News

The "2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition” (2009MIECF) will be held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 2nd to 4th of April. The Chief Executive, Mr. Edmund Ho Hau Wah, will preside over the opening ceremony. The event gathers distinguished officials, experts and scholars in the field of environmental protection to discuss the latest green issues, while the exhibition will attract business executives from various countries and regions, including Mainland China, Europe and the United States, to get green business opportunities. Over 1000 participants from entities 2009MIECF is organised by the Macao SAR Government and co-organized by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and the Environment Council. The Opening Ceremony will be held at 10:00am on 2nd of April. During the ceremony, Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, the Secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission of the PRC, Mr. Han Yongwen, the Deputy Department Director of Department of International Cooperation of Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC, Mr. Yue Ruisheng (who represents Minister Zhou Shengxian), the Advisor to the Prime Minister and the former Minister of Environment of the Czech Republic, Peter J. Kalas will deliver keynote speeches. At the press conference, members of the organising committee of MIECF told of the preparatory works. With the strong support from the Central Government and “9+2” Provinces and Autonomous Regions in the Pan-Pearl River Delta, and participation of world-renowned experts, scholars and representatives of related industries, the event will draw some delegations, with more than 1000 representatives, from Macao, Mainland China, the European Union, America and other countries and regions. The representatives are from local and overseas governments and environmental departments, environmental protection organizations and leading representatives of the chambers of commerce. Flourish your business at MIECF The 2009MIECF will showcase the latest products and technologies in environmental protection field. To boost green business opportunities and financing, the MIECF has designated the 2nd of April as the Green Business Co-operation Day. During that day, the Green Co-operation Gateway: Environment - Business – Connection “Extending Green Industry Network” Symposium, green products and services presentations and business matching will be held. In the Energy Saving, Emission Reduction and Carbon Trading Symposium and Natural Disaster Management Symposium, which are scheduled on 3rd of April, participants across the world will study the methods of saving energy and cutting emissions amid the crisis of global warming and share their experience in the prevention of natural disasters. Free shuttle bus on Saturday's Public Day In addition, to increase the public awareness on green industry and issues related to global warming, 2009MIECF designates the 4th of April (Saturday) as a public open day. Visitors are welcome during the opening hours, from 9:00am to 6:00pm, addmission passes are available at Hall A of Exhibition Center of the Macao Venetian. Free shuttle buses will operate on three routes from 9:00am to 6:30pm. The first return trip of the shuttle bus is scheduled at 10:30am. The shuttle buses will operate at 30-minute intervals. The drop-off points of free shuttle buses are at Avenida Doutor Mario Soares (Macao Square), Avenida do Coronel Mesquita (Pak Wai Popular Pharmacy), Avenida de Kwong Tung, Taipa (next to Hung Fat Garden) and the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. MIECF staff will set up location signs at the above locations. Visitors will be given 4 hours of free parking by showing the passes in the car parks of Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. General public, companies and other interested parties may contact the secretariat of the 2009 Macao International Co-Operation Forum & Exhibition, (Telephone: 853-87989675, Fax: 853-28728213, Email: info@macaomiecf.com) or visit the official website at www.macaomiecf.com.
…

The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released summary of the GDP for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2008. The rates of change mentioned in the text refer to the year-on-year change, unless otherwise specified. GDP for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2008 The outbreak of the global financial tsunami in 2008 led to burst of the bubble arisen out of the real estate property and the financial assets, causing the real sector economy to slide in the second half of the year. Despite the rapid economic downturn, the economy of Macao was not much affected in the first half year and managed to sustain rapid growth upon the impetus of the surging gaming and tourism sector, albeit decline of investment. Entering the second half year, the economy was hit by the adverse impact of the financial crisis and decrease of Mainland visitors travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, the gaming and tourism sector started to slow down, total investment continued to fall, bringing the entire economy to contract obviously, with GDP for the fourth quarter registering the first negative growth during the past five years. For the whole year of 2008, Macao’s GDP was estimated at MOP 171.87 billion, up by 13.2% in real terms, with per-capita GDP amounting to MOP 313,091 (US$ 39,036). GDP for the fourth quarter of 2008 shrank by 7.6% in real terms, upon declining exports of gaming services, investment and exports of goods; besides, the economic growth for the first and second quarters were revised upward from 32.3% and 22.2% to 32.5% and 22.4% respectively, while that for the third quarter was revised downward from 11.3% to 10.4%. The favourable factors that contributed to the economic growth in 2008 included: - the 31.0% surge of the annual gross gaming revenue (excluding gratuities) from 2007; - visitor arrivals were 22,907,724 for 2008, with rising per-capita spending of visitors in all quarters, total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) for 2008 registered a 2.2% growth in real terms; - growing employed population and employment income drove private consumption expenditure up by 7.5% year-on-year in real terms. Changes of the economic structure of Macao - the 30.9% surge in export of gaming services in 2008 offset the substantial drop of merchandise exports; the 40.0% growth of net exports of goods and services (exports of goods and services minus imports of goods and services) was far higher than the level of the overall economic growth, contributing to an apparent increase in its relative importance to GDP, from 41.4% in 2007 to 51.2% in 2008; - total investment (gross fixed capital formation plus changes in inventories) plunged noticeably by 18.7% in 2008, lowering its relative importance to GDP from 27.4% in 2007 to 19.7% in 2008; - albeit the rising private consumption expenditure, the rate was lower than that of the overall economic growth; therefore, the relative importance of private consumption expenditure to GDP went down from 23.7% in 2007 to 22.5% in 2008, while that of government final consumption expenditure decreased slightly from 7.4% in 2007 to 6.5% in 2008. On account of detailed breakdown on the arrivals of visitor and other non-resident in 2008, number of visitor arrivals was revised downward substantially, which would affect the estimate of “Consumption expenditure of non-residents in the domestic market” and “Imports of goods”; therefore, GDP for 2004 to 2007 and the respective components were revised.
…

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Industry for the fourth quarter of 2008. Survey coverage excluded junket promoters and junket associates. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, there were 43,835 paid employees engaged in the Gaming Industry, down by 2.0% year-on-year. Analyzed by occupations that are directly related to betting services, 18,196 were dealers, down by 6.5% year-on-year, while 11,874 were engaged in positions such as hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc., up by 7.7% year-on-year. Meanwhile, 5,059 were working as casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., down by 5.3% from a year earlier. In December 2008, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in the Gaming Industry rose by 4.9% year-on-year to MOP 15,626. Average earnings for dealers grew by 6.0% over December 2007 to MOP 13,947, and that for employees in positions such as hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc. stood at MOP 19,520, up by 6.6%. The average earnings for casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc. reported a year-on-year increase of 6.0% to MOP 9,604. At the end of December 2008, the Gaming Industry reported 258 vacant posts, a substantial decrease of 3,153 or -92.4% from a year earlier. Of these vacancies, 28 were for dealers, 59 for hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc., and 41 for services and sales workers, including casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc.. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 55.0% of the vacancies required no working experience; 79.4% required senior secondary education or higher. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (66.3%) and English (67.4%).
…

It has been ten years since the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) first implemented its refuse classification and recycling scheme at the end of 1999. The volume of recycled refuse, which includes waste paper, metal and plastics, has continuously risen in recent years. The volume of recycled refuse last year was 30% more than that in 2007, and more than double the corresponding amount in 2006, reflecting the steady improvement of public awareness regarding environmental protection. The IACM hopes the general public can continue to actively participate in the recycling resources and support environmental protection. Along with the rapid development of Macao’s economy and population growth, the volume of solid waste produced continues to rise. In Macao, about 800 tons of solid waste is sent to the Incineration Centre (Central de Incineração) in Taipa for incineration treatment every day. To alleviate the burden of the Refuse Incineration Plant and make better use of our environmental resources, the IACM has focused on the importance of reducing waste in recent years, all the while promoting the refuse classification and recycling schemes. Implementation of the scheme in the First Decade: Remarkable Results The IACM started the implementation of the scheme at the end of 1999, inviting 23 primary and secondary schools from Macao to participate. The IACM promoted environmental friendliness to the current generation through initiatives such as seminars, picture exhibitions, sport activities and the provision of recycling facilities. Since the promotion of refuse recycling in schools went well, the IACM further expanded the scheme to include social organizations, private institutions and Government departments. There are currently 289 entities involved in the classification and recycling scheme. To promote the refuse classification and recycling scheme, not only has the IACM been setting up refuse classification and recycling facilities in public areas, it has also launched a classification and recycling scheme for domestic waste, as well as implemented a series of publicity materials for the promotion and education of this topic, set up refuse classification and recycling facilities and organized refuse collection. This helps gradually integrate the ideas of waste classification and recycling into the daily lives of the general public. With the gradual rise in awareness of classification and recycling by Macao citizens, the IACM further broadened the prevalence of the classification and recycling works in 2003 by successively setting up stainless steel recycling bins in various districts throughout Macao (including parks, recreational areas, residential areas, commercials districts and tourist areas) and setting up refuse classification and recycling facilities at closed refuse receptacle locations so that local citizens can conveniently separate their rubbish for subsequent recycling. There are now 198 public collection points for recyclable refuse in Macao. Since quite a lot of the solid waste generated in Macao comes from residences, the IACM launched a classification and recycling scheme for domestic waste at the end of 2005. The IACM co-operates with the management bodies of the residential buildings to set up refuse classification and recycling facilities at the building’s refuse collections sites on each floor, at the lobby or in the outer patio of the building. The building cleaning staff will then send the waste collected to the recycling plant for further handling. This scheme has achieved positive results since its launch, with the volume of refuse recycled throughout Macao increasing noticeably. There are currently 271 buildings participating in this scheme and the IACM hopes more and more buildings will join the scheme and create environmentally friendly residences. Special vehicles for collecting recyclable waste At present, the Companhia de Sistemas de Resíduos, Limitada is responsible for collecting recyclable refuse from the respective collection points. To avoid increasing traffic congestion during the daytime, the collection works are carried out at night. Recyclable refuse is arranged separately from ordinary refuse: recyclable refuse is collected on the following day at each of the public collection sites by vehicles specifically designated for recyclable waste collection. The refuse will then be sent to a recycling company, which will first compress and pack the refuse and then transport it to other sites for further recycling treatment. Additionally, and due to the fact that much of the recyclable refuse is produced during traditional festivals, the IACM has, in recent years, held recycling related activities during such festivals to recycle items such as red packets and moon cake boxes. These activities help the IACM achieve its objective of recycling resources, as well as provide a bit of fun to the citizens during the festivals. By recycling and reusing waste, we can help save a great amount of valuable resources, increase the efficiency of resource utilization, as well as reduce the amount of waste in our eco-system so as to reduce the damages made to the ecology. There are quite a lot reusable resources in solid wastes, which can become new resources after recycling, and re-enter the production process. Not only does recycling increase the efficiency of resource utilization, it also relieves the bottleneck to economic development brought about by limited natural resources, protects and improves the environment, and brings about considerable economic benefits. According to the concept of a Recyclable Economy, which applies the principle of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, through the implementation of a recycling system for renewable resources, we can achieve sustainable growth between man and nature, resources and the environment, as well as the economy and society. Should you require more information on environmental protection and respective business opportunities, please feel free to participate in the 2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition. Please contact the 2009 MIECF Secretariat at: Telephone: 853-8798 9675, Fax: 853-2872 8213, Email: info@macaomiecf.com , or visit the official website: www.macaomiecf.com for details.
…

So as to implement its environmental protection and energy-saving policies and fulfill the emission-reduction commitments made by Macao under the , the MSAR Government will progressively focus on the study of natural gas and ethanol as alternative fuels for vehicles, capitalize on hybrid electric vehicles and research the feasibility of using electric vehicles in Macao in order to reduce vehicle emissions and improve the air quality in the Region. Furthermore, electricity will continue to be generated through natural gas in order to reduce emissions; however, the long-term plan is to promote the use of solar energy to target this problem. Director of the Office for Development of the Energy Sector (GDSE), Mr. Arnaldo Ernesto dos Santos, stated that transportation is one of the main sources of emissions in Macao. For this reason, the MSAR Government has already set up rules for vehicle emissions and restricted the import of two-stroke engine vehicles. On the other hand and in regards to the generation of electricity, after the introduction of natural gas, which is considered to be a clean energy-source, as the fuel for electricity generation in Macao in 2008, the overall emissions from this activity decreased over 30% compared with 2007. Mr. Arnaldo Santos also pointed out that awareness for environmental protection and energy-saving has increased among the international community and that much more attention is being paid to the research, development and usage of clean and new energy sources. Regarding the reduction of motor vehicle emissions, clean fuel is replacing old and dirty fuel sources and reducing vehicle emissions has already become a development trend everywhere. Similarly, Macao must also find and implement suitable alternative fuel sources for vehicles, such as natural gas and ethanol, so as to reduce road traffic vehicle emissions, as well as adopt new technologies like hybrid electric vehicle and research the feasibility of introducing electric vehicles to reduce vehicle emission and improve the air quality in Macao. Moreover, Mr. Santos expressed that improving awareness of energy-saving and emission-reduction amongst the community is very important. For this reason, the GDSE has carried out different kinds of promotional activities and professional training exercises at different levels within the community such as in schools, companies and professional bodies of all levels during the past few years. In addition, the Government has taken the initiative to implement a Government energy-saving plan. Sixty-three Government departments initially implemented this scheme as a test, with the aim of reducing energy consumption by 5%. An average reduction of 4.4% was verified during the first half year, which can be considered a remarkable success. As for energy saving in private companies, the application of energy-saving products will be promoted in the long-term. Energy-saving and the reduction of emissions have become an inevitable trend in global development. The MSAR Government will continue to promote emission-reduction, energy saving, along with environmental protection and social harmony projects in order to ensure sustainable development. The 2009 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF) will be held from the 2nd to the 4th of April. One of the events in this forum will be the “Energy-Saving, Emission-Reduction and Carbon Trading Symposium” in which 8 talks will be given to participants on the latest energy-saving and emission-reduction projects by 8 speakers from China, the European Union, Portugal, Hong Kong and Macao.
…

Macao endorsed the transparency and information exchange standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2005 at the OECD Global Forum meeting in Melbourne and is now proposing legislative changes to implement those standards. Macao has proposed to modify its domestic legislation so as to enable the exchange of banking information on request by another jurisdiction. The modifications will be introduced before the end of 2009, and following the amendments, Macao will negotiate agreements to exchange information for tax purposes. As commented by Orieta Lau, the Director of the Financial Services Bureau of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region during a press interview recently held, “These steps are being taken as part of Macao’s ongoing efforts to meet international standards to combat all forms of abuse of the financial system. We have already made substantial improvements to our anti-money laundering legislation and the present steps are designed to meet the tax cooperation standards of the 21st century.”
…

Every year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), its 188 countries and territories Members, as well as the worldwide meteorological communities, celebrate World Meteorological Day. This Day commemorates the entry into force, in 1950, of the Convention that created this specialized agency of the United Nations System, after the meeting of Meteorological Services Directors in September 1949. The International Meteorological Organization is the forerunner of the present-day World Meteorological Organization founded in 1873 in Vienna. For the year 2008 was chosen the theme “Weather, climate and the air we breathe”. Such a theme is particularly appropriate at a time when communities around the globe are struggling to attain the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, especially in terms of health, food, water security and poverty alleviation, as well as to increase their effectiveness in preventing and mitigating natural disasters, of which 90 per cent are directly related to weather, climate and water hazards and thereby fall within World Meteorological Organization mandate. Moreover, scientists and medical professionals are increasingly aware of the critical linkages between weather, climate, the composition of the air we breathe and their effects on human health. Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) has been organizing a set of activities in order to remind the population of the different areas of human activities in which meteorology plays an important role, in general, and, in particular, as the activities undertaken by SMG which contribute for the sustainable development of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The commemoration activities of the “World Meteorological Day 2009”, start with a celebration ceremony which will focus on the air quality in Macao, entitled “Macao’s air quality in the last 10 years”, with an objective to understand aspects related to the air we breathe in Macao in the last ten years and its impacts on our health.
The history has taught us that the hydrometeorology warning is very important for the population. So, starting from today, one more service of weather warning will be launched, namely the “Automatic weather information service - InfoMet”. This service consists of disseminating warnings from this Bureau and through an automatic installation of a program in user’s computer, the warnings issued will be automatically up-dated. With this new method of extreme weather warning dissemination, population could know in real-time the situation and can make the necessary precautions. A celebration ceremony will be held at SMG headquarters, on 23 of March at 10:00 a.m. in Taipa Grande with the presence of the Secretary for Publics Works and Transportation, Eng. Lau Si Io.
…

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today officiated at the swearing-in ceremony of the members of the Election Commission of the Legislative Assembly. The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Fong Man Chong, said the Commission would work closely with related bureaux and organise the election on the basis of integrity, legitimacy, fairness, openness and offering convenience to the people. The four other members of the Commission are the President of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Mr Tam Vai Ma; the Director of Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, Mr José Chu; the Director of the Financial Services Bureau, Ms Lau Ioc Ip; and the Deputy Director of Government Information Bureau, Ms Ho Wai Heng. Speaking to reporters, Mr Fong said the revised electoral law for the Legislative Assembly provided greater power to the Commission and related bureaux to crack down on any irregularities and even crimes committed during the election process. The Commission would issue precise and detailed guidelines for candidates, he said. As the society continued to advance, he said, more and more voters were aware of the importance of their ballots. With the concerted efforts of the entire community, he said he expected the election would be well-organised. The Legislative Assembly Election is scheduled to be held on 20 September.
…

Information released by the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the population of Macao was estimated at 549,200 as at 31 December 2008, down by 8,100 from end-September, on account of a substantial decrease of non-resident workers in the fourth quarter. The rate of population growth for 2008 was 2.0%, representing an increase of 11,100 year-on-year. As regard the gender ratio, 50.9% were female and 49.1% were male. In terms of age distribution, the youth population (aged 0-14) accounted for 12.8%, the adult population (aged 15-64) and the elderly population (aged 65 and over) shared 80.0% and 7.2% respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2008, there are 1,327 live births and 441 mortality cases. For the whole year of 2008, total number of live births went up by 4.0% year-on-year to 4,717 and mortality cases increased by 13.7% to 1,756. The top three underlying causes of death were “Neoplasms”, “Diseases of the Circulatory System” and “Diseases of the Respiratory System”. Number of Notifiable Disease was 1,136 cases in the fourth quarter of 2008, bringing the annual total to 3,079 cases, which consisted mainly of “Varicella (chickenpox)” (909 cases), “Enterovirus Infection” (804 cases) and “Tuberculosis of Lung” (420 cases). Regarding marriage registration, 607 cases were recorded in the fourth quarter, with the annual total rising significantly by 35.7% over 2007 to 2,778 cases. In 2008, the median age of first marriage was 25.8 for female and 28.0 for male. In addition, 429 Chinese immigrants with One-way Exit Permit moved to Macao in the fourth quarter, bringing the annual total to 2,280, with 67.8% coming from the Guangdong Province. Meanwhile, 431 illegal immigrants were repatriated in the fourth quarter and the total number for 2008 decreased by 9.6% year-on-year to 1,424. The end-year number of non-resident workers was 92,161 and the total number of persons authorized to reside in Macao was 7,917 in 2008, up by 6,954 and 1,802 year-on-year respectively. In 2008, total number of non-institutionalized households rose by 3.6% from 2007 to 177,000 households.
…

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the fourth quarter of 2008. The survey covered Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities, but excluded own-account workers. The survey results were extrapolated according to the information collected from 893 statistical units successfully interviewed. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 26,012 paid employees, up by 8.0% year-on-year, with 15,665 working in Retail trade. In December 2008, the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees amounted to MOP8,603, up by 6.9% year-on-year, with the average earnings of Sales representatives and Salespersons amounting to MOP10,037 and MOP7,505 respectively. Transport, Storage & Communications took on 7,816 paid employees, up by 6.4% over the fourth quarter of 2007. In December 2008, the average earnings for full-time employees increased by 5.2% year-on-year to MOP14,925. Drivers of Passenger/cargo transport by land earned an average of MOP12,930. Security Activities had 3,910 paid employees, up by 5.6% over the fourth quarter of 2007. The average earnings for full-time employees in December 2008 rose by 17.6% year-on-year to MOP7,482, with Security guards earning MOP 7,110 in average. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 658 paid employees, up by 6.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2007. The average earnings for full-time employees in December 2008 increased by 2.4% year-on-year to MOP11,243. At the end of December 2008, Wholesale & Retail Trade reported to have 1,728 vacancies, Transport, Storage & Communications and Security Activities had 313 and 476 vacancies, down significantly by 57.6%, 72.6% and 32.7% respectively. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 57.6% of the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade and 63.2% in Transport, Storage & Communications required working experience; 66.9% and 65.3% of the vacancies in the above-mentioned sectors required junior secondary education or higher, while 96.2% of those in Security Activities required primary education only. Besides Cantonese, Mandarin (61.4%) was the more preferable language skill for the vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade.
…