News

T
o celebrate the Legislative Assembly Building Open Day, Macao Post announced that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at our Philatelic Shop located at the Square of Legislative Assembly Building at 10H00 to 18H00 on 21st July 2007 providing the commemorative cancellation service for the “Legislative Assembly Building Open Day”. A commemorative envelope with stamp priced at MOP3.00 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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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI for June 2007 rose by 1.02% over May to 114.37. The increment was mainly attributable to the increases in the price indices of Food & non-alcoholic beverages; Clothing & footwear and Housing & fuels. Compared with May 2007, the indices of Clothing & footwear; Food & non-alcoholic beverages; Recreation & culture; and Transport recorded notable increases of 2.89%, 2.35%, 0.66% and 0.62% respectively, on account of rising prices of men’s and women’s clothing, dearer prices of fresh vegetables after heavy rain, rising prices of fresh pork and frozen poultry, as well as higher charges for outbound package tours and air tickets near the Summer holiday period. On the other hand, the index of Communication was the only section that recorded a slight decrease of 0.03% as a result of lower prices of mobile phones. The Composite CPI for June 2007 registered a year-on-year increase of 5.30%. The average Composite CPI for the first half year went up by 4.73% compared with the same period of 2006. For the 12 months ended June 2007, the average Composite CPI rose by 4.63% over the previous period. For the second quarter of 2007, the Composite CPI rose by 4.89% over the same quarter of 2006, with notable increases in the indices of Housing & fuels (+8.29%), Food & non-alcoholic beverages (+6.25%) and Education (+6.07%). In addition, the CPI-A and CPI-B for June 2007 were 116.04 and 113.93, up by 1.20% and 0.94% respectively compared with May. The Composite CPI reflects the impacts of price changes on the general population. The CPI-A relates to about 49% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 3,000 to MOP 9,999. The CPI-B relates to about 31% of households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP 10,000 to MOP 19,999.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of visitor arrivals totalled 1,921,384 in June 2007, representing a year-on-year increase of 20.3%. Visitors from Hong Kong; Mainland China; and Taiwan, China rose by 27.4%, 13.5% and 4.1% respectively. Meanwhile, same-day visitors accounted for 52.8% of the total arrivals, at 1,013,661. The majority of the visitors came from Mainland China (51.8% of the total), Hong Kong (32.2%) and Taiwan, China (6.3%). Among the Mainland visitors, 41.4% travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, at 411,781. In the first half of 2007, visitor arrivals reached 12,640,004, up by 21.3% over the same period of last year. Arrivals from Mainland China rose by 18.5% to 6,905,636, while those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China went up by 23.9% and 3.1% respectively. Furthermore, same-day visitors made up 52.5% of the total arrivals, at 6,641,016. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea increased by 13.9% to 4,207,678 over the first half of 2006. Among them, 3,948,540 arrived at the Outer Harbour, with 62.1% from Hong Kong and 23.7% from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals at the Inner Harbour totalled 259,138 and 55.1% were from Mainland China. At the same time, visitor arrivals by land grew by 25.8% to 7,726,568, with 7,656,521 entering through the Border Gate; visitors from Mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 73.5% and 19.1% respectively. Meanwhile, there were 67,881 visitors arriving through the Checkpoint of CoTai. In addition, arrivals by air totalled 705,758, an increase of 19.8% over the first half of 2006. Among the 699,205 arrivals at the Macao International Airport, visitors from Taiwan, China (45.5%), South East Asia (22.3%) and Mainland China (21.8%) were the major users.
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Construction of the first phase of the Macao Light Rail Transit (LRT) System would create more than 3,000 jobs, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today. Mr Lau was speaking to the press after hosting a briefing session to introduce the proposed system, which was in a public consultation process, to members of the Macao Chamber of Commerce. Mr Lau said the Government estimated that construction of the proposed first phase of the system, estimated to cost 4.2 billion patacas, could take four years and create more than 3,000 jobs. Meanwhile, he reiterated that the scope of the first phase would cover communities of about 200,000 people, serving more people than other routes.
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To cope with practical needs arising from commercial activities between Macao and Hong Kong, the financial regulators of Macao and Hong Kong have worked closely to facilitate cross border funding which culminates in the launching of “Cross Border Settlement of Hong Kong Dollar Cheques between Macao and Hong Kong” on 6 August. The mechanism will provide swift, convenient and secure services to clients of banks operating in Macao in collecting their funds arising from Hong Kong Dollar cheques. The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) has invited Bank of China Macao Branch (BOCM) to provide clearing services to banks who join the scheme. It will be the clearing bank for Macao in the arrangement. BOCM has started the preparatory work and has engaged express delivery agents to ensure that the cheques in question shall reach Hong Kong on time for clearing. On 18 July, AMCM, Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Ltd, BOCM and Bank of China (HK) held the co-operation agreement signing ceremony in the office of AMCM. Teng Lin Seng, chairman of AMCM, Vitus Tai, General Manager of Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Ltd, Ye Yixin, General Manager of BOCM and Lin Guangming, General Manager (Enterprise and Institution Banking) of Bank of China (HK) executed the co-operation agreement. The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the above mentioned institutions.
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The consultation paper on the second phase of the Macao Light Rail Transit (LRT) System would be released in mid-2008, immediately after construction on the first phase on the project has started. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, revealed today when he spoke to the press after a meeting. Mr Lau said after preliminary analyses, the Government has concluded that the second phase is necessary for the territory. Last Friday, the Government kicked off a 45-day public consultation on the first phase of the railway system. In response to suggestion that construction of both phases could be carried out at the same time, Mr Lau said that this would bring unbearable pressure to Macao’s traffic, as the two phases would account for about 10% of Macao’s total roadways, and most of them were the territory’s main arteries with heavy traffic. Moreover, the road network around the new Border Gate Checkpoint building, which would possibly be a station for both phases, was heavy with traffic. Taking the forthcoming expansion projects of the new Border Gate Checkpoint building and the Border Gate Square into account, constructing the two phases simultaneously would be a big pressure on Macao’s transport network. On suggestions that the second phase should be built first rather than the first phase, Mr Lau explained that the first phase would cater for some densely populated communities in north-eastern Macao, so the Government opted to build this first. Mr Lau reaffirmed that the Government would continue to listen to public opinion regarding the LRT System.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) organized a delegation comprised of representatives from local banks and insurance companies which paid a friendly visit to Mozambique, Angola and Portugal from 1 July to 15 July. The visit accomplished fully the intended purposes, enhanced mutual understanding, friendship and co-operation. To further promote the function of the MSAR as a service platform for the liaison between China and Portuguese speaking countries, and to enhance communication and co-operation in the financial domain, AMCM invited decision makers from some local banks and insurance companies to form the 19 member Macao financial visiting delegation. The Chairman of its Board of Directors, Mr. Anselmo Teng was the team leader, while its Executive Director, Mr. António Pontes was the deputy, Mr. Zhou Zhihui, Director of Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government was the advisor. The delegation paid a visit to Maputo and Luanda, capital of Mozambique and Angola and then to Lisbon in Portugal from 1 July to 15 July. This was the first time that an independent delegation from the financial sector of Macao paid a business visit to these two African countries. During the stay in Africa, the delegation met with the central banks and insurance regulators of Mozambique and Angola and exchanged with local financial authorities knowledge of the latest economic and financial market development and perspectives. An initial agreement was concluded with the two central banks to strengthen co-operation in the domains of exchange of information, business development, technology support and staff training. In Mozambique, the delegation visited a number of banks funded by Portuguese capital and shared with the practitioners the experience in developing local market and explored channel and mode of future co-operation. In Angola, the delegation benefited from the introduction from many Portuguese financial institutions operating locally regarding their business development. An in-depth and serious discussion on banking business development experience, challenge and related opportunity was conducted. In Angola, AMCM executed an agreement of co-operation with the Institute of Insurance Supervision of Angola which was officiated by the Minister of Finance, Mr. José Pedro de Morais, who expressed his satisfaction with the co-operation between the regulatory authorities of the two territories and hoped that the two institutions will further promote related communication within the framework of the co-operation agreement. After the 10-day visit to Africa, the delegation arrived at Lisbon, Portugal. The delegation visited the Bank of Portugal and Institute of Insurance Supervision of Portugal. Both sides exchanged views on the development and perspectives of international financial market and financial supervision. The discussion took one step further as to how to strengthen communication and co-operation between Macao and Portugal and among Portuguese speaking countries. At the same time, the delegation conducted business communications with major local financial enterprises, particularly on retail banking, professional financial services, business development. All parties benefited from these discussions. During the stay, the delegation paid a visit to Chinese Embassy in Mozambique, Angola and Portugal and Macao-China Economic and Trade Representative Office in Portugal. The delegation received warm welcome from the diplomats who gave the delegation a detailed introduction to local political, cultural, economic and financial scenario. The delegation concluded, after the 14-day visit, that the visit made by practitioners from our financial sector to Africa and Portugal personally to observe the actual market situation in these territories and listen to the highly informative briefings of the governments and practitioners relating to the contemporary status of their financial markets and perspectives would enable our delegates to secure an in-depth and overall picture of the situation. At the same time, through the culturing of personal relationships with local practitioners and channel of communication, we believe that the visit has positively motivated local financial institutions to advance one step further to analyse and explore co-operation and development in partnership with African Portuguese speaking countries. Further, AMCM considers that, through the endeavour of the MSAR financial regulator and practitioners, the role of MSAR as a service platform for economic, trading and financial co-operation between China and Portuguese speaking countries will further be fortified which will enable Macao to play its part as a service medium more effectively. From what we have learned from the financial institutions of Mozambique and Angola, more and more enterprises funded by capitals form China and Macao are inaugurating their business in these countries. The scale, in terms of both number and size, is on the rise which has brought tremendous business opportunity for our financial institutions. AMCM hopes that our financial institutions can review the experience arising from the visit in order to maintain and strengthen links with relevant organizations with a view to building up, in a timely and practicable manner, business connections at appropriate levels, and make full use of the competitive edge of the financial industry of MSAR. In this way, the institutions can expand their business scope and simultaneously offer a full display of their function to construct Macao as a service platform. Finally, AMCM would like to express its gratitude to local and host financial institutions and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government for their auspices in arranging this African Portuguese speaking countries visit. A vote of thanks should be given to all delegates who have exhibited a high degree of accommodation and initiative in participating in various activities. It can be envisaged that this highly innovative expedition has laid down a solid foundation for building a more close-knit and sustainable link with Portuguese speaking countries.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the second quarter of 2007 was 129.59, up by 2.29% over the previous quarter. Attributable to price increase of food and beverages in restaurants, the index of Restaurant service rose significantly by 9.67% compared with the first quarter. The indices of Clothing & footwear and Miscellaneous goods went up by 5.72% and 2.70% respectively, on account of dearer prices of the new arrival of Summer clothing and footwear, as well as higher jewellery prices that was pushed up by rising gold prices. On the other hand, the index of Accommodation went down by 2.87% due to lower charges of hotel guest room after the Chinese New Year. Compared with the second quarter of 2006, TPI rose by 7.95% in this quarter, with notable increase in the indices of Restaurant service (+15.89%), Miscellaneous goods (+9.85%) and Clothing & footwear (6.91%). The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended in the 2nd quarter of 2007 increased by 9.09% over the previous period. In the first half of 2007, TPI increased by 8.91% over the same period of 2006. TPI is an indicator that reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, alcoholic drinks & tobacco; Clothing & footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant service; Transport & communications; Medicine & personal goods; Entertainment & culture; and Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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The Macao SAR Government today announced the optimized plan for the new brand collective transportation – the Macao Light Rail Transit System (LRT) – which could be running by the end of 2011. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, introduced the plan to the media at a press conference this afternoon, soon after he and his team presented the proposal to the Legislative Assembly in the morning. According to a statement from the Infrastructure Development Office, the government would embark on the project after a public consultation period of 45 days starting today. Work on the first phase of Macao LRT system is expected to start in the middle of next year. With 20km of tracks and at a cost of MOP4.2 billion, the suggested route would cover the main boundary checkpoints and then on to Taipa, with 23 stations and operating 19 hours a day. Compared with other systems, the advantages for LRT system includes simpler construction, a shorter period of construction, lower costs for construction and operation and less disruption to traffic and public life. The LRT system is to meet the increasingly demand for public transportation due to Macao’s rapid development, in addition to promoting the sustainable development of Macao, advancing the visitors carrying capacity, and facilitating the integration of the Pearl River Delta. The LRT system, which will be the backbone of the entire transportation network, might facilitate personal transportation as auxiliary tools, to increase the total passenger carrying capacity. The Government will continue to study the possibility of developing a new route in the inner part of the Macao peninsular and Taipa in its second phase. The Government first proposed the study plan for a light rail system in 2003. The plan was amended three times following public consultation.
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After 3 months of interior renovation, the Cheoc Van Youth Hostel of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau will be reopened to the public and be at service on 16th July. There are two 10-bed dormitories and two 2-bed rooms. The Cheoc Van Youth Hostel can provide 24 beds. In addition, the Hác Sá Youth Hostel of DSEJ is located near the beautiful scenery of Hac Sá Beach. It can provide 100 beds, with three 16-bed dormitories, ten 4-bed rooms and six 2-bed rooms. There are private shower and lavatory in each room. The foregoing youth hostels also provide free service of internet access, facilities of shared kitchen and barbecue stoves, etc., providing a comfortable and good environment for users. For detail information of the youth hostels of DSEJ, please surf the website of the bureau: www.dsej.gov.mo. For enquiry, please call Miss Sou Sut Fai of DSEJ, telephone: 3972638.
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