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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, left today for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, to participate in the second Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Co-operation & Development Forum. Mr Ho told the press before his departure that the aim of the forum was to deepen and broaden the co-operative items between the nine provinces and the two regions in the PPRD region, based on the co-operative framework stipulated in the first session last year. The Chief Executive is leading a high-ranking officials delegation to the forum, and it is anticipated that a number of co-operative arrangements between the governmental departments would be achieved. Meanwhile, he said he also wished local entrepreneurs to grab valuable business opportunities in opening up markets in the PPRD area. Some 200 entrepreneurs are also attending the form, as a business delegation headed by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen. When asked if there would be discussion on co-operation with the Hong Kong SAR Government, Mr Ho said the visit would mainly focus on co-operation with the PPRD. Moreover, an effective mechanism existed between Macao and Hong Kong, which enabled more exchanges of opinion opportunities in the future based on the past foundation, he said. The first PPRD Regional Co-operation & Development Forum was held in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong from June 1-3 last year.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today the SAR Government would capitalise on the opportunities created by the listing of Macao’s historic centres as World Cultural Heritage and to strengthen co-operation in Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional tourism. Mr Ho made that pledge when he spoke at the high-ranking Officials Forum session of the second Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum, which opened in Chengdu today. He said the Central Government’s support was pivotal in the successful listing by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and that the Macao SAR Government would contribute even more efforts in protecting and promoting cultural heritage, encouraging the diversification in the tourism industry and promote co-operation in tourism with other members of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region. He said that Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation had entered a more practical stage, having achieved real progress and having laid a sound foundation for future developments. The “One Country Two Systems” principle made Macao SAR’s foundation and its privilege, with the implementation of Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation, Macao is now exposed to new opportunities which are fully in line with the SAR Government’s policy of forging a business service platform and enhancing Macao’s industry structure, Mr Ho said. “In the co-operation other members of the Pan-Pearl River Region, The SAR Government’s priority is to provide good service and to perform our mediating role to the best.” Mr Ho said He said the overall development of the Pan-Pearl River Delta would in turn promote the social and economic growth of Macao. Mr Ho also spoke of his recent visit to Brazil where the country’s President had pledged to use Macao as the gateway for Brazilian enterprises to enter the China market. This demonstrated Macao’s mediating role between China and Portuguese-speaking countries -- which the SAR Government would continue to consolidate -- was even more widely recognised. Furthermore, he said, the joint promotion with Guangdong Province in Portugal last year brought valuable experience to both Macao and Guangdong in the joint promotion of commercial relations. Mr Ho said that the Macao SAR Government, since its founding, had maximised all efforts to build a fair, open and orderly market and recently, the SAR Government even further lowered the tax rate to make it an even more attractive commercial service platform. Mr Ho said that co-operation, pragmatism and complementation were the dynamics of Pan-Pearl River Delta. He pledged that the SAR Government would continue to contribute to this relation and believed that it would deepen in every aspect.
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Immigration authorities recorded a total of 1,843,878
crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the Labours Day "Golden-Week" holidays ( May 1 to May 7) Total number of arrivals stood at 919,457
with Border-gate: 723,823
Lotus Bridge: 25,311
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 146,683
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 6,769
Macao International Airport: 16,871 Total of departures stood at 924,421
with Border-gate: 753,475
Lotus Bridge: 25,023
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 119,009
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 5,851
Macao International Airport: 21,063 Meanwhile, total number of tourists entering Macao in that period stood at 412,878
,with a growth of 20.10% over the same period of last year.
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The Mainland’s decision to reform the exchange regime of the Renminbi will facilitate the economic development of Macao, the Secretary of Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said this afternoon. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) last evening announced that from now on the Reminibi’s exchange rate would be adjusted according to a basket of currencies. The move means the Reminibi will now trade at around 8.11 to the US dollar, as against 8.28. “Macao will only have a temporarily slight effect as the scale of increase is not high,” said Mr Tam. But he said the reform might bring benefits to the import and export industry of Macao. On market anticipation that the value of the Renminbi would go up by 10% within this year, Mr Tam said it would take some time to see how the currency moved.
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“The Historic Centre of Macao” has been officially listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. To commemorate this event, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government is holding “A Gathering in Time and Space – The Historic Centre of Macao” exhibition on July 22 at 3pm in the Tap Seac Gallery. With “The Historic Centre of Macao” as its theme, “A Gathering in Time and Space – The Historic Centre of Macao” exhibition will display 69 works from 39 local artists created recently for the application of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. The exhibits include ink wash paintings, calligraphies, watercolour paintings, oil paintings, collages, block prints, photographs and posters. Models of the cultural bulidings in “The Historic Centre of Macao” will also be displayed. In addition, numerous photos accompanied by descriptions are used to introduce the characteristics and architecture styles of “The Historic Centre of Macao”. Audience will be able to observe the ways Chinese and Western artists portrayed “The Historic Centre of Macao”, how western art is spread in China and the mutual influences of Chinese and Western art in Macao. The exhibition’s audio-visual section actively brings audience to “The Historic Centre of Macao” in a 20-minute video narrated in four languages including Cantonese, Portuguese, Mandarin and English. The exhibition will kick-off this Friday (July 22) at 3pm in the Tap Seac Gallery. All are welcome. Guiding serivces are available. Schools and associations are welcome to make appointments. Guiding services for the public will be available from July 30 on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm and 4pm.
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Due to renovation works, the information counter located at Largo do Senado, No. 9, Edif. Ritz will be temporarily moved to the lobby of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau at Av. Almeida Ribeiro, nº 163 from July 25 to December 25. During the period, the telephone number of the information counter remains unchanged at 333000.
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(Macao—19 July 2005) Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, today met with the Vice Minister of Health, Mr Jiang Zao and the World Health Organization Regional Director for Western Pacific, Dr Shigeru Omi respectively, when they exchanged opinions on enhancing co-operation based on the existing mechanism. Mr Chui hosted a lunch for Mr Jiang and his delegation, during which he thanked him for the long-term support from the Ministry of Health for medical affairs in Macao. They agreed to work closely in four areas, namely increasing the numbers of infectious diseases in which they will make public announcements, stepping up a prevention mechanism for the outbreak of public health issues between Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, enhancing training and visits for medical professionals, and co-operation in international activities hosted by Macao. Meanwhile, the visiting health officials were updated on the latest general health conditions and the operation of the medical development. Also, at the invitation of Mr Chui, the WHO Regional Director for Western Pacific, Dr Shigeru Omi arrived in Macao this evening. During the meeting, Mr Chui and Dr Shigeru Omi have expressed concern on reports of avian flu in South East Asia. They agreed to continuously enhance the supervision over the epidemic situation. Mr Chui briefed Dr Shigeru Omi the latest development on the “Health City” project. They also exchanged opinions on the co-operative items between the Macao Government and WHO.
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The Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah today had a breakfast meeting with visiting European Commission President, Mr José Manuel Barroso. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mr Barroso congratulated Mr Ho on his success re-election as Chief Executive last year and the recent inclusion of the historic monuments of Macao in the World Heritage List. Mr Barroso said Macao had rapidly developed in the past few years under the governance of the Macao Special Administrative Regional Government and that the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law provided stability and progress. Mr Barroso said he hoped that Macao would continue to play a special role in improving relations between the Mainland and Europe. Mr Barroso also invited the Chief Executive to visit the European Commission in Brussels again. Mr Ho last visited Brussels in 2001. After visiting a tourist attraction, Mr Barroso finished his two-day visit in Macao and left for Hong Kong in the morning.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service shows that Composite CPI for June 2005 was 98.18, up by 1.01% compared with May 2005. Attributable to increasing rent of housing and expenses of house maintenance, rising prices in summer clothing and footwear, as well as fresh vegetables, the indices of Clothing and footwear, Rent and housing expenses, and Foodstuff and beverages rose by 2.05%, 1.86% and 1.05% respectively. On the other hand, index of Education and leisure fell by 0.14%, as a result of price reduction in video and sound equipment, which was the only section that recorded a decreasing index in June. Compared with last month, CPI(A) and CPI(B) increased by 0.93% and 0.95% respectively. Composite CPI in June 2005 registered a significant year-on-year increase of 4.47%. For the 12 months ended in June 2005, the average Composite CPI rose by 2.87% over the previous period. In the first half of 2005, Composite CPI increased by 3.51% over the same period of 2004. Composite CPI for the second quarter of 2005 was 97.35, up by 0.82% over the first quarter. In comparison with the same quarter of 2004, Composite CPI increased by 3.79%, with marked increases in the indices of Rent and housing expenses (6.15%), Foodstuff and beverages (4.79%), as well as Education and leisure (2.57%). CPI(A) relates to 54% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP3,000 - MOP9,999. CPI(B) relates to 26% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 - MOP19,999.
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Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, the world’s foremost illustrious, will be held on September 3, 10, 18, 24 and October 1 at the sea area across the Macau Tower this year. The Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, organized by Macau Government Tourist Office, has always been a colossal event. Splendid fireworks will light up the sky of Macau, adding joyous atmosphere to the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. For the first time in its 16-year history, the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest will introduce a new feature to the event, in which each participating team will complement their display with music to enthrall the audience with light and sound spectacular. The organizer will install the sound system at the Macau Tower Outdoor Plaza seaside, Macau Tower Street seaside and the square in front of Kun Iam Statue on Ave. Dr Sun Yat Sen so that the public can enjoy synchronized music to the spectacular display The 17th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest features ten teams, from Australia, Korea, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, the Philippines, Portugal, Taiwan China, France and China, each will show off their pyrotechnic wizardry to the spectators both from Macau and overseas. Teams from Japan and Taiwan China were the winner in the 16th and the 15th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest respectively, while the team from China was the second-runner up of the 14th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest and featured at the fireworks display to celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR. The French team, Brezac is very experienced in the field and has taken part in various fireworks displays and competitions in Europe, Asia and North America. The team from Spain, which will perform in Macau for the first time, has represented Spain in a number of international events to display spectacular musical firework shows. The team from United Kingdom is one of the largest firework companies in the country and was selected as the firework supplier for the UK Royal Air Force in 2004. The Australian team has also achieved excellent results in several firework displays in the United States. Other participating teams, with their rich experiences and special feature, will surely bring audiences a colorful and memorable time. The teams for this year are: Fire-works.com.au pty. ltd. from Australia, DAHL’S Pyrotechnics from Korea, MLE Pyrotechnics Limited from the United Kingdom, Tamaya Art Pyro Technics from Japan, Pirotecnia TURIS from Spain, Platinum Fireworks from the Philippines, Pyrfel – Pirotécnia, Ltd from Portugal, San Tai Fireworks Ind. Co., Ltd from Taiwan, China, Brezac-Artifices from France and Hunan Jixiu Fireworks Displaying and Manufacturing Co., Ltd from China. Each fireworks display will last for approximately 18 minutes, and there will be two displays per night at 9 pm and 10 pm. The organizer is going to present US$17,500 to each fireworks team as subsidy. The winner will receive US$6,000, trophy and certificate. First and second runner-up will receive US$3,200, US$1,800, trophies and certificates respectively. The Macau International Fireworks Display Contest first started in 1989, with only five participating teams. By 1995, the event has developed to a ten-team event, with two different teams showing their expertise each night. For the past 16 years, over 90 international teams had taken part in the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest. The Macau Government Tourist Office will continue to work towards advancing the event’s international status and reputation, with the vision to bring about the world’s most prominent international fireworks display. MGTO hopes that the glamorous firework displays, together with the colorful activities, will bring a splendid holiday to the visitors in Macau. In order to capture the spectacular moments of the fireworks display contest, the photo and drawing competitions will be held again this year. The 17th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest Photo Competition and the 17th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest Drawing Competition will invite entries soon. The winners of the two competitions will be entitled for premiums and trophies. The prize presentation ceremony for the 16th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest Photo Competition and the 16th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest Drawing Competition was held today (21 July) and the awarded photos and drawings are exhibited at the lobby of Macau Tower.
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