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Information from the Statistics and Census Service showed that in the fourth quarter of 2006, construction of 25 buildings was started, with 2,923 units and 464,752 m² in gross floor area, up 15.4% and down 20.9% respectively over the fourth quarter of 2005, and up 8.5 times and 1.6 times respectively in comparison with the third quarter of 2006. A sum of 2,299 parking spaces for cars and 416 parking spaces for motorcycles were provided. In 2006, the newly started buildings provided 4,756 units and 1,054,289 m² in gross floor area, down 3.9% and 50.6% year-on-year respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2006, a total of 26 buildings were completed and extended, involving 122 units and 213,363 m² in gross floor area, down 67.6% and up slightly by 1.0% respectively over the fourth quarter of 2005, and down 94.0% and 60.2% respectively in comparison with the third quarter of 2006. A sum of 487 parking spaces for cars and 107 parking spaces for motorcycles were provided. In 2006, the completed and extended buildings provided 3,026 units and 1,276,321 m² in gross floor area, up 1.4 times and 2.3 times year-on-year respectively. In addition, the number of residential buildings completed and extended was 14, supplying 102 building units, which went down 68.8% and 94.6% over the fourth quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2006 respectively. The housing units were mainly T3 (84 units), accounting for 82.4% of the total, followed by T4 and over (11 units). The number of housing units completed in 2006 totalled 2,783, showing a year-on-year increase of 1.5 times.
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The Macao Government expects the city's gaming revenue to record a modest double digit growth this year, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said today. Speaking to the press at the spring festival reception hosted by the Liaison Officae of the Central Government, Mr Tam said it was difficult to forecast the gaming revenue for the whole year based only on the figures of the last month. But a low digit growth was a 'reasonable expectation', he said. According to government statistics, Macao's casinos generated 55 billion pacatas (US$6.87 billion) in gross gaming revenue in 2006, a growth of about 23 percent compared with the previous year. Mr Tam explained that the Government released the gross revenue of the whole gaming industry and particular games on a monthly basis, and it would not release the amount of tax collected from particular gaming concessionaires. Asked about the requirements for investment residency scheme, Mr Tam said the Government had no plans to amend the terms for obtaining residency by investing fixed asset, nor the minimum value of related fixed asset. He said the Government could process about 2,300 applications for property investment residency every year, about 2,100 of which were approved in 2006. There were also no plans to alter the number of applications processed and approved every year. The Government would also step up the construction of public rental housing and push forward the Home Ownership Scheme, policies that were outlined in the Government's Policy Address last year, he added.
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In order to increase the public understanding of the eastern and western cultures, art and heritage, the Cultural Affairs Bureau will be organizing the 3rd Docent Training Programme in the coming April and June.
Enhanced in both theory and practice, this training programme will be conducted by not only professionals of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, but also some renowned professors, researcher, archaeologist and museologist. The lectures will cover a wide range of subjects, such as skills on guided tours, history of eastern and western cultures, art, the Historic Centre of Macao, archaeology, ceramic, Chinese calligraphy and western paintings, etc. Practices of guided tours and discussions will be followed by the end of the programme.
This docent programme is a free weekend training course conducted in Cantonese in the auditorium of the Macao Museum. It will be carried out between April and June on every Saturday from 14:30 to 17:30, Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:30 to 17:30 (except Easter Holidays). This course is intended for the local residents interested in guided visits in the Macao Museum. Twenty participants with the minimum of high school education will be accepted for the course. Certificates will be awarded by the Cultural Affairs Bureau to those who successfully complete the course. Meanwhile, the present museum docents and those who attended the previous docent training courses are welcome to join this programme. Some parts of the programme can be exempted and a certificate will be granted as well when finished. Information for the programme and the application form can be acquired at the ticket office of the Macao Museum and the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre. The above material can also be downloaded from the following websites: http://www.icm.gov.mo or http://www.macaumuseu.gov.mo. Applications will be accepted until 2nd March 2007. Any people interested in the course need to submit / mail their applications to the Macao Museum or the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre before the deadline. The necessary documents including one photocopy of the Macao Resident Card, photocopies of education certificates, one colour photo (1.5 inches) and a completed application form should be sealed in an envelope and sent to the above places. A pre-selection will be made based on the education and experiences of the candidates. Whereas, interviews with the potential participants will be arranged by the Macao museum in a later stage. A list of final and standby participants will be announced on 6th April at the Museum ticket office and the Centre, as well as on the above websites. For further information and details of the programme, please contact Mr. Ho at 3941217 or Miss Lee at 3941231.
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The early Ming glazed copper-red pear-shaped vase, Yuhuchunping, produced during Emperor Hongwu’s reign (1368-1398), to be donated to the Macao Special Administrative Region in this ceremony, was purchased at a Hong Kong auction in May last year by Mr. Steve Wynn, Chairman of Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A.. Costing approximately 78 million Hong Kong dollars, this extremely rare Chinese porcelain will be exhibited as part of the permanent collection of the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s Macao Museum. The donation ceremony is attended by Mr. Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Chief Executive of the Macao S.A.R.; Dr. Fernando Chui Sai On, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao S.A.R. Government; and Mr. Steve Wynn, Chairman of Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. The Macao Museum is closed during the ceremony and will reopen to the public at 1pm. The early Ming glazed copper-red vase, Yuhuchunping, stands 32.7cm high, with a mouth diameter of 8.5cm, body diameter of 21cm and base diameter of 12cm resulting in a flared mouth, narrow neck, wider lower body, flat bottom and rim foot. The motifs painted in copper-red under the glaze are divided into seven layers, from top to bottom namely: plantain leaf, classic scroll, overlapping wave, ruyi-head lappet (trefoils), peonies, lotus petal and classic scroll. The glaze of this elegantly thrown and coloured vase has tones ranging from a rich crushed raspberry to a slightly darker mushroom-pink. The peonies are rendered in a natural, unconstrained style. The vase is a classic product of the imperial kilns in the Hongwu Reign (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty. The copper-red underglaze technique originated in Jingdezhen during the Yuan dynasty. It used copper-derived pigments to obtain red paint which was then applied over biscuit. After applying the glaze, the piece would then be baked in a kiln at a high temperature. This technical innovation of the period represents a remarkable achievement in the history of Chinese ceramics. The copper red underglaze was highly sensitive to the ambient conditions during production ambience, and could thus vary in tone. Therefore the failure rate of its production was very high. Ceramics painted in underglaze copper-red dating from the Yuan and Ming dynasties are therefore very rare and highly appreciated. In order to provide the appropriate conditions for this masterpiece, the Macao Museum has created an exhibition space featuring the necessary security measures. This precious piece of Chinese porcelain, which will be placed on view immediately after the ceremony, will attract locals and visitors to Macao. This ceremony also includes the unveiling of the updated roll of donors of the Museum in recognition of the valuable contribution of all those who have generously given to the Macao Museum. These altruistic acts promote the development of the museum’s collections and, in turn, help foster an understanding of Macao’s historic significance.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in 2006, 13,593 real estate sale and purchase contracts were made, with a total value of MOP11.62 billion, down 32.1% and 27.4% respectively over 2005. In the fourth quarter of 2006, 3,701 real estate sale and purchase contracts were made, involving the transaction of 4,541 real estate units, a year-on-year increase of 8.0%. The corresponding total value of contracts in the fourth quarter went up 36.1% to MOP3.1 billion. In comparison with the third quarter of 2006, the number of contracts and their value decreased 0.2% and 15.8% respectively. In 2006, the total value of mortgage credits expanded to MOP65.03 billion, up 2.8 times year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the total value of mortgage credits was MOP4.43 billion, of which mortgage credits not involving actual property transactions reached MOP3.31 billion, whereas those related to purchases of real estate was MOP1.12 billion, equivalent to 25.3% of the total. The total value of mortgage credits was down 11.6% over the fourth quarter of 2005, and those involving actual property transactions registered an increase of 36.7%. Compared with the third quarter of 2006, the above indicators were down 74.9% and 4.7% respectively. According to the data provided by the Finance Services Bureau, a total of 26,400 units were transacted in the real estate market in 2006, amounting to MOP25.1 billion in value. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the number of units transacted was 9,979 with a total value of MOP11.78 billion. The majority was residential units (64.5% of the total or 6,439 units), accounting for MOP10.34 billion in value. Among all the units transacted, 5,140 units were exempted from property tax (i.e. they were new buildings) and their value amounted to MOP8.78 billion. The average transaction price of residential units per square meter of usable area in 2006 was MOP10,578, up 5.5% over 2005. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the average transaction price of residential units was MOP10,967, up 8.0% over the fourth quarter of 2005 and down 3.1% over the third quarter of 2006. Meanwhile, the average transaction prices of residential units in the Macao Peninsula and Taipa were MOP9,630 and MOP14,544 per square meter respectively, surpassing the average prices in the fourth quarter of 2005 but remained lower than the records in the third quarter of 2006. Moreover, the average transaction price of residential units in Coloane was MOP15,735 per square meter, down 1.0% year-on-year and up 5.6% over the third quarter of 2006. The average transaction price of industrial units per square meter of usable area was MOP4,435, up 26.8% over the fourth quarter of 2005 and down slightly by 0.3% over the third quarter of 2006. In addition, the average transaction price of office units per square meter of usable area was MOP20,819, up 48.7% and 6.3% over the fourth quarter of 2005 and third quarter of 2006 respectively. Among the office units, the area of Praia Grande and Penha recorded the highest average, at MOP25,120 per square meter, whereas the area of Baixa de Macau had the lowest average, at MOP14,595.
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Police's initiatives against street crime have proved successful, with cases of robbery and pick-pocketing plunging by 9.5 and 30.5 percent last year compared with 2005. In releasing last year's crime statistics to the press today, Macao's Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, said the crime situation in the Special Administrative Region remained stable, with total criminal offences having gone 3 percentup to 10,854 cases. Mr Cheong noted that violent crime fell by 5.1 per cent. In particular, arson and robbery cases dropped by 29.2 and 9.5 percent, while homicide, blackmail and drugs trafficking increased by four, one and seven cases respectively. Crimes against people, one of the five major categories of crimes classified in the Penal Code of Macao, rose by 6 percentto 2,519 cases in 2006. Wounding cases increased by 6.9 per cent, while criminal intimidation cases dropped by 4 percent. However, false imprisonment went up by 24 cases in 2006. Crimes against property dropped by 3.7 per cent, with pick-pocketing, robbery and deception cases down by 30.5, 9.5 and 6.4 percentrespectively. On the other hand, criminal damage cases went up 11.3 percent. Blackmail and loan sharking increased by 1 case each. Crimes against society recorded a rise of 36.7 percent, attributed to a 50.8 and 42.9 percentincrease in the use of counterfeit banknotes and forgery cases. Crimes against public order stood at 702 cases, with false declaration cases having fallen by 7.8 per cent. Moreover, other crimes that were not included in the above classifications recorded a slight increase of 4.8 per cent. Drugs trafficking cases went up by 10.9 percent, while drug abuse cases fell by 32 percent. Mr Cheong also noted that the authority repatriated 17,013 illegal immigrants and overstayers in 2006: 1,085 illegal immigrants were from the Mainland. Out of the 11,430 overstayers from the Mainland, 3,398 of them arrived in Macao under the facilitated individual travel scheme. Meanwhile, 1,100 foreigners overstayed their visits in Macao. Juvenile crimes also fell by 9.4 percentwith 224 juveniles having been involved in crime, a drop of 80 people compared with 2005.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a “Crisis Management for the Macau Tourism Industry” seminar on February 7-8. Mr. Bert van Walbeek, expert on Crisis Management has been invited to be the guest speaker of the seminar. This seminar is targeted to leaders of tourism enterprises, tourism stakeholders, MGTO officials and related personnel. Jointly organized by MGTO and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Macau Chapter, the seminar aims to advise tourism stakeholders to be more sensitive to risks and crisis, while at the same time, strengthen their skills on crisis management, so as to reduce the damages caused by hazards. MGTO Director, João Manuel Costa Antunes, during his welcome speech pointed out that while “Macau’s tourism industry is rapidly growing, it is necessary to safeguard the industry against risks and crisis, therefore the need to set up contingency plans. This time, we specially invited Mr. Bert van Walbeek as guest speaker of the seminar. I believe his expertise will provide professional advice for the Macau tourism industry.” The four sessions on Day One include “Shock and Threats to the Tourism Industry”, “Responsibilities and Leadership”, “the 4 Phases of Crisis Management” and “Media and Information Management”, as well as a brainstorming session and suggestions on how to initiate discussions on Risk & Crisis Management. Day Two sessions “Destination Marketing: Safety First” and “Developing the Destination Plan for Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism” are tailor made for MGTO officials. Mr. Bert van Walbeek’s expertise with Crisis Management started with the First Gulf Crisis. He was a member of the PATA Bali Task Force in 2002 and afterwards, completed two manuals on Crisis Management: “Expect the unexpected” and “Do or Die”. These experiences culminated in the assignment by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism to design and develop “The Road Map to the National Plan for Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism” and train the Hospitality and Tourism Industry accordingly. He has conducted seminars on Crisis Prevention and Reputation Management in Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Taipei and Wuhan. The press release will be available at http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/en/emagazine/press.php
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The 12th EC-Macao Joint Committee meeting, and the 6th since China’s resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Macao on 20 December 1999, took place in Macao on 6 February 2007. Both sides reviewed their respective domestic developments. The EC emphasized its support for the full implementation of the Macao SAR's Basic Law. It reaffirmed the positive conclusions of its 2005 Annual Report on the Macao Special Administrative Region, published on 6 September 2006 and, in particular, welcomed the ongoing consolidation of the Region's governmental institutions and the successful inscription of Historic Centre of Macao on United Nation’s World Heritage list. The EC noted the sustainable economic growth in the Macao SAR and acknowledged Macao's continuous efforts to further diversify its economy. Macao was informed of recent developments following EU enlargement, including on energy and environment policy, the Constitutional Treaty, and economic developments. Both sides examined the state of their bilateral relations, in the light of the Commission's Communication The EU, Hong Kong and Macao: possibilities for co-operation 2007-2013. They emphasized their commitment to co-operate closely on issues of mutual interest. Within the framework of the WTO, they welcomed the re-launching of the negotiations and committed to work towards the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda. They welcomed the smooth implementation of the EC-Macao Readmission Agreement which was signed on 13 October 2003 and looked forward to strengthen co-operation in this area.
They also expressed satisfaction with the successful implementation of EC-Macao co-funded project that enhanced the development of Macao's legal system. Finally, they expressed their willingness to explore new areas of co-operation. The 13th EC-Macao Joint Committee meeting will be held in the second half of 2007 and the date will be determined later.
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Macao and Portugal today re-affirmed the Special Administrative Region's role in promoting Sino-Portuguese relationship. This was emphasised by Macao's Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and Portugal's Prime Minister, Mr José Sócrates, when they met the press after a meeting. Mr Ho told the press that Mr Sócrates' visit carried historic significance, as Mr Sócrates was the first Prime Minister of Portugal to visit Macao since the establishment of the SAR in 1999. Moreover, Macao was the last stop of Mr Sócrates' China visit, highlighting the SAR's role as a business and trading platform between China and Portugal. Mr Ho said the Prime Minister's visit would push forward the strategic partnership between China and Portugal, enabling Macao to play a more important role in promoting Sino-Portuguese relationship. He said that the relationship between Macao and Portugal would enter a new phase. For his part, Mr Sócrates said the achievements of his visit to China were satisfactory, promoting Sino-Portuguese relationship politically and economically. He said Portugal attached great importance to Macao's role as Portugal's gateway to China, as well as China's gateway to Portugal, Africa and Brazil. He also thanked Macao's efforts in promoting trade relation between China and Portugal. Before meeting with the Chief Executive, Mr Sócrates visited the Macau Tower and the Portuguese School of Macao. He also attended the opening of the Portugal – Macau Economic and Business Cooperation Forum 2007.
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The Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr José Sócrates, concluded his official visit to Macao tonight, telling the press that the visit had laid a solid foundation for closer Sino-Portuguese relationship. Earlier in the afternoon, Mr Sócrates visited the University of Macau and listened to several presentations by the university's researchers, including a briefing on an institute's research on Portuguese-Chinese translator software. Mr Sócrates praised their efforts in promoting exchanges between the Chinese and the Portuguese. Afterwards, the Prime Minister visited Portugal's Consulate General in Macao and the Instituto Português do Oriente (IPOR). He hosted a reception for Macao's luminaries before leaving in the evening. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, also attended the reception.
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