News

The Macao SAR Government had been preparing the next Policy Address by the Chief Executive, taking into account public opinion and scientific studies. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said this in the morning when he addressed more than 1,000 guests during the National Day reception hosted by the Government. The reception was attended by the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR, Mr Bai Zhijian; Vice Chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr Ho Hau Wah; the Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the MSAR, Mr Lu Shumin; the Commander of the Macao Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army, Senior Colonel Zhu Qingsheng; the Acting President of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho Iat Seng; the President of Court of Final Appeal, Mr Sam Hou Fai, and Macao’s principal officials and community leaders. Reviewing the motherland’s achievements since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Chui highlighted the astonishing successes in various aspects after the reform and open policy. And this year the motherland had not only overcome problems caused by natural disasters in Qinghai and Gansu, but also took on the challenges caused by the global financial crisis, he said. Macao had directly benefited by the development of the motherland and continued to forge ahead, with the support of the Central Government and many provinces and regions and the great efforts of Macao residents. He said the Government would continue to steer towards an even more transparent administration and promote scientific policy-making. The Government would also promote co-operation with the motherland, including Guangdong and Hong Kong, by taking the opportunities brought about by the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta and the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. Mr Chui said the Government would continue to serve the people and address fundamental problems: the administration had been making great efforts in dealing with housing and transport issues. On behalf of the Macao SAR Government, Mr Chui thanked the Central Government for its all-out efforts in supporting Macao, as well as the Liaison Office, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Macao Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army.
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1 Macao Resident Identity Card 2 Macao Special Administrative Region Passport 3 Macao Special Administrative Region Travel Permit 4 Visit Permit to the Hong Kong S.A.R. 5 Other valid passports or travel documents
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total merchandise export for August 2010 decreased by 1.2% year-on-year to MOP540 million, with value of domestic exports falling by 15.8% to MOP188 million, but that of re-exports rising by 8.8% to MOP352 million. The value of total merchandise import amounted to MOP3.78 billion, up by 21.0% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP3.24 billion was recorded for August 2010. In the first eight months of 2010, total value of merchandise export fell by 5.9% year-on-year to MOP4.78 billion, of which the value of domestic exports declined by 27.8%, but that of re-exports expanded by 10.3%; meanwhile, total value of merchandise import grew by 20.4% to MOP28.02 billion. The trade deficit from January to August 2010 widened by 27.7% year-on-year to MOP23.24 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down by 4.8 percentage points year-on-year to 17.0%. Analyzed by destination of exported goods, value of merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP2.07 billion) and Mainland China (MOP761 million) in the first eight months of 2010 increased by 13.0% and 1.7% respectively year-on-year, while that to the USA (MOP563 million) and the EU (MOP275 million) decreased substantially by 44.1% and 41.7% respectively. Exports of Textile & garment amounted to MOP1.10 billion, down by 41.6% year-on-year to account for 23.0% of the total merchandise export; however, value of Non-textile exports (MOP3.68 billion) grew by 15.1%, with that of Copper & articles thereof and Clocks & watches rising notably by 74.6% and 58.8% respectively. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, in the first eight months of 2010, value of merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP8.70 billion) and the EU (MOP6.13 billion) expanded by 18.4% and 25.9% respectively year-on-year. The value of imports of Consumer goods rose by 39.2% year-on-year, with that of Motor cars & motorcycles growing significantly by 109.8%; nevertheless, the value of imports of Capital goods and Raw materials & semi-manufactures fell by 7.8% and 0.5% respectively. From January to August 2010, total value of merchandise import and export amounted to MOP32.79 billion, up by 15.7% compared with MOP28.35 billion in the first eight months of 2009.
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The Macao SAR Government will hold celebrations to commemorate the 61st National Day on Friday. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, will officiate a flag-raising ceremony at Golden Lotus Flower Square at 8 am. Representatives from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the MSAR, the Macao Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army, heads of the legislature and judiciary, principal officials and community leaders will attend the ceremony. The Government will hold a reception at Macau Tower at 9:30 am. Several government departments will also hold celebratory events, including the National Day Fun Run starting at Golden Lotus Square after the flag-raising ceremony, and a variety performance at Macao East Asian Games Dome at 2 pm. Commemorative covers will be on sale and a stamping service will be offered at the Post Office from 9 am to 5.30 pm. The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and Liaison Office will hold variety performances at Macao Forum at 8 am on Thursday and Friday, and firework displays will be held on the waterfront near the Macau Tower at 9 pm and 10 pm on Friday.
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Since the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" took effect on August 13, operations to combat illegal accommodation have seen positive results. While raids to premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally are carried on, the SAR Government has been actively carrying out promotion and education seeking to reach visitors through different channels, to obtain more effective results. Targeting visitors during the October 1 “golden week”, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) have cooperated in the creation of a new promotion and education campaign. The two bureaus have printed flyers with a new image and slogan in Chinese, Portuguese and English. The new slogan is “Enjoy a pleasant trip in Macau, stay in legal Accommodation”. The flyer gives out all the necessary information alerting visitors to Macau to lodge in licensed hotels and inns. The flyers also inform about MGTO’s website www.macautourism.gov.mo, where visitors can find the list of the licensed hotels and inns, which has been placed in a highlighted area of the webpage. Visitors can also consult the list by calling the hotline 28 333 000. Besides distributing the new flyers in MGTO information counters and immigration counters, MGTO has received the support of Guangdong Province Tourism Administration for promotion and education initiatives in the source market, to guarantee the rights of the visitors. DSAJ printed and sent 200,000 flyers to Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration to be distributed ahead of the “golden week” among the different tourism bureaus in the province, including Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality, Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, among other municipal tourism bureaus in the province. MGTO and DSAJ have also decided to launch a multimedia campaign from October 1 to 31 using mobile phone sms messages (in Mainland China and Macau), TV commercials and promotion on buses and taxis. The content of the one month long campaign includes the dissemination of 600,000 mobile phone sms messages in Guangdong Province alerting visitors to lodge in licensed hotels and inns when visiting Macau and to check MGTO’s website. After entering Macau, visitors using CTM’s roaming service will also receive a similar message on their mobile phones. Fifteen vehicles from the two Macau bus companies and 40 black and yellow taxis will promote the new image and slogan against illegal accommodation. Guangdong TV, Shenzhen TV and Zhuhai TV will broadcast commercials alerting visitors to refuse illegal accommodation, as well as MGTO’s advice encouraging visitors to choose quality and honest Macau tours when traveling to the city. When the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" took effect, MGTO and DSAJ undertook a series of promotional initiatives, using posters, flyers and local TV commercials to encourage residents to report suspected cases and alert visitors not to stay at illegal inns. With the new promotion launched around the “golden week”, the scope and channels of promotion were expanded, looking forward to create a bigger impact.
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As a public higher institute serving the Macao SAR, Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) has always been committed to quality education at international standard. Holding a belief of “Rooted in Macao and steadfast in serving”, Bank of China (BOC) Macao Branch has shown tremendous support to the development of local higher education over the years by providing sound and comprehensive financial services. Under the context that both parties share the same goal of supporting the Macao SAR government in achieving harmonious development and progress, IFT and BOC Macau branch agrees to establish a cooperative relationship in areas of their professional services and talents cultivation such as: Student Loan Scheme
BOC Macao will offer financial products and services to IFT in accordance to the programme nature, and provides privilege loan scheme for IFT students, who need assistance to realise their learning aspiration. Bank of China scholarship
BOC Macao will sponsor a total amount of MOP100,000 annually as “Bank of China Scholarship”, showing encouragement to students with excellent academic performance. Training and Internship IFT will provide BOC Macao with professional or customised training programmes, while the latter will offer internship opportunities for IFT students, facilitating IFT’s teaching philosophy of balancing knowledge and practice. Meanwhile, IFT and BOC Macao will maintain strong communication to ensure a smooth collaboration. Under the steady support from the community, IFT, at it’s 15th anniversary this year, will continue to uphold the responsibility to educate local talents and will march forward to a brighter future. Also this year marks the 60th anniversary of BOC Macao, which will continue to deliver quality and all-round financial services to Macao as always.
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Since the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" took effect on August 13, a total of 525 premises were checked, of which 69 premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, while 62 were normal residences. Ensuing investigations on the rest of the premises have been launched. Among the checked premises, some were vacant or unoccupied. Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and the Public Security Police Force (PSP) will continue investigation on unanswered doors, which are suspected to be used to provide accommodation illegally. Meanwhile, during investigations to other cases, PSP has found four premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and informed the Cross-departmental Working Team to handle the cases. To help the investigations, when necessary, MGTO can request a judicial order to enter into the suspect premises to investigate. To date, the operations involved more than 552 occupants, among whom 303 were occupants of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and were investigated, including 12 operators, 9 touts, 9 persons who manage the premises that provide accommodation illegally (management staff) and 3 occupants who failed to fulfill their duty of cooperation (among the three occupants who failed to fulfill their duty of cooperation, one has paid the fine). Among the occupants, there were 12 overstayers and 10 illegal immigrants. Following the raid to premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, touts and managing staff, and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the concerned premises and sealed the doors. According to the new law, operators and person who manage the premise that provide accommodation illegally (management staff) incur a penalty up to 800 000 patacas, touts can be fined up to 100 000 patacas and occupants who fail to cooperate are fined 3 000 patacas. Public can also call 2833 3000 to report suspected premises. MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau remind travelers that, according to the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation", occupants found in premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally have the obligation to provide information or will be fined 3,000 patacas for violating the duty of cooperation. Occupants providing false information need to bear criminal responsibility. Non-residents who fail to pay the fine by due date might be denied reentry into Macau in the future.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for June-August 2010 remained unchanged from the previous period (May-July 2010) at 2.9%; the underemployment rate dropped further by 0.3 percentage point to 1.5%. Total labour force was 327,000 in June-August 2010 and the labour force participation rate stood at 71.4%, with the employed population increasing by about 600 over the previous period to 317,500. Analyzed by industry, employment of Wholesale & Retail Trade and Real Estate & Business Activities saw increase, while employment of the Gaming Sector registered a decrease. Number of the unemployed decreased by about 200 from the previous period to 9,400, with 17.2% being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, up by 6.0 percentage points over the previous period. In comparison with June-August 2009, the labour force participation rate, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate decreased by 1.2, 0.9 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that there were 169 travel agencies operating in 2009, up by 14 over 2008. Sales & Other Receipts of travel agencies decreased slightly by 1.0% from 2008 to MOP3.58 billion; Gross Fixed Capital Formation fell notably by 45.2% year-on-year to MOP38.44 million; however, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy rose by 7.5% to MOP508 million. At the end of 2009, a total of 2,864 persons were engaged in travel agencies, an increase of 2.1% year-on-year. Expenditure of travel agencies totalled MOP3.40 billion, down by 1.6% over 2008, among the expenditure items, Purchase of Goods & Services for Sale (including tickets, package tours and room reservation) amounted to MOP2.83 billion and Operating Expenses amounted to MOP227 million, down by 2.1% and 4.5% respectively over 2008; meanwhile, Compensation of Employees rose by 4.4% to MOP335 million.
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Since yesterday until 5pm today, the Cross-departmental Working Team sealed one more premise suspected to provide accommodation illegally. Since the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation" took effect on August 13, a total of 516 premises were checked, of which 68 premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were sealed, while 62 were normal residences. Ensuing investigations on the rest of the premises have been launched. Among the checked premises, some were vacant or unoccupied. Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and the Public Security Police Force (PSP) will continue investigation on unanswered doors, which are suspected to be used to provide accommodation illegally. Meanwhile, during investigations to other cases, PSP has found four premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and informed the Cross-departmental Working Team to handle the cases. To help the investigations, when necessary, MGTO can request a judicial order to enter into the suspect premises to investigate. To date, the operations involved more than 544 occupants, among whom 299 were occupants of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and were investigated, including 12 operators, 9 touts, 9 persons who manage the premises that provide accommodation illegally (management staff) and 3 occupants who failed to fulfill their duty of cooperation (among the three occupants who failed to fulfill their duty of cooperation, one has paid the fine). Among the occupants, there were 12 overstayers and 10 illegal immigrants. Following the raid to premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, touts and managing staff, and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the concerned premises and sealed the doors. According to the new law, operators and person who manage the premise that provide accommodation illegally (management staff) incur a penalty up to 800 000 patacas, touts can be fined up to 100 000 patacas and occupants who fail to cooperate are fined 3 000 patacas. Public can also call 2833 3000 to report suspected premises. MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau remind travelers that, according to the law on "Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation", occupants found in premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally have the obligation to provide information or will be fined 3,000 patacas for violating the duty of cooperation. Occupants providing false information need to bear criminal responsibility. Non-residents who fail to pay the fine by due date might be denied reentry into Macau in the future.
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