News

Following the first Macao Franchise Expo held in 2009, Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) will continue to organize the Macao Franchise Expo 2010 (2010 MFE) this year. Invited as organizers this year, two local industry associations: the Macao International Brand Enterprise Commercial Association (MIBA) and Macau Chain Stores and Franchise Association, together with the organizers of previous MFE, Brazilian Franchise Association, Association of China and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan, Licensing and Franchising Association of Hong Kong and will co-organize the 2010 MFE with Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). In addition to the support of China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA) and International Franchise Association (IFA), 2010MFE also gets the support of the Japan Franchise Association (JFA). 2010MFE will be held at the Macao Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre from 8 to 10 July 2010, and co-ordinated by the Association of Advertising Agents of Macau, with an estimate of exhibitor booth over 100. The Expo is a major franchising business event to promote international franchise business, chain operations and brand agency businesses through the organisation of exhibitions, business negotiations and forums. Making the best use of Macao’s role as a convention and exhibition service platform to promote franchise cooperation 2010 MFE will include exhibitions, forum/seminar, business matching sessions and product presentation. To make the best use of Macao’s role as a convention and exhibition service platform, business projects include product agencies, franchising and chain operations will be presented in the form of an exhibition, with supplementary services including marketing and publicity and consultancy services. Other trade and economic activities including business matching and trade negations will be arranged for participants to serve as a platform for co-operation and exchanges. Helping SMEs’ business transformation and exploring new markets In conjunction with the SAR Government’s policy of supporting and assisting SMEs, the introduction of franchise operations will meet the needs of business starters to establish themselves and SMEs’ needs in the upgrade of technological enhancement operations and business transformation. 2010 MFE aims to provide local enterprises with more opportunities for co-operation and new business, allowing local SMEs to grasp business opportunities with franchise business and brand agencies. In order to motivate local enterprises to participate, those who apply before May 26, 2010 could enjoy a 20% “Early Bird” discount offer; nevertheless, eligible Macao enterprises can also apply for “Individual Exhibition Participation Financial Incentives” and receive up to 60% subsidies. Both offers can be enjoyed at the same time. For instance, a standard booth at MOP$3,200.00, when applied with both discount offer, could be as low as MOP$1,024.00. A convergence of multiple franchise brands worldwide, and a comprehensive “One-stop Support Services” Based on the strong foundation of the previous MFE, 2010 MFE will bring together around 100 enterprises (increment 40% vs previous MFE) in franchising, chain operations and brand agencies from Mainland China, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, USA, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Portugal, involving food and beverages, retail, business services, fashion, entertainments, education, business strategic planning and consulting services sectors. Moreover, a comprehensive “One-stop support service” will be stationed at the venue to serve the local enterprises in order to let them understand more about the franchising, chain operations. Free pre-arranged and on-site business matching by MFE Business Matching Service Team As part of the series of business negotiation activities, free pre-arranged and on-site business matching sessions will be available. Registration of chain operations and franchises are in progress, interested enterprises please log on and provide details of your business intent. For further information, please contact the MFE Business Matching Service Team or visit the official website for registration and obtain updated business matching information on 2872 8328, Fax: 2872 7506, Email: matching@ipim.gov.mo. Official Website: www.mfe.mo, business-matching website: www.bm.ipim.gov.mo.
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The Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT) hosts a public lecture titled – “Re-Weaving the Threads, Re-Connecting the Places: Cultural Mapping and Valuation of Mong-Ha Heritage” on 14 May, where Year 4 students of IFT Bachelor of Science in Heritage Management programme will present their findings on the Mong-Há Village. IFT has chosen Mong-Há Village as case study in the Heritage Management Programme – “Economics of Heritage Conservation” course. Guided by internationally renowned heritage specialists, Dr. Richard A Engelhardt, Regional Adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO and Dr. Johannes Widodo, Assistant Professor of the National University of Singapore and complemented by Macao based heritage professionals Mr. Steven Chan, Vice-President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao S.A.R. Government, Dr. Francisco Pinheiro, Technical Advisor of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and Mr. Ong Chin Ee, Lecturer of IFT, Year 4 students of the degree programme has performed field work from 3 to 14 May at the site of Mong-Há village. The Economics of Heritage Conservation course identifies, analyses and appraises the economic and social values of the totality of Macao’s heritage assets, utilising international-standard inventory, mapping and assessment methodologies. Building upon the efforts of cultural mapping Coloane Village last year, the students will extend their study to Mong-Há, an area less understood but containing rich cultural heritage resources. The course is conducted in intensive daily module with guided field work, in which they will evaluate and record the heritage assets. The course is designed to introduce to the students the essential tasks as a heritage management professional, which include: l The ability to identify, analyse and appraise the built heritage as a public resource; l The ability to document built heritage resources in a proper way to ensure their asset values remain intact and/or is enhanced through appropriate and timely investment; l The ability to innovate creative solutions to integrate the build heritage into socio-economic development; and
l The ability to convince decision-makers and stakeholders the efficacy and potential benefits of these solutions. Dr. Richard A. Engelhardt is a Visiting Professor at IFT and has directed archaeology and heritage conservation projects throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific region for the past 30 years. Among his responsibilities at UNESCO, he is UNESCO Charge de Mission and Senior Advisor for Culture and he was the Regional Adviser for Culture in Asia and the Pacific; and served as Chairman of the International Jury for the annual UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Awards competition. Dr. Engelhardt is also the Co-Convenor of the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management. Dr. Johannes Widodo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and the Director of CASA (Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture) at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Widodo's area of specialisation includes architecture, urban history and morphology of Southeast Asian cities, Asian modernity, and heritage conservation in Southeast Asian context. Dr. Francisco Pinheiro is a Technical Advisor at the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Adjunct Professor at the Inter-University Institute of Macao and part-time lecturer at the IFT. He has worked in educational programs and projects since 1990s and has taken part in several municipal projects and promoted the recovery of dilapidated areas and artifacts, including the proposed guidelines and plan for the recovery and rehabilitation of the Coloane Village. Ong Chin-Ee is Lecturer in Heritage and Tourism at The Institute For Tourism Studies in Macao (IFT). He teaches heritage and tourism subjects and is part of the IFT team tasked with developing and delivering cultural heritage specialist guide and cultural tourism site-manager training for UNESCO and UNESCAP in Asia.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply resumed its growth in March. Total deposits increased while external loans grew at a fast pace. The overall loan-to-deposit ratio therefore rose slightly from a month ago.
Money supply
Currency in circulation decreased 4.7% whereas demand deposits increased 3.2%. M1 thus rose 1.8% compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 2.9%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 2.7% to MOP215.9 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 17.4% and 9.8% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 28.2%, down 1.1 percentage points over a month ago or 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. Concurrently, the share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 54.6%, up 1.7 percentage points month-to-month or 1.1 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits rose 2.9% from the previous month to MOP210.8 billion. Of which, MOP deposits and other foreign currency deposits declined at respective rates of 0.7% and 1.0% while HKD deposits rose 6.1%. Concurrently, non-resident deposits stayed flat at MOP73.0 billion and public sector deposits with the banking sector rose 3.3% to MOP16.0 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 2.2% from the previous month to MOP299.7 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 22.6% and 46.3% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector grew slightly by 0.4% in March to MOP105.1 billion. Among which, MOP30.6 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP67.8 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 29.2% and 64.5% of the total respectively. Loans to “transport, warehouse and communications” and “personal housing loans” increased quarter-to-quarter at respective rates of 32.5% and 9.8% whereas those to “non-monetary financial institutions” and “manufacturing industries” dropped 20.2% and 14.7%. Meanwhile, external loans grew 4.9% to MOP106.2 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.8% (MOP0.9 billion) and 41.2% (MOP43.8 billion) of the total respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
As resident deposits and public sector deposits with the banking sector grew faster than domestic loans to
the private sector, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-March 2010 dropped by 1.2 percentage points month-to-month to 46.3%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors stood at 70.5%, up slightly by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month.
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The popularity of the Internet enables quick and effective dissemination of information around the world and creates a business environment which is not restricted by time or geographical boundaries. The application of e-commerce enables SMEs to conduct businesses with trade partners around the world and establish an extensive global partnership network. Enterprises can promote their products and businesses on the service platform provided by e-commerce operators to create more business opportunities and widen publicity for themselves. To assist SMEs to make use of E-Commerce to gain wide publicity, SME Service Centre of Macao Trade and Investment and Promotion Institute (IPIM) and eBay Hong Kong will organize a seminar on “Opportunities using online business - How to expand sales channel” on 18 May 2010, 3 p.m. at Macao Business Support Centre. The seminar comprises of two sections: eBay Hong Kong will introduce how SMEs can utilize online business be a platform to sell their products, introduction of eBay’s "Trading Assistant Program" and actual operations. In the experience sharing, eBay Power Seller will be invited to share their experience. Through keynote presentations and experience sharing, the seminar aims to enrich SMEs’ understanding how to using the E-Commerce to promote theirs brands, products and services and gain wide publicity, thus, enhance competitiveness and create endless business opportunities. In addition, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in the future, through information exchange, education, training and discussion forums, and through eBay online platform and offline promotion services to help SMEs to promote their online business in Macau. The seminar will be conducted in Cantonese (with simultaneous interpretation in English). Registration is now open to interested parties (especially enterprises from manufacturing and retail sector targeting to explore overseas market). To sign up, please contact Mr. Ho or Ms. Leong of SME Service Centre (Tel：28728212; Fax: 28 728213；Email: smec@ipim.gov.mo )。
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that per-capita spending of visitors increased by 9% year-on-year to MOP 1,783 in the first quarter of 2010. Analyzed by place of residence, per-capita spending of Mainland visitors took the lead, at MOP 2,826; per-capita spending of those from Southeast Asia; Hong Kong; and Taiwan, China amounted to MOP 1,727, MOP 1,135 and MOP 1,056 respectively. Compared with the first quarter of 2009, per-capita spending of tourists rose by 24% to MOP 2,880 and that of same-day visitors went up by 43% to MOP 703. In the first quarter of 2010, per-capita non-shopping spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors decreased by 9% year-on-year to MOP 897, of which expenses on Accommodation and Food & Beverage accounted for 44% and 35% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita shopping spending grew by 35% to MOP 886, with expenses mainly on Jewellery/watches (21%), Local Food Products (21%) and Clothing (19%). Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,783 in the first quarter of 2010, a year-on-year increase of 16%. Mainland visitors had the highest per-diem spending of MOP 2,652 and the respective spending of visitors from Southeast Asia; Hong Kong and Taiwan, China was MOP 1,559, MOP 1,135 and MOP 1,056. The average length of stay of visitors shortened by 0.1 day to 1.0 day over the first quarter of 2009, with Mainland visitors staying an average of 1.1 day. The average length of stay of tourists increased by 0.1 day to 1.7 days, while that of same-day visitors stayed unchanged at 0.2 day.
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Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On today made a courtesy visit on his Hong Kong counterpart, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. During the meeting at Government House, Mr Chui thanked Mr Tsang for Hong Kong’s continued support and said the co-operation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao was crucial to the implementation of the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020) and the development of Hengqin Island. On tourism, Mr Chui said the parties could work closer on promoting the three places as a multi-destination itinerary for visitors. Mr Tsang said Hong Kong and Macao had strong ties and enhanced co-operation in different areas all along. He said the two cities would work even more closely together on preventing epidemics and other emergencies. Mr Tsang hosted a lunch for Mr Chui and his team of officials before they returned to Macao. They comprised Secretary for Economy and Finance Mr Tam Pak Yuen, Chief-of-Office of the Office of the Chief Executive Mr Tam Chon Weng; Secretary-General of Executive Council and Advisor of the Office of the Chief Executive Ms O Lam; Director of the Government Information Bureau Mr Chan Chi Ping, Advisor of the Office of the Chief Executive Mr Kou Chin Hung, and the Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive Ms Tam Ka Wa. Hong Kong officials who attended today’s meeting included the Financial Secretary Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Mr Stephen Lam Sui-lung, and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office Mr Raymond Tam Chi-yuen.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 12 institutions of higher education in the 2008/2009 academic year; meanwhile a total of 109 schools offering pre-primary, primary and secondary (including vocational-technical) education, 76 are within the free education system; moreover, there were 9 schools offering special education. At the end of the 2008/2009 academic year, there were 20,917 students attending higher education, up by 11.6% over the previous academic year, with local students accounting for 69.2%. Meanwhile, pre-primary, primary and secondary education had 76,214 students, with those of primary (27,481) and secondary (39,463) decreased by 8.4% and 4.0% respectively, while pre-primary students (9,270) rose by 1.3%. In addition, there were 482 students attending special education, up slightly by 0.4%. Total number of teachers engaging in higher education was 1,812; those teaching in pre-primary, primary and secondary education totalled 4,847 while 108 were in special education. Teacher/student ratio for higher education was 1 to 11.5; the ratio for pre-primary, primary and secondary education was 1 to 15.7 and that for special education was 1 to 4.5. The Education Survey for the 2008/2009 academic year also covered 12 schools providing recurrent education, 137 establishments providing adult education and 152 private tutorial centres. Number of students attending recurrent education increased by 6.3% to 2,880; course enrolment of adult education totalled 129,146, down by 1.0% year-on-year. Meanwhile, a total of 5,067 students were receiving auxiliary tutorial services at 152 private tutorial centres, with 70.8% being primary students and 15.5% being secondary students. As regards the 2009/2010 academic year, a total of 33,007 students enrolled in higher education and 73,782 students in pre-primary, primary and secondary education.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours decreased by 7.7% year-on-year to 510,679 in March 2010. Visitors from Mainland China (355,300) and Taiwan, China (25,225) dropped by 18.8% and 5.9% respectively, while those from Japan (27,581) and Hong Kong (21,196) rose by 55.9% and 6.3% respectively. Moreover, visitors from the Republic of Korea (14,173), India (6,530) and Vietnam (5,924) also registered notable increase. In the first quarter of 2010, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 4.6% year-on-year to 1,433,956. In March 2010, the number of Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours increased by 8.8% year-on-year to 18,494, with Mainland China (77.4% of total), Japan (6.7%) and Hong Kong (4.4%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first quarter of 2010, Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 51,534, up by 8.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies increased by 9.0% year-on-year to 34,791; the main destinations were Hong Kong (31.5% of total), Mainland China (29.1%) and Taiwan, China (18.9%). Outbound residents travelling under such arrangements rose by 12.9% year-on-year to 100,737 in the first quarter of 2010. At the end of March 2010, total number of available guest rooms of the hotel sector increased by 1,831 (+10.4%) year-on-year to 19,408 rooms. A total of 641,987 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses in March 2010, up by 7.6% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (52.0% of total) and Hong Kong (20.4%). The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses increased by 4.9 percentage points year-on-year to 77.5% and that of hotels reached 78.2%, with 4-star hotels leading at 84.6%. The average length of stay of guests increased by 0.1 night to 1.5 nights. The cumulative number of guests reached 1,885,263 in the first quarter of 2010, up by 15.2% over the same period of 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, visitor-guests of hotels and guest-houses accounted for 60.7% of the total number of tourists, down from 61.9% in the same period of 2009.
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Macau Government Tourist Office Deputy Director Manuel Pires and Head of Research and Planning Department Cheng Wai Tong participated in the 22nd Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UNWTO Commission for South Asia held in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hundreds of participants from over 20 countries/regions in Asia and the Pacific took part in the 22nd Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UNWTO Commission for South Asia jointly organized by UNWTO and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, held May 10 to 12. Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Hoang Tuan Anh and Secretary-General of UNWTO Taleb Rifai delivered welcome speeches at the opening ceremony. Taleb Rifai introduced the recent situation of world tourism, the work and financial status of UNWTO and emphasized the activities held in the Asia Pacific region as well as the restructure of the UNWTO secretariat. He hoped that with the restructure of the secretariat, the connection among member countries and regions would be strengthened while allowing for more prompt and flexible responses to changes in the tourism industry. Besides the general commission discussions, the joint meeting this year added a roundtable discussion and tourism conference. The roundtable discussion offered a platform for participants to share their views on the tourism performance of the Asia-Pacific region in 2009 and prospects for 2010, with a focus on the recovery of countries’ national economies and tourism industries as well as contemporary issues of interest about international tourism in general. Manuel Pires presented the tourism performance of Macau SAR in 2009 and prospects for 2010 at the roundtable discussion, highlighting the "Plan to Support Macau Tourism Industry", a series of measures launched by the Macau SAR Government to stimulate leisure tourism, business tourism and the aviation industry as a way to maintain Macau’s momentum and competitive edge as an international destination. Themed as “Tourism as a Key Driver for Socio-economic Development in Asia and the Pacific”, the tourism conference comprised two sessions namely “Tourism as an Economic Powerhouse and its Contribution to the Local Economy” and “The Positive Social Contribution of Responsible Tourism”. The meeting also arranged a technical tour to the World Heritage, Ha Long Bay for the participants.
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The Institute For Tourism Studies, Macao will host the “Macau Slow Food 2010 – Food Heritage of the Macanese” on 14 May. The event is organized by the Tourism Event Management and Heritage Management Year 2 Students and supported by the IFT Student Union. The objective of the event is to promote the philosophy of Slow Food culture, as well as the food heritage in Macao. Date: 14 May, Friday
Time: 1130
Venue: Amphitheatre, Team Building, IFT More information about the event can be found on the attached leaflet. Institute For Tourism Studies
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