News

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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To celebrate the Year of Tiger, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosted a spring luncheon today (26 Feb) to thank the Hong Kong’s travel trade, business partners and media for their support in the development of Macau tourism over the years. The luncheon was held at Conrad Hong Kong Hotel. Over 200 representatives from the local travel trade, tourism partners and media participated in this luncheon, including Mr. Philip Yung, Commissioner for Tourism of Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Mr. Lin Shan, Director of Asia Tourism Exchange Centre, Mr. Anthony Lau, Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Mr. Ngai Wing Chit and Mr. Michael Wu, Chairman of Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. In his welcome remarks, Director of MGTO, Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes expressed his New Year blessings and gratitude for the efforts of the tourism partners in Hong Kong for bring millions of visitors to Macau every year. Hong Kong continued to be the second largest source market of Macau, generating over 6.7 million visitor arrivals to Macau in 2009. Entering the new era of administration, MGTO will continue to promote Macau as a “world of difference” destination where tourists could experience diversified tourism elements, in particular, the lately developed world-class tourism and entertainment facilities and the Historic Centre of Macau. The government will strive to promote regional tourism of the Pearl River Delta, to develop potential source markets, and further to build up the local MICE industry. The MGTO Hong Kong Representative Office (MGTO-HK) would initiate an array of marketing activities, including the product presentations, luncheons, thematic familiarization tours, seminars, roadshows, trade visits, etc…, in accordance to MGTO’s promotional theme of “Experience Macau” with the five senses “See”, “Hear”, “Touch”, “Taste” and “Feel”. The brand new consumer campaign “Experience Macau In Style” would be introduced to position Macau as an exciting and stylish destination with world-class standard offerings. As for the business tourism and MICE industry, MGTO-HK will continue to enhance cooperative networking among the Macau trade vendors, event organizers and potential clients in Hong Kong. MGTO-HK will also publish MICE guides, participating in major trade shows, provide supports to MICE companies, in order to strengthen Macau as a unique MICE destination.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total merchandise import for January 2010 registered an increase for the third consecutive month, up by 22.4% year-on-year to MOP3.52 billion. However, value of merchandise export decreased further by 19.0% year-on-year to MOP620 million, with the value of domestic exports falling by 51.4% to MOP213 million, but that of re-exports rising by 24.3% to MOP407 million. The trade deficit for January 2010 widened by 37.4% year-on-year to MOP2.90 billion. Analyzed by destination of exports, value of merchandise export to Hong Kong increased by 28.4% year-on-year to MOP270 million in January 2010, while that to the USA (MOP83 million) and the EU (MOP43 million) decreased by 65.9% and 54.1% respectively. Exports of Textile & garment amounted to MOP151 million, down substantially by 61.2% year-on-year to account for 24.3% of the total merchandise export; however, value of Non-textile exports (MOP469 million) grew by 24.6%, with that of Jewellery and Articles for casino rising notably by 140.0% and 195.4% respectively. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, value of merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP1.02 billion) and the EU (MOP799 million) expanded by 20.7% and 13.1% respectively year-on-year in January 2010. In terms of Broad Economic Categories, the value of imports of Consumer goods rose by 45.8% year-on-year, with that of Motor cars & motorcycles growing significantly by 87.8%; nevertheless, the value of imports of Capital goods and Raw materials & semi-manufactures fell by 13.2% and 0.5% respectively. Total value of merchandise import and export amounted to MOP4.14 billion in January 2010, up by 13.7% year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that employment situation showed continuous improvement. The unemployment rate for November 2009 - January 2010 was 3.0%, down by 0.1 percentage point from October-December 2009; the underemployment rate was 1.7%, down by 0.2 percentage point. Total labour force was 321,400 in November 2009 - January 2010 and the labour force participation rate stood at 70.8%, with the employed population decreasing slightly by 500 over the previous period to 311,900. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Manufacturing Sector and Restaurants & Similar Activities increased from the previous period, while that of Wholesale & Retail Trade registered a decrease. In November 2009 - January 2010, number of the unemployed decreased by about 400 from the previous period to 9,500, with 10.0% (960) being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 0.7 percentage point. In comparison with November 2008 - January 2009, the labour force participation rate dropped by 2.1 percentage points; meanwhile, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate fell by 0.4 and 0.1 percentage point respectively.
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Under the requirement of the Administrative Regulation No. 3/2005 on Investors, Managerial Personnel, Technical and Professional Qualification Holders Residency Scheme, a total of 784 new applications for investment residency were received by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) in 2009. Among which were 753 cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders and 31 cases for major investment and major investment plan. In 2009, 3,173 applications for investment residency were approved, including 2,607 cases for fixed assets purchase, 549 cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders and 17 cases for major investment and major investment plan. Breakdown of investment residency applications and approved cases in 2009 are as follows: Statistics of Investment Residency Applications and the Cases and Number of People Approved in 2009
(* Please find the attached file.)
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