News

The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, arrived in Beijing today for the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress, which opens on Friday. Speaking to the press before his noon departure, Mr Chui said he would be meeting with the Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Committee, Mr Wang Yang, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. They would discuss implementation of the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020) and the general development planning of Hengqin Island, as well as ways to further enhance co-operation. Mr Chui also re-iterated his gratitude to Guangdong Province over its support in Macao’s drive to diversify its economic spectrum. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, is Acting Chief Executive during Mr Chui’s absence.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) events held in various venues in Macao totalled 445 in the fourth quarter of 2009, up by 44% quarter-to-quarter, with 422 meetings & conferences (95% of total) and 23 exhibitions. Total number of participants and attendees rose by 7% from the third quarter to 232,353. The average duration of the MICE events increased from 2.0 days in the previous quarter to 2.1 days, with an average of 2.1 days for meetings & conferences and 2.6 days for exhibitions. As regards subject of MICE events, the majority focused on Commerce, Trade & Management (158), Tourism & Culture (62) and Education & Training (60). Analyzed by type, most of the events were Corporate Meetings (184) and Association Meetings (123). There were 283 MICE events held in hotels, drawing a total of 146,529 participants and attendees. Attendees to the 15 exhibitions reached 124,421 and the majority were attendees to the Macao International Trade and Investment Fair, accounting for 48% of the total. Meanwhile, 162 MICE events were held in convention & exhibition centres and other conference venues, bringing in 85,824 participants and attendees, of which 8 exhibitions attracted 67,360 attendees. For the whole year of 2009, a total of 1,485 MICE events were held in Macao, with an average duration of 2.0 days, attracting 660,881 participants and attendees. In respect to the subject and attendees of MICE events, those related to Commerce, Trade & Management accounted for 33% and 58% of the total; besides, exhibition event had the longest average duration, at 3.4 days.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is to visit Beijing from Wednesday to Sunday to attend the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress. Announcing this at a press conference today, the Government Spokesperson, Mr Tam Chon Weng, said the Chief Executive would also meet with the Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Committee, Mr Wang Yang, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, respectively to discuss ways to enhance co-operation. Mr Chui would also meet the heads of several ministries and commissions to enhance exchanges and co-operation. Mr Tam told reporters that Mr Chui would deliver his first Policy Address to the Legislative Assembly on 16 March, followed by a Questions and Answers session the next day. To gather public opinion for the upcoming address, the Chief Executive had frequently met representatives from all walks of lives and visited community groups. Mr Tam said the Chief Executive would continue to listen to public opinion to enhance governance and transparency.
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The Government would soon launch a general study on population and immigration policies, the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, disclosed today. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event today, Mr Chui said the Government had gathered opinions on the investment residency policy from various sectors of the community and reviewed the history of the policy, a scheme which was suspended in April 2007. Mr Chui said the Government would gather more opinions on the scheme and that it had not decided whether to abolish it at this stage. The Government would comprehensively review the overall population and immigration policy in order to attract the appropriate talents and investments that would benefit Macao. Mr Chui said the Government was fully concerned about the people’s livelihood and would help solve the housing issue.
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The Macau Government Tourist Office has expanded its presence at this year’s AIME trade show in Melbourne, as it intensifies its drive to secure Australian meetings, conventions and incentive business generated by the nation’s recovering economy. The tourist office has purchased 120 square metres of exhibition space at AIME – a 33 per cent increase over the 90 square metres last year – to accommodate a record 12 Macau trade participating in this year’s event. “The Australian economy is recovering, and the MICE market in particular is showing very encouraging signs of regrowth in 2010,” said Helen Wong, General Manager Australia for the Macau Government Tourist Office. “Our message to Australian meeting planners is simple and to the point: “Macau welcomes you, and we have everything you will need for a most unforgettable Macau event,” added Ms Wong. “Choose from our range of modern international brand hotels and integrated convention facilities to a vast range of pre and post touring options, which showcase not only the rich trading and religious history of Macau but also its modern attractions including some of the finest resorts, spas and entertainment facilities in the world.”
Ms Wong said Macau is investing significantly in international marketing to attract the MICE market, but said there is particular interest in Australia, where the economy has fared better than many other countries following the challenges of 2009. “The Australian economy has weathered the economic storm well, with the business community and consumers in general both demonstrating a level of confidence that is not as evident in other markets,” said Ms Wong. “Australians are also continuing to travel because of the combined benefits of a strong Australian dollar and the most competitive air fares and travel offers in many years,” she said. “Macau has much to offer the MICE market, the business community and leisure travellers, and we’re here in force at AIME to sell our message and our destination to conference organisers, travel wholesalers and business and leisure travellers.” Macau is easily accessible from Hong Kong international airport, where the high speed Sea Express departs frequently from the sky Pier for the 45 minute journey to Macau – a faster journey than the rail trip from the airport to downtown Hong Kong. Three major airlines – Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic all operate daily services from Australia to Hong Kong while Viva Macau is increasing its nonstop flights from Melbourne. The Macau stand at AIME is no. 2807. For more information about Macau at AIME, or about the destination generally, visit www.macautourism.gov.mo or contact the Macau Government Tourist Office in Australia on (02) 9264 1488 or email: macau@worldtradetravel.com
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the population of Macao was estimated at 542,200 as at 31 December 2009, down by 7,000 or 1.3% year-on-year, which was attributable to a substantial decrease of non-resident workers. As regards gender structure of the population, 51.8% were female and 48.2% were male. In terms of age structure, the youth population (aged 0-14) accounted for 12.7%, the adult population (aged 15-64) and the elderly population (aged 65 and over) shared 79.5% and 7.7% respectively. In comparison with 2008, the proportion of the youth and adult population decreased by 0.1 and 0.5 percentage point respectively, while that of the elderly population increased by 0.5 percentage point. In the fourth quarter of 2009, there were 1,384 live births and 431 mortality cases. For the whole year of 2009, total number of live births went up by 1.0% year-on-year to 4,764; meanwhile, gender ratio at birth was 108.9, corresponding to 108.9 male babies per 100 female babies. Number of mortality cases totalled 1,664 in 2009, down by 5.2% year-on-year, with the top three underlying causes of death being Neoplasms, Diseases of the Circulatory System and Diseases of the Respiratory System. The Health Bureau received 2,327 cases of Notifiable Diseases in the fourth quarter of 2009, consisting mainly of Hand, foot and mouth diseases (601 cases), Influenza (593 cases) and Influenza A/H1N1 (Swine flu) (569 cases). In addition, 841 cases of marriage registration were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009, with the annual total rising by 9.3% year-on-year to 3,035 cases; besides, median age of first marriage was 26.0 for female and 28.1 for male. In the fourth quarter of 2009, there were 780 Chinese immigrants moving to Macao with One-way Exit Permit, bringing the annual total to 3,121, with 67.3% coming from the Guangdong Province. Meanwhile, 292 illegal immigrants were repatriated in the fourth quarter and the total number for 2009 increased by 7.0% year-on-year to 1,524. Number of non-resident workers stood at 74,905 at the end of 2009, down significantly by 17,256 year-on-year; moreover, a total of 9,489 individuals were authorized to reside in Macao in 2009, up by 1,572 year-on-year. In 2009, total number of non-institutionalized households rose slightly by 0.3% year-on-year to 178,000 households.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that under the influence of the Autumn and Winter seasons, imports of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the fourth quarter of 2009 increased substantially by 41.0% from the previous quarter to 11,240 tonnes and the average price also rose by 6.9%; consumption of LPG totalled 10,716 tonnes, up by 28.3%. For the whole year of 2009, imports (39,542 tonnes) and consumption (39,740 tonnes) of LPG went down by 1.2% and 1.0% respectively year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of 2009, imports of Electricity decreased by 19.6% over the previous quarter to 681 million kWh, accounting for 80.2% of the available supply; meanwhile, local generation of electricity dropped significantly by 46.8% quarter-to-quarter to 180 million kWh and consumption of electricity decreased by 25.2% to 820 million kWh. In 2009, generation of electricity (1,466 million kWh) increased by 21.1%, whereas imports of electricity (2,227 million kWh) went down by 3.6%. For the whole year of 2009, consumption of electricity (3,463 million kWh) increased by 4.6% year-on-year, of which consumption by the gaming sector surged by 78.2% to 1,046 million kWh, while that by the construction sector and industrial production dropped markedly by 67.2% and 20.2% respectively. Gasoline imports in the fourth quarter of 2009 dropped by 6.5% over the preceding quarter to 17.64 million litres, while the average price of imports rose by 7.1%; consumption of Gasoline totalled 17.09 million litres, down by 8.4%. In 2009, imports (68.24 million litres) and consumption (68.93 million litres) of Gasoline increased by 8.9% and 8.5% respectively year-on-year. On account of higher prices of imports, the average selling price of Bottled LPG and Centralized LPG went up by 7.7% and 7.0% respectively in the fourth quarter of 2009, and that of Unleaded Gasoline also rose slightly by 0.5%. In 2009, the average price of all types of fuels fell back along with the lower oil prices, with that of Bottled LPG and Unleaded Gasoline falling by 20.7% and 19.8% respectively year-on-year. At the end of the fourth quarter, stock of LPG totalled 2,769 tonnes, up by 25.0% quarter-to-quarter; stock of Gasoline increased by 3.5% to 2.77 million litres.
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To celebrate the 126th Anniversary of Macao Post, Macao Post announces that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at our Philately Shop located at Macao Post Headquarters and the Communications Museum on 1st March 2010 to provide the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “126th Anniversary of Macao Post”.
Opening hours are as follows: Philately Shop of Macao Post Headquarters: 9:00a.m. to 17:30p.m. Philately Shop of
Communications Museum: 9:30a.m. to 17:30p.m. A commemorative envelope will be distributed to public, and various philatelic products will also be available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps!
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To cope with the Closing Ceremony of the Philatelic Exhibition of China’s Diplomacy on the Celebration of Macao’s Return to the Motherland, Macao Post announces that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at The Grand Hall of IACM at 13:00 to 18:00 on 28th February 2010 providing the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “Closing Ceremony of the Philatelic Exhibition of China’s Diplomacy on the Celebration of Macao’s Return to the Motherland”. A commemorative envelope priced at MOP2.50 will be issued, together with the various philatelic products available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps!
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To celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Communications Museum, Macao Post announces that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at our Philately Shops located at Macao Post Headquarters and Communications Museum on 1st March 2010 to provide the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “4th Anniversary of Communications Museum”. Opening hours are as follows: Philately Shop of Macao Post Headquarters: 9:00a.m. to 17:30p.m. Philately Shop of Communications Museum: 9:30a.m. to 17:30p.m. Various philatelic products are available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps!
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