of licenced casino operators will remain the same for a period of time and the Government will not approve new applications for land use filed by gaming companies. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, announced this when he attended a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly this afternoon to answer legislators’ inquiries on various issues. Mr Ho said that the policy to maintain the number of gaming concession, based on a thorough evaluation of the industry, would go through the legislative process shortly. Currently there are three concessionaires and three sub-concessionaires. Moreover, the Government will not accept land applications by gaming operators and land to be reclaimed in the future will not be used for gaming purposes, the Chief Executive said. However, gaming projects under construction, approved or under discussion with the Government will not be affected. He also disclosed that the Government was studying ways to maintain the number of casinos, gaming tables and slot machines. New applications will not be granted before the introduction of these measures, which are aimed at enhancing the administration and diversified development of the industry. The Government would continue to urge operators to move slot machine parlours away from densely populated districts. In addition, the Government would continue to restrict casino operators from entering other industries, especially direct involvement in public utilities, Mr Ho said. Moreover, the Government would introduce adequate measures to regulate the share of commissions of gaming promoters, Mr Ho said. He also disclosed that the Government is studying a licensing scheme for casino management personnel. At a press conference after the plenary session, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said this was the right time to review the gaming industry after years of rapid development, which put pressure on Macao’s land reserve and human resources. There are currently 29 casinos with more than 4,200 gaming tables in Macao, he added.
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The peg of the pataca to the Hong Kong dollar is an established policy of the Government and will not be changed for a long time, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said when he attended a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly this afternoon. Mr Ho, who was answering legislators’ questions, said he understood that the increasing exchange rate of RMB had stimulated inflation; however, the pataca’s link exchange rate relationship with the Hong Kong dollar will not be changed in order to maintain financial stability. At a press conference after the plenary session, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said an unstable monetary policy will cause impact to the entire financial system, and eventually affect the livelihood of residents in an all-round manner. Therefore, any adjustment in monetary policy should be made after a thorough evaluation, Mr Tam said. Moreover, some academics believed that adjusting Macao’s monetary policy may not curb inflation or might only have a slight impact on price index, Mr Tam said.
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Results of the Education Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in the academic year 2006/2007, there were 134 schools or institutions providing regular education in Macao, comprising 12 institutions of higher education and 122 schools that offered pre-primary, primary and/or secondary (including vocational-technical secondary) education. Among those providing non-tertiary education, 102 were private schools, of which 81 had joined the universal basic education network. The survey also covered 10 schools of special education, 129 establishments of adult education and 151 private tutorial centres. At the end of the academic year 2006/2007, there were 17,462 students attending higher education, up by 9.6% over the previous academic year, and 70.5% were local students. Total number of students in non-tertiary education decreased by 4.7% to 87,115, with that of students in secondary education decreasing by 2.2% to 44,988, marking the second consecutive year of decline; number of students in pre-primary (9,453) and primary education (32,674) continued to fall, down by 7.5% and 7.1% respectively. In the academic year 2006/2007, number of teachers engaging in regular education increased by 5.3% to 6,393. The teacher/student ratio for regular education was 1 to 16.4; the ratio for non-tertiary and higher education was 1 to 18.7 and 1 to 10.1 respectively. Compared with the academic year 2005/2006, number of students receiving special education dropped by 4.3% to 492 and those enroling in adult education increased by 15.3% to 119,350. Data collected from the 151 private tutorial centres indicated that a total of 4,887 students were receiving auxiliary tutorial services at these centres, with 68.5% attending primary and 17.7% attending secondary education.
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The Macau travel trade met today their counterparts at a big scale travel mart held in Taipei organized by the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), which will be followed by another round in Taichung. A delegation comprising of representatives from MGTO as well as more than twenty Macau hotels, carriers, travel agencies and others are in Taipei to participate in a travel mart that attracted a strong attendance of around 150 Taiwan travel trade. The event held in Taiwan’s capital on Monday is topped with a gala dinner, attended by, among other guests, major tour operators, travel agents and MICE operators in Taiwan, along with local celebrities and elites who have visited Macau by invitation of MGTO. On Tuesday the delegation will head to Taichung. At Taiwan’s third largest city, the Macau travel trade will have the chance to meet with around 100 partners, mainly from local travel agencies, similar to Taipei. The MGTO representative office in Taiwan holds a major travel mart every year, this year extended to Taichung for the first time. By giving the Macau travel trade the opportunity for face-to-face meetings with their Taiwan counterparts, MGTO aims to provide more updated information, and increase interaction between both sides for further cooperation. Being Macau’s third largest source of visitors, Taiwan is one of MGTO’s priority markets. Macau and Taiwan are just a short flight distance away, with three airlines linking the two places, operating a total of more than 30 flights a day.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals reached 2,713,457 in March 2008, a year-on-year increase of 25.6%. Visitors from Mainland China (1,566,179), Hong Kong (743,250) and Southeast Asia (153,921) grew by 32.4%, 11.5% and 60.4% respectively. Same-day visitors accounted for 53.2% of the total arrivals, at 1,444,785. The majority of the visitors came from Mainland China and Hong Kong, which accounted for 57.7% and 27.4% of the total respectively. Among the Mainland visitors, 43.3% (678,822) travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In the first quarter of 2008, visitor arrivals totalled 7,506,309, up by 17.9% over the same quarter of 2007. Visitors from Mainland China rose by 22.6% to 4,385,684; concurrently, those from Hong Kong and Southeast Asia increased by 3.3% and 63.3% respectively. Furthermore, same-day visitors made up 52.6% of the total arrivals, at 3,951,571. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up by 10.9% over the first quarter of 2007 to 2,386,943. Among them, 2,164,981 arrived at the Outer Harbour (+8.1%), with 57.6% from Hong Kong and 23.5% from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals by land increased by 21.4% to 4,704,257. Visitors arriving through the Border Gate rose by 14.8% to 4,448,120 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (79.1%) and Hong Kong (14.6%). In addition, visitor arrivals by air stood at 415,109, up by 21.3% over the first quarter of 2007. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport grew by 20.5% to 408,094 and those from Taiwan, China (35.0%), Southeast Asia (28.8%) and Mainland China (22.1%) were the major users.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for March 2008 rose by 9.49% year-on-year to 122.53, with considerable increase in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+16.33%), Housing & fuels (+14.00%) and Health (+13.54%). Among the subgroups of Food & non-alcoholic beverages, notable increase was observed in the prices of fresh beef (+74.25%), canned meat (+54.46%), fresh pork (+54.09%), edible oil (+30.15%), chilled or frozen poultry (+27.07%), rice (+24.98%), noodles (+23.75%) and charges for meals bought away from home (+14.37%). For the subgroups of Housing & fuels and Health, significant increase was noted in prices of LP Gas (+32.81%), charges for maintenance and repair services of dwelling (+24.70%), rentals for housing (+14.70%) and charges for medical consultation service (+24.93%). However, the price indices of Communication and Education registered year-on-year decrease of 6.86% and 5.84% respectively. The CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2008 were 124.70 and 122.00, up by 9.99% and 9.38% respectively year-on-year. For the 12 months ended March 2008, the average Composite CPI rose by 6.71% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI for March 2008 dropped slightly by 0.08% month-to-month, with lower charges for outbound package tours and hairdressing services, as well as lower prices of fresh flower and fresh food after the Lunar New Year, pushing down the price indices of Recreation & culture (-2.69%), Miscellaneous goods and services (-1.34%) and Food & non-alcoholic beverages (-0.34%). On the other hand, the indices of Communication and Clothing & footwear rose by 1.89% and 1.69% respectively due to lower discount offered for IDD calls, as well as new arrivals of men and women’s clothings. In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for March 2008 decreased by 0.14% and 0.05% respectively month-to-month. The Composite CPI for the first quarter of 2008 increased by 9.09% to 121.59 over the same quarter of 2007, with marked increase in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+16.08%), Housing & fuels (+14.32%) and Health (+13.05%). The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 3,000 to MOP 9,999. The CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.
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At the invitation of the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau SAR Government, Chui Sai On marks his presence at the “2008 Global Travel & Tourism Summit”. This is the first time Secretary Chui attends the Summit in representation of the Macau SAR Government. Director of Macau Government Tourist Office João Manuel Costa Antunes accompanies the Secretary to the Summit. The Global Travel & Tourism Summit, held between April 20 and 22, is the highest level gathering of travel and tourism industry leaders in the world. A distinguished group of speakers from international NTOs, airlines, hotels, media and experts in economic and commercial fields addresses issues including: the universal and significant role of Travel & Tourism in people’s lives and societies; economic / political / environmental influences in Travel & Tourism planning and policy development; how technological advances and human creativity answer global challenges; ‘right’ approaches for sustainable development of the Travel & Tourism sector and vision for the future of the Travel & Tourism industry. Set in a unique format – The Round - the Summit engages chairs and chief executives of the travel and tourism industry, heads of government and international experts in a frank exchange of ideas that shape the future of the global tourism industry. Open dialogue is enhanced by the active participation of globally renowned press and media including BBC World, Newsweek International, Financial Times and USA Today. Dubai is one of the tourism destinations in the world that has grown at a remarkable pace and her success stories in tourism development are good reference for the travel trade. The Middle East, including Dubai, is a potential source market for Macau to explore.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of 2008 was 145.79, up by 15.08% year-on-year. The price indices of Miscellaneous goods, Restaurant services and Accommodation registered significant increase of 33.75%, 19.52% and 13.34% respectively. The increments were attributable to dearer jewellery prices driven by rising gold prices, as well as higher charges of restaurant services and hotel room rates during the Lunar New Year holidays. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2007, TPI rose by 6.92% in this quarter, with notable increase in the indices of Miscellaneous goods (+16.97%) and Restaurant services (+6.71%); meanwhile, price index of Entertainment & culture increased by 3.32% owing to rising prices of fireworks and firecrackers during the Lunar New Year holidays. The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended the first quarter of 2008 increased by 10.86% over the previous period. TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 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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