News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in the second quarter of 2008, imports of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) amounted to 9,096 tonnes and the respective consumption totalled 9,497 tonnes, down by 25.1% and 19.2% respectively over the previous quarter. The average price of LPG imports rose by 2.9% quarter-to-quarter, with the list price of Bottled LPG and Centralised LPG going up by 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. In the second quarter of 2008, imports of Electricity rose by 5.4% over the previous quarter to 526 million kWh. The gross production of Electricity increased by 99.4%, bringing the net available supply to rise by 31.8%; the relative importance of Electricity imports in gross available supply declined from 73.7% in the first quarter to 59.0% in this quarter. Meanwhile, the consumption registered an increase of 31.6%. Imports of Gasoline was 15.81 million litres and the respective consumption totalled 15.62 million litres, up by 15.9% and 4.8% respectively over the previous quarter. On account of the 10.9% increase in the average price of Gasoline imports, the list price of Unleaded gasoline went up by 12.5% quarter-to-quarter. Imports of Gas oil & diesel increased by 10.5% from the previous quarter to 43.95 million litres, but consumption decreased by 3.0% to 40.84 million litres. The list price of different types of Gas oil & diesel went up by 17.2% to 18.2% quarter-to-quarter, due to an 6.9% rise in the average price of imports. The respective imports and consumption of Natural gas soared three-fold over the previous quarter, to 26.7 million and 26.5 million cubic metres.
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China’s Olympic gold medallists met with students in Macao today and encouraged them to face their challenges in life with positive attitudes and bravery. Eleven medallists gave their encouragement during a talk held in Macao Forum where attended by some 2,500 students and representatives from the education sector. During the talk, the medallists described in great detail their arduous training regime and their determination to win for the sake of the country. They encouraged the participants, whenever they encounter difficulties in their lives, to face them with positive attitude and bravery, and walk out of the shadow. The delegation, who comprised 63 gold medalists and their coaches and sports officials, visited some scenic points such as the Ruins of St. Paul and the Macao Museum in the second day of their visit. In the evening, the athletes attended a variety show at Macao East Asian Games Dome to share their happiness with an audience of some 4,000. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, also attended the performance. They are scheduled to leave tomorrow after a three-day visit.
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China’s 63 gold medallists have arrived in Macao today for a three-day visit, less than a week after the closing of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The delegation, who earlier spent three days in Hong Kong, was led by the Director of State General Administration of Sports, Mr Liu Peng, and included coaches of the gold medalists. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, and the Deputy Director of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macao SAR, Mr Li Benjun, met the delegation at the ferry terminal. The sportsmen met the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, who congratulated them for their outstanding performances. Their result demonstrated the rising power of the nation and made Macao people proud, he said. The delegation then attended a welcome banquet, at which the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, praised the outstanding organisation of the Games. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games had promoted the traditional spirits of the Chinese, realised China’s century-old dream for hosting the Games, and earned appreciation of nations worldwide, Mr Chui said. He also praised China’s athletes, who had broken various records and written a new chapter of history for the nation. Mr Chui thanked the support of the State General Administration of Sports for Macao’s sport, and the gold medallists for their visit. He said he wished for more exchanges between Macao’s sport sector and China’s athletes and sport personnel in the future. Head of the delegation and Director of State General Administration of Sports, Mr Liu Peng, said in a speech that Macao’s support to sport development in China had contributed to the organisation of Beijing Olympic and the achievement of China’s athletes at the games. The delegation is scheduled to meet hundreds of high school students for a talk tomorrow morning, followed by a visit to the Ruins of St. Paul. In the evening they will attend a performance at Macao East Asian Games Dome.
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Macau Government Tourist Office will launch an 11-day promotional campaign in the Philippines next month arousing the awareness of the Southeast Asian market on Macau’s business and leisure tourism . Director of MGTO led a delegation to the Philippines to kick off the campaign. Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes hosted dinner for the travel trade and Chinese communities in the Philippines to thank the tourism travel for their support over the years as well as to strengthen relationship with the Chinese-communities to pave way for more promotional activities in the future. MGTO hosted a dinner for the leaders and businessmen of the Chinese-Filipino Community on August 28 with the presence of the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China in the Philippines Song Tao. Promotion and Marketing Head of MGTO Cecilia Tse introduced the latest tourism development of Macau to the guests, who also enjoyed cultural performance at the dinner. Ambassador Song Tao said in his speech that he was impressed to see the vast improvements in Macau when he visited Macau this April. “Macau is now renowned internationally as a vacation destination,” he noted. He pointed out that the speedy growth of Macau provides unique opportunities to strengthen Macau-Philippine cooperation, especially, the promotion of exchange and visits between the people of the two places. There are now 20,000 overseas Filipino workers in Macau who play an important role in the development of Macau. He encouraged the guests to contribute to the betterment of China-Philippines and the friendship of Macau people- Filipino. In his remarks, Antunes expressed that with the full support of the Central Government, “The Historic Center of Macau” was listed as World Heritage in 2005. Macau welcomed a record of close to 27 million visitors last year, a 22 percent year on year increase. The Philippines is Macau’s fifth-top visitors generating market, with over 200,000 people from the Philippines visited Macau from January to July this year, a significant growth of 48% compared to same period of last year. Photo exhibition on Macau tourism will be held at 3 shopping malls in Manila from September 4 to 14, featuring photos of tourist attractions, events and festivals and world heritage in Macau. There will also be installations showcasing Macau’s leisure, convention and exhibition facilities to promote business and leisure tourism of Macau. This press release is available on MGTO’s website: http//macautourism.gov.mo Caption: Antunes with travel trade of the Philippines
Antunes spoke at the dinner
Ambassador Song Tao delivered a speech at the dinner
Leaders and businessmen of Chinese communities in the Philippines at the dinner
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP120.3 billion (USD14.97 billion) at the end of July 2008. The reserves increased by 1.5% from the revised value of MOP118.5 billion (USD14.75 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP28.9 billion or 31.6%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-July 2008 represented 29 times the currency in circulation or about 231.9% of Pataca M2 at end-June 2008. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, dropped by 0.40 points month-to-month or 4.66 points year-on-year to 86.60 in July 2008. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel：83952532; Fax：28353042)
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According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for May-July 2008 rose slightly by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (April-June 2008) to 2.9% due to the rising number of job-seekers in the Summer Holiday, but dropped by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. The underemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous period, at 1.6%, but up by 0.5 percentage point year-on-year. Total labour force was 334,000 in May-July 2008; the labour force participation rate stood at 70.7%, up by 0.2 and 1.2 percentage points respectively from the previous period and the corresponding period of 2007. The employed population rose by 2,700 over the previous period to 324,000, with increases in the number of persons working in the Construction sector and Retail Trade, but decrease in the Manufacturing sector. The unemployed population was 9,800, an increase of 700 from the previous period, with 1,300 (12.9% of the total) searching for their first job, up by 6.7 percentage points over the previous period.
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The Government had asked a low-cost airline operator to explain why it had cancelled a flight without informing passengers. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said the Civil Aviation Authority had instructed that operator to submit a report and include suggestions to avoid a repeat of the incident. Some 120 passengers turned up at Macao International Airport last Sunday to find their flight to Vietnam had been cancelled. Mr Lau said it was regrettable that the cancellation brought inconvenience to passengers. He said the operator should explain and provide assistance to the affected passengers.
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The number of crimes recorded in the first half of this year saw an increase of 11.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. Releasing the crime statistics for the first half of 2008 at a press conference today, the Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuok Va, said the police would continue to fight crimes and that they would also target minor offences. Minor offences, such as pick-pocketing, went up by 44.5 per cent, an increase from 384 to 555 cases. Mr Cheong said the police would deploy more officers at major attractions during the tourism high season to prevent and fight pick-pocketing. The total number of crimes recorded in the six months stood at 6,928. However, the number of intimidation, forgery and transferring counterfeit money cases fell by 24.7 and 36.9 per cent. The number of arson, drugs trafficking, loan sharking and robbery cases went up by 114.3, 70.3, 44.3 and 32.5 per cent respectively. Juvenile crimes went down by 17.3 per cent, from 98 to 81 cases, with 148 young people having been involved in criminal activities. In the same period, the police have arrested 2,069 people and transferred them to the Public Prosecutions Office. The number of people arrested increased by 18.8 per cent compared with the same period last year. A total of 42,897 illegal immigrants and overstayers were caught during this period.
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Information of the Statistics and Census Service indicated that resident population of Macao was estimated at 552,000 as at 30 June 2008, an increase of about 26,000 from a year earlier. In the second quarter of 2008, there were 1,093 live births, up by 1.6% over the preceding quarter, with male babies accounting for 55.1%. The number of mortality cases was 387 and the major underlying causes of death were “Malignant neoplasms” and “Diseases of the circulatory system”. Meanwhile, 1 case of fetal mortality was recorded. The Health Bureau received 778 cases of Notifiable diseases in this quarter, an increase of 190 cases over the preceding quarter, including 302 cases of “Hand, foot and mouth diseases”, 188 cases of “Varicella (chickenpox)” and 89 cases of “Tuberculosis of lung”. In addition, 742 cases of marriage were registered, up by 8.5% over the first quarter of 2008. The number of legal immigrants from Mainland China totalled 715 in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 200 over the preceding quarter; meanwhile, 307 illegal immigrants were repatriated. The end-quarter balance of individuals authorized to reside in Macao went up by 2,199 over the first quarter of 2008 to 45,491. The end-quarter balance of non-resident workers totalled 98,505, an increase of 8,492 over the first quarter of 2008.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 2,663,593 in July 2008, a year-on-year increase of 20.7%. Visitors from Mainland China (1,533,041) and Hong Kong (778,227) rose by 29.9% and 8.8% respectively, while those from Taiwan, China (115,103) decreased by 7.0%. Same-day visitors took up 52.6% of the total arrivals, at 1,401,478. The majority of the visitors came from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China, which accounted for 57.6%, 29.2% and 4.3% of the total respectively. Among the Mainland visitors, 39.2% (601,562) travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In the first seven months of 2008, visitor arrivals reached 17,589,197, up by 18.5% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (10,309,273) and Hong Kong went up by 27.5% and 0.2% respectively, while those from Taiwan, China dropped by 4.7%. Furthermore, same-day visitors made up 52.9% of the total arrivals, at 9,304,322. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up by 12.5% over the first seven months of 2007 to 5,574,231. Among them, 4,849,353 arrived at the Outer Harbour (+3.9%), with 57.7% from Hong Kong and 22.6% from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals by land grew by 21.5% to 11,019,081. Visitors arriving through the Border Gate increased by 16.4% to 10,425,549 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (79.6%) and Hong Kong (14.4%). In addition, visitor arrivals by air totalled 995,885, up by 21.2% over the first seven months of 2007. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport rose by 19.9% to 975,297, with those from Taiwan, China (35.3%), Southeast Asia (30.3%) and Mainland China (22.0%) as the major users.
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