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Four projects have been selected for the Cultural Affairs Bureau Academic Research Grants supported by the Macao Special Administrative Region aimed at fostering academic research on Macao-related fields.
With more specific criteria, greater openness and enhanced conditions, the Cultural Affairs Bureau Academic Research Grant is aimed at supporting academic research projects in the Humanities that make a significant original contribution to the understanding of Macao, and of Macao's relationship with China and other countries.
The regulations provide a flexible scheme for application and for the payment of grants. Applications may be submitted at any time throughout the year. The Evaluation Panel meets twice annually and applicants will be informed of the Panel's decision in March or August, depending when the application is received. The year-round application scheme allows a convenient and prompt application procedure.
This semester, the following projects were chosen out of twelve applications received between December 1, 2006 and May 31, 2007:
Qi Yin Ping will focus on “New Research on St. Joseph’s Seminary in Macao”. Qi obtained a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Zhejiang University in 1999 and is currently a professor in the university’s Philosophy Department.
Lúcio Manuel Rocha de Sousa will analyse “Macao: Trading Law in the 16th and 17th Century (1557-1614)”. Rocha de Sousa received a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Porto in 2007.
Zhang Ting Mao will prepare “A Study on Macao and Shanghai Trade during the Late Qing Dynasty”. Zhang obtained his Ph.D. in History from Jinan University in 1997 and is now an assistant professor in the Department of History at the university.
Tan Shu Lin will be investigating “The East India Company and Macao”. Tan received a Ph.D. in History from Zhejiang University in 1999 and is currently a professor at the History Department of Nanjing University.
Each grantee must submit, within the research period, a monograph of 120,000 words minimum and the Cultural Affairs Bureau reserves the exclusive right to publish all or part of the grantee's original monograph, for example, in the Bureau’s publication Review of Culture. For more information on the Cultural Affairs Bureau Academic Research Grants, please visit the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s website: www.icm.gov.mo.
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Macao would continue to proactively bolster its co-operation with Fujian by capitalising on Macao's edges in tourism, the conference business and its historic links with the European Union and Portuguese-speaking countries. This assurance was given by the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, when he addressed several hundred delegates at the opening ceremony of the Second Forum on West Coast Economic Zone of Taiwan Strait, which opened in Xiamen today. By devoting much effort on its strategy to diversify its industrial portfolio, Macao's popularity as an integrated tourist destination continues to rise, said Mr Ho. He said new convention facilities and improved inputs would enable next month's 12th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF) to attain new heights. Mr Ho revealed that at the MIF, Macao would help organise a trade seminar aimed at boosting co-operation between enterprises of Macao, Fujian and the European Union. Moreover, Macao would help organise two trade seminars in Fujian in the near future, to enhance co-operation between the convention sectors of Macao and Fujian. Mr Ho said that Macao would continue to help Fujian businesspeople explore markets in the Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as encourage Macao residents who originated from Fujian Province to bolster bilateral trade and cultural exchanges. In the evening, Mr Ho attended a welcoming banquet for the 11th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), which is to open tomorrow.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is in Xiamen, Fujian, to attend the Second Forum on West Coast Economic Zone of the Taiwan Straits and the 11th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), on 7 and 8 September respectively. Soon after his arrival, Mr Ho, who was accompanied by the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office in Macao, Ms Gao Yan, met the Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Fujian Provincial Committee, Mr Lu Zhangong, the Governor of Fujian, Mr Huang Xiao Jing and other high-ranking provincial officials. During the meeting, Mr Ho said there was a close relationship between Macao and Fujian which had greatly supported Macao in implementing “One country, two systems” after the establishment of Macao Special Administrative Region. He said the Fujian Government had organised a huge delegation to participate in the 12th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair to be held next month, adding that he believed the co-operation between Macao and Fujian was enormous. Mr Lu thanked Mr Ho for attending the forums. He said Fujian hoped to strengthen its links with Portuguese-speaking countries by using Macao as the platform. Mr Ho is to deliver a speech tomorrow at the Second Forum on West Coast Economic Zone of the Taiwan Straits. A Macao delegation comprising almost 100 Macao entrepreneurs and businessmen are in Xiamen with the Chief Executive.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today the Government is planning to amend existing gaming regulations so that people who should be barred from entering casinos would not get the prize money even if they had won. He said the issue was under study and proposed amendments would be passed to the Executive Council soon for further discussion. Speaking to reporters before his departure for Fujian this evening, Mr Ho said existing laws forbade Macao civil servants and anyone under 18, including visitors, from entering casinos. Inspectors were closely monitoring to ensure these “unqualified” people were not allowed in the prohibited areas. But some might be able to sneak in, for example with another person’s identity card. The Chief Executive said in order to stop problem, the laws should be changed to state clearly that neither the offender nor the offender’s family members would get the prizes even if they had won. Responding to questions on the economic growth, he said according to the latest available figures, this year should see a slight rise over last year’s figures. Mr Ho said that from the Government’s point of view, economic growth should not overheat and that he would closely watch how the people are affected by inflation. A string of subsidiary measures would be launched as soon as next month to help the disadvantaged and low-income families cope with inflation, he said.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is scheduled to leave for Xiamen, Fujian tomorrow to attend the 11th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) and the Second Forum on West Coast Economic Zone of the Taiwan Straits (the Forum). Mr Ho is to attend the opening ceremony of the Forum themed "Work together for the developemt of the Straits" where he will deliver a speech on 7 September, and CIFIT, themed "Going Global", sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, on 8 September. The President of the Macao Trade and Promotion Institute, Mr Lee Peng Hong, and the advisor of the CE's office, Mr Fong Sio Weng, are to accompany the Chief Executive. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan will be Acting Chief Executive in Mr Ho's absence.
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The final proposal on the Macao Light Rail Transit (LRT) would be announced at the end of this month or in October, according to a statement from the Office of Infrastructure Development. The Office issued the statement today, the end of its 45-day public consultation on the first phase of the system. During this period, more than 100 papers with suggestions ranging from the routing, the location of stations and financial control have been received. The statement said the public was generally supportive of the proposal to build the railway and a detailed proposal would be formulated after analysing the opinions collected. The Office launched the consultation in the middle of July, during which 25 meetings were held with different sectors to further explain the advantages of the LRT system. Moreover, billboards had been put up in different areas to give the public a better understanding of the project, which is scheduled to begin operation in 2010.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the available supply of Electricity and Unleaded gasoline in the second quarter of 2007 rose markedly by 19.3% and 14.1% respectively year-on-year. Compared with the first quarter of 2007, the available supply of Electricity and Unleaded gasoline surged by 43.7% and 17.0% respectively whereas the supply of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) registered a decrease of 11.7%. Consumption of Electricity and Gas oil & diesel went up by 16.3% and 11.9% respectively year-on-year, whilst that of Fuel oil fell by 5.3%. Compared with the first quarter of 2007, consumption of Electricity and Gas oil & diesel registered increases of 42.8% and 29.9% respectively, whereas that of LPG decreased by 16.5%. With respect to the imports of fuels, the quantity of Unleaded gasoline and Aviation kerosene went up by 20.8% and 16.9% year-on-year. Compared with the first quarter of 2007, the quantity of Unleaded gasoline and Gas oil & diesel expanded by 34.7% and 14.9% respectively, while that of LPG dropped by 14.8%. At the end of the second quarter of 2007, the list price of bottled LPG (per kg) and centralized LPG (per m3) rose by 8.4% and 6.9% respectively from a year earlier. Likewise, the list price of all types of fuels rose in comparison with the previous quarter, among which the price of bottled LPG (per kg) and centralized LPG (per m3) registered increases of 6.7% and 6.3% respectively.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the expenditure-based GDP and the related information for the second quarter of 2007. The rates of change mentioned in this press release refer to the year-on-year change in real terms, unless otherwise specified. In the second quarter of 2007, the gaming and tourism sector continued to perform well. Gross gaming receipts (excluding gratuities) grew significantly by 48.9% in nominal terms compared with the same quarter of 2006. Total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) rose by 14.2% upon rises in the number of visitor arrivals and their per-capita spending. Investment soared by 44.4% on the back of several large-scale construction projects in progress. However, exports of goods fell by 5.9%. Estimated from all relevant data, GDP for the second quarter and the first half of 2007 recorded real growth of 31.9% and 28.9% respectively, while that for the first quarter was revised upward to 25.8%. In terms of major GDP components, private consumption expenditure in the second quarter of 2007 increased by 8.4%, lower than the 9.0% growth in the previous quarter. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market rose by 6.5%, while that abroad went up by 8.2%, with the expenditure in Mainland China amounted to MOP 576 million. Government final consumption expenditure increased by 10.0%, up from the 1.1% increase in the previous quarter, of which compensation of employees and net purchases of goods and services went up by 9.5% and 11.5% respectively. Gross fixed capital formation, a gauge of investment, showed a robust expansion of 44.4%, higher than the 41.5% growth in the previous quarter. In the private sector, total investment recorded an increase of 49.9% that was mainly attributable to a surge of 56.7% in investment in construction; besides, investment in equipment rose by 32.4%. On the other hand, total government investment dropped by 20.0%, in which investments in construction and equipment decreased by 19.5% and 26.4% respectively. Based on the data of the private and public sectors, total investment in construction expanded by 49.1% in the second quarter of 2007, quickening from the 44.6% growth in the previous quarter; total investment in equipment increased by 31.2%, lower than the 33.0% rise in the previous quarter. In terms of visible trade, the decline in total value of goods exports in the second quarter narrowed from 9.6% in the previous quarter to 6.2% in nominal terms, or from 8.5% to 5.9% in real terms. Among this, exports to the United States and the European Union went down by 17.3% and 23.1% respectively in nominal terms, whereas exports to Hong Kong, China and Mainland China rose by 20.0% and 14.6% respectively. Total value of goods imports increased upon greater demand, by 15.3% and 13.0% in nominal and real terms respectively, lower than the 19.2% and 17.6% growth in the previous quarter. As regards invisible trade (exports of services), exports of gaming services soared by 49.0%; total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) increased by 14.2% upon rises in the number of visitor arrivals and their per-capita spending. Based on the integrated data of the exports of services, total exports of invisible trade recorded an increase of 37.1%, higher than the 32.9% growth in the previous quarter. Moreover, imports of services grew by 25.5%, up from 22.1% increase in the previous quarter.
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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 2007 was 3.1%, up by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (April-June 2007), on account of the increasing number of job-seekers during the summer holiday period. The underemployment rate was up by 0.1 percentage point over the preceding period to 1.1%. The number of unemployed was 9,500 and about 1,600 were searching for their first job, corresponding to 16.6% of the total unemployed, up by 5.0 percentage points over the preceding period. The unemployment rate in May-July 2007 fell by 0.9 percentage point over the same period of 2006, while the underemployment rate remained unchanged from a year earlier. The unemployment situation was improved in the Construction and Manufacturing sectors, while the situation in other sectors remained stable. Total labour force was estimated at 310,700, with 301,200 were employed. Labour force participation rate was 69.5%, up by 0.8 percentage point compared with the previous period and by 3.4 percentage points year-on-year.
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A proposed law to regulate the import of labour and its administrative regulations have been passed to the Executive Council, a body which assists the Chief Executive in policymaking. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, disclosed this today when asked by the media about labour issues. "We have made suggestions on the management of imported labour and the legal liability a contractor and a subcontractor should bear," he said. He said the proposals would be introduced to employers and labour associations soon after the Executive Council -- the body that advises the Chief Executive on policy matters -- for discussion, and then to the Legislative Assembly for legislation.
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