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Macao and Singapore exchanged views in the prevention of avian flu and in enhancing co-operation in matters of health when the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, led a delegation of health officials to Singapore on Monday for a meeting with the city state's Minister for Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan. According to a statement released by the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture today, Mr Chui, on behalf of the Macao SAR Government, thanked Mr Khaw for Singapore's support on health personnel training, technical support and information exchange in public hygiene area. Mr Chui also briefed Mr Khaw on Macao's measures in preventing avian flu, which were put in place to collaborate with the World Health Organization’s effort to fight the possible pandemic. The Director of the Health Bureau, Mr Koi Kuok Ieng, and Deputy Director, Mr Lei Chin Ion, also attended the meeting. In October 2005, on behalf of their respective governments, Mr Chui and Mr Khaw signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Health between Singapore and Macao, which facilitated personnel training and pandemic information exchange between the two places. Mr Khaw had also led a delegation of health officials to Macao in January 2006, at the invitation of Mr Chui.
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Trade and tourism are priorities for partnerships between Macao and provinces in central China, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today at the opening of the Expo Central China 2007. He said that Macao's tourism sector had grown significantly in recent years. As more and more global enterprises invest in Macao, which prompted healthy competition and boosted investment, the image of Macao has been greatly promoted and strengthened. Mr Ho pointed out that the authorities and communities of Macao and provinces in central China had increased exchanges, and that Macao could co-operate with these provinces in planning tour routes and international tourism promotions. On the subject of trade, he said Macao's conference and exhibition business would welcome a major boost in the second half of this year, which would further facilitate Macao’s function as a business hub and platform. The exposition was also attended by the Vice Premier of the State Council, Ms Wu Yi; Minister of Commerce, Mr Bo Xilai, and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, Mr Donald Tsang. Mr Ho also visited the pavilion set up by the Macao Government and Macao's businesspeople, and attended a business forum, as well as a reception hosted by the Ms Wu.
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The Government is considering an increase in the number of grades in 'general service scheme' to provide more promotion opportunities for civil servants, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, said today. Ms Chan told the press that revisions of a number of rules and regulations governing civil servants were in progress and some of these would be proposed to the legislature this year, including the 'general service scheme', the 'general rules for bureau directors, department heads, division chiefs and supervisors', and the service schemes for public security forces, nurses and assistants working in health departments. Regarding the 'general service scheme', Ms Chan said since a considerable number of civil servants had reached the highest grade and rank of the scheme a few years ago, the Government is considering all kinds of initiatives, such as an increase in the number of grades, to provide them more promotion opportunities in their public service careers. She said that terms for promotion would be clarified in the revisions: academic background, experience and training history of civil servants would all be taken into account. Other purposes of the revision of the 'general service scheme' included integrating different kinds of contracts in the recruitment of civil servants and eliminating inequality between the promotion of staff with or without permanent tenure. She said that the principles for revising the 'general service scheme' would be adopted in the revision of various 'special service schemes', which was expected to begin after the completion of the former scheme. In the revision of 'general rules for bureau directors, department heads, division chiefs and supervisors', Ms Chan said that it would introduce measures to facilitate job rotation, enhance accountability and eliminate the phenomenon of department heads in acting status. Ms Chan also disclosed that an incentive programme, to be in line with the existing appraisal scheme, was expected to be introduced in the second quarter of this year.
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High-level officials from Macao and Henan Province would work further to enhance relationship between the two places. This was reaffirmed today as Macao's Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, met with the Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Party Committee and the Governor of Henan in the central China province. Mr Ho arrived in the city of Zhengzhou this morning, for Expo Central China 2007 which opens tomorrow. Soon after his arrival, Mr Ho met with the Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Party Committee, Mr Xu Guangchun. Mr Xu praised Macao's rapid development under Mr Ho's leadership in recent years and thanked him for his presence at the Expo Central China 2007. Mr Ho told Mr Xu at the meeting that many Macao business people were looking for opportunities in Henan through the exposition, which was doing better than some had expected. At a meeting with the Governor of Henan Province, Mr Li Chengyu, Mr Ho said that Henan had enormous potential and he believed that the trade forum to be held tomorrow would boost co-operation between the business circles of the two places. Moreover, Macao could act as a business platform for the Portuguese-speaking countries to enter markets of Henan and other central China provinces, making co-operation between Macao and Henan mutually beneficial, Mr Ho said. Mr Ho and his delegation also visited the Henan Provincial Museum, as well as the venue for the Expo Central China 2007 and the booths set up by the Macao Government and business people.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service showed that in the first quarter of 2007, price indices for most of the surveyed construction materials increased over the fourth quarter of 2006. Among them, the indices for steel, aluminium, sand, lime, aggregates, timber, red bricks, ceramic products, glass, pipes, sanitary articles and cement rose between 0.5% and 8.9%. Conversely, the price index for electric wires fell the most by 6.1%, ending the continuous upward trend in the past nine quarters; decreases were also registered in concrete and paint, down 1.0% and 0.5% respectively. Compared with the first quarter of 2006, price indices for all of the surveyed construction materials, except concrete, moved up. The index for electric wires rose the most by 54.1%, followed by aluminium and red bricks, up 14.6% and 13.9% respectively.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, has arrived in Henan for tomorrow’s opening of the Expo Central China 2007. With more than 60 Macao business leaders participating in the exposition, Mr Ho said he believed this opportunity would enhance exchanges with the province and bolster co-operation and trade between the two places, he told the press at the airport before his departure. He said the purposes for his visit were to encourage partnerships in trade and tourism sector with Henan and other provinces in central China, and promote Macao’s role as service platforms for neighbouring regions and between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, who is in Mr Ho’s delegation, said that other than partnerships with provinces in the pan-Pearl River delta, Macao also attached much attention to co-operation with provinces in central and western China. He envisaged bright prospects for further co-operation between Macao and other provinces, especially in tertiary sector, and said he welcomed further exchanges with corporations from the Mainland.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is to attend the second Expo Central China to be held in Zhengzhou, Henan this Wednesday. Mr Ho is to attend the opening ceremony of the exposition and the signing ceremony of Major Cooperation Projects on Pushing Industrial Shift on 26 April. He is scheduled to deliver a speech in the Central China Business Summit 2007. During his two-day visit, Mr Ho will meet with the Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Party Committee, and the Governor of Henan, Mr Li Chengyu respectively. Expo Central China 2007 is to be held from 26-28 April. It provides a platform for traders and investors from different countries to fully understand investment and trade policies of the central area, to obtain information on priority projects and commodities, and to start trade relationship and industrial development. Approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Taxation, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, State Administration for Radio and Television, State Tourist Bureau, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and China Federation of Industrial Economics, the Expo is co-sponsored by the six provincial governments of Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Henan. Members of the official delegation from Macao include the Secretary for Economic and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, the Chief of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Ho Veng On and the President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr Lee Peng Hong. Mr Ho is scheduled to leave on Wednesday and return to Macao on 26 April. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, will be Acting Chief Executive while Mr Ho is away.
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The Executive Council had just completed discussions on a bill aimed at overhauling labour laws that have been in effect for the past 18 years. The bill, to replace the existing Macao Labour Relations Law (Decree-Law No. 24/89/M), will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for further study. The bill is a result of lengthy discussions within the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action and taken into account the views of employers and labour association representatives. The bill contained proposals to better protect both employers and employees. For example, maternity leave would go up from 35 to 56 days; workers who quit their job must give more notice than the present seven days. The bill also clarified the rights and obligations for part-time workers, domestic workers and contracted workers, and stipulated compensations for overtime working, working on public and mandatory holidays, as well as allowances for midnight working and shift-taking. Meanwhile, the Executive Council had received a Bill on regulating the employment of imported labour and would start to review it soon, spokesman for the Council, Mr Tong Chi Kin, said at a press conference today. He said the Council had also completed discussing a By-Law that would transfer the Labour Affairs Bureau's function on dealing with imported labour applications to an office to be established to enhance efficiency.
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Results of the Education Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in the academic year 2005/2006, there were 135 schools or institutions providing regular education in Macao, comprising 12 institutions of higher education and 123 schools that offered pre-primary, primary and secondary (including vocational-technical secondary) education. Among those providing non-tertiary education, 104 were private schools, of which 83 had joined the universal basic education network. The survey also covered 12 schools of special education and 133 establishments of adult education; meanwhile, the survey coverage was extended, for the first time, to include information on 154 private tutorial centres. At the end of the academic year 2005/2006, there were 15,927 students attending higher education, up by 14.0% over the previous academic year, and 73.5% were local students. At the same time, students in non-tertiary education decreased by 3.2% to 91,398, of which the number of students in secondary education (45,995) dropped slightly by 0.2% after rising continuously in the past years, while those in pre-primary (10,216) and primary education (35,187) continued a decreasing tendency to go down by 8.2% and 5.5% respectively. On the other hand, number of teachers engaged in regular education increased by 1.9% to 6,073. The teacher/student ratio for the system of regular education was 1 to 17.7; the ratio for non-tertiary and higher education was 1 to 20.2 and 1 to 10.3 respectively. Compared with the academic year 2004/2005, number of students studying in special education dropped by 7.4% to 514, while students enrolled in adult education totalled 103,553, up by 15.7%. Information provided by 154 private tutorial centres indicated that 5,153 students were receiving auxiliary tutorial services at these centres, with 34.4% attending lower primary and 32.3% attending upper primary education.
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(Macao – 20 April 2007) The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, met the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Wu Bangguo, in Hainan Province this afternoon. During the meeting, Mr Wu attributed Macao’s steady economic growth, social stability and improved living conditions to every endeavour made by the SAR Government and all the people of Macao. Mr Ho expressed his gratitude to Mr Wu for Central Government’s support for Macao. The Chief Executive arrived in Hainan today for the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2007, where he attended a welcoming banquet hosted by the People’s Government of Hainan Province in the evening. Mr Ho and his delegation is scheduled to return to Macao tomorrow after attending the opening ceremony of the conference.
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