News

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah said today in the 2006 policy address that there are various changes in the next few years and that we should grasp the valuable opportunities offered by these changes. Speaking in his seventh Policy Address at a plenary meeting in the Legislative Assembly, Mr Ho recalled that, in the past year, the Government had not only place high value on the latest economic and social developments, but also launched large-scale infrastructures projects to co-ordinate the allocation of resources needed in the market. Meanwhile, the Government also stepped up the services for the minorities and commenced preparations to lift the quality of life of the people of Macao. Mr Ho also urged officials at all grades to enhance their faiths when faced with various changes brought about by rapid economic development. Looking forward on economic developments, the Chief Executive said that the Government would continue to strengthen the competitive advantages of Macao’s tourism and gaming industry. Mr Ho said the Government would promote the healthy development of the gaming industry through fostering the administration in the legal and financial environment, as well as to gaming promoters. Moreover, it would consolidate its monitoring of the casino concessionaires, especially in fulfillment of their investment projects according to their contracts. As for developing the tourism industry, Mr Ho said Macao would blend its advantages as a city of heritage, entertainment and a venue for staging international fairs. Regarding the stability of its financial system, Mr Ho said the Government would spare no efforts to enhance its monitoring of the banking institutions, as well as facilitating the financial legal system to combat money laundering. In order to alleviate the shortage of human resource in a various industries, with the assurance that locals would be employed first, the Government would promote the introduction of import workers, especially those with specialised talents that are lacking in Macao. And as a means to streamlining Macao's economic structure, the Government would continue its support of industries such as Chinese medicine, aviation logistics, and trade and services intermediation and other related emerging industries. Furthermore, the Government would continue its support for the exhibition and conference industry, said Mr Ho, and to start operations of research institutions, which focus on the industry and incentive tourism. Speaking on the co-operation with neighboring regions, Portuguese-speaking countries and overseas Chinese businessmen, Mr Ho said the Government would continue to forge its role as a trade and service platform through harnessing Macao’s advantage in languages, business networks and historic factors. The Government would also strengthen this role by enhancing its relation with Southeast Asian countries, Japan, Korea and European Union countries. On legal reform, Mr Ho said that the Government would focus on laws that are urgently needed. He said that it would draft laws to enhance the accountability of public servants, and to introduce a ''transition period'' for Government officials considering to enter private sector after serving the public. On constitutional development, Mr Ho said that the Government would enhance its development in accordance with the Basic Law. He said that the Government would review its existing consultation system to perfect the function of these existing agencies and to form a new consultation system that could extensively represent the public from all sectors and levels. On infrastructure, he said the Government would re-formulate housing policy to enhance the supply of public housing and review the allocation system of Home-Ownership Scheme housing and public rental housing. The Government has set up the Urban Renovation Committee, which should speed up the plan to renovate urban area. The following policies are to be implemented in the Fiscal Year 2005-2006: To continue with tax cuts and social welfare relief measures, including: 25% discount on salaries tax; Abolition of business tax; 500 patacas discount on property tax; Abolition of signage fee; Abolition of tourism tax on restaurants sales; Abolition of licence fee for street stalls; Abolition of wet market stall rent; Abolition of stamp duty on insurance policies, with the exception of life insurance; Abolition of stamp duty on interests and commissions for bank loans and commissions for other bank services; Old-age subsidies Continue and intensify support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Perfect the current SMEs finance support plan, increasing the cap on loans in order to ease difficulties faced by SMEs in financing. Speed up the administrative process and provide better support in information, training and technology. Initiate the renovation of older districts after one year of study and preparation in order to provide better business environment. Increasing investment in education: Extending free education to kindergarten;
Subsidising additional fees collected by private schools and eventually eliminating such fees in 2006/2007 school year. Releasing a subsidy of 5,000 patacas to each senior secondary student and complete the study on the extension of free education to senior secondary classes, in pursuit of the implementation of 15 years free education in the 2009/2010 school year. These subsidies will increase the Government’s budget in education by 50% to a total of 880 million patacas. Providing better medical services: Restructuring of public hospital; Enhance triage in emergency service and shorten the waiting time. Enhance equipment in public hospital and expand the emergency service. Co-operate with WHO and the Central Government on the prevention of Avian Influenza and make the health and safety of residents a priority. Improvement of social welfare Study the minimum livelihood index and increase subsidies to those who rely on the subsidies. All the social welfare payments will be amended to reflect the updated index. To be attentive to the needs of the elderly and minorities who might be disadvantaged. Easing the housing difficulties of the disadvantaged minorities and facilitating the lively development of the real estate market Taking the initiatives to introduce Government-built public housing. Building 4,000 public rental housing units within three years and 6,000 in five years. Research on a tax cut relating to property transfers to help first-time homebuyers who would not be allowed to sell their flats within a certain period. Study reclamation that suits the long-term needs of Macao to bring the healthy development of the real estate market and solve the traffic problem Enhance the drafting of real estate related regulations. Increasing employment and easing the pressure on the lack on human resources To continue the “Yes to jobs, no to charity” policy to help the unemployed and introduce a subsidy-related ''Positive Life and Services Scheme''. Study the introduction of extra fees for employing import workers and urge enterprises to employ local people The fees collected for employing import workers will be invested in the re-training of the unemployed and in subsidies to the SMEs that employ locals.
…

Information from the first survey on the Gaming Sector conducted by Statistics and Census Service indicated that 8 enterprises were granted concession to operate in the gaming sector in 2004. Total receipts amounted to MOP 44.07 billion and total expenditure reached MOP 22.85 billion. Gross value added and gross fixed capital formation accounted for MOP 23.51 billion and MOP 3.11 billion respectively. Among the total receipts of MOP 44.07 billion, receipts from gaming services shared 99.0% of the total, with MOP 43.63 billion; interest and other receipts contributed 433 million. Total expenditure of the gaming sector amounted to MOP 22.85 billion, of which purchase of goods and commission paid took up MOP 16.24 billion (71.1% of the total); operating expenses and compensation of employees accounted for MOP 4.33 billion and MOP 1.91 billion respectively.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in September 2005, visitor arrivals in package tours totalled 194,339, up 7.0% over September 2004. Visitors from Mainland China (150,643) increased 13.3% year-on-year; visitors from Taiwan, China (19,348) decreased 30.6% and those from Hong Kong (8,025) increased 3.6%. In the first nine months of 2005, arrivals in package tours grew 7.1% over the same period of 2004 to 1,929,909. Number of Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 24,075 in September 2005, a year-on-year surge of 94.3%. Mainland China, Taiwan, China and Thailand were the three more popular tour itineraries, which accounted for 83.3%, 4.6% and 4.6% of the total respectively. In the first nine months of 2005, Macao residents travelling in package tours surged 48.1% compared with the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, 28,947 Macao residents travelled under own arrangements with the assistance of travel agencies, an increase of 20.4% over September 2004; Mainland China (39.1%), Hong Kong (23.0%) and Taiwan, China (15.7%) were the major destinations. In the first nine months of 2005, Macao residents travelling under such arrangements rose 6.6% compared with the same period of 2004. At the end of September 2005, there were 10,679 rooms available in hotels and similar establishments, an increase of 1,574 rooms (+17.3%) over September 2004. In September 2005, a total of 325,719 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments in Macao, up 9.6% over September 2004. The average hotel occupancy rate fell by 4.3 percentage points to 67.0% compared with the same month of 2004; the highest average hotel occupancy rate was in 3-star hotels, at 78.5%. The average length of stay of hotel guests showed a decrease of 0.01 night over September 2004 to 1.17 nights. The majority of the guests came from Mainland China (56.4%), Hong Kong (28.2%) and Taiwan, China (3.7%). In the first nine months of 2005, number of hotel guests recorded a year-on-year increase of 2.4% to 2,994,932. In the first nine months of 2005, hotel guests (excluding Macao residents) accounted for 42.8% of the total number of tourists, which was lower than the 45.8% recorded in the same period of 2004.
…

Included in the Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao and starting tomorrow, November 14, at 6:30 pm, in the Legal and Judicial Training Centre (Luso-International Bank Building, 18th floor), is a Seminar on Refugee Law. The training course will have as speakers Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, Professor of International Law at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at the All Souls College, and Sharon Rusu, Independent Humanitarian Affairs Consultant in Ferney-Voltaire, France. The seminar will take place daily, between 6:30 and 8:30 pm, until Friday, November 18. Throughout the five days the approached subjects will be “International Law, International Organisation and the Refugee”, “ Who are Refugees?”, “Asylum and Non-Refoulement”, “Understanding the causes of Refugee Displacement”, “Research and the Use of Country of Origin Information in Applying the Refugee Definition” and “International Organisations and the Challenges of Displacement”. The seminar is organised by the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, will be conducted in English and addresses to law degree holders. The Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao, in which this seminar is integrated, has as its main objective the “Consolidation of the Macao Legal System”. Currently in its fourth year of execution, the Co-operation Programme will proceed until February 2007. The total budget for the programme is of 1.980.000 euros, shared in equal parts by the European Union and Macao. The co-ordination of the Co-operation Programme is at the responsibility of the International Law Office, being the organisation of the pertaining activities ensured by several other entities of the MSAR’s Government, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services and the Institute of European Studies, other than the International Law Office itself.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service shows that there were 1,274 industrial establishments operating in 2004, an increase of 38 units (+3.1%) compared with 2003. Total number of persons engaged was 37,594, a decrease of 4.7% over 2003. Gross output and gross value added amounted to MOP16.819 billion (+5.1%) and MOP3.93 billion (+2.5%) respectively compared with 2003. In the manufacturing sector, the number of establishments and the persons engaged were 1,270 units and 36,576 persons, which represented an increase of 3.2% and a decrease of 4.7% respectively over 2003. In terms of size of establishments, 975 establishments (76.8% of the total) with less than 30 persons engaged, employed 16.4% of the total workforce, with 5,999 persons. In contrast, 94 establishments (7.4% of the total) with 100 or more persons engaged absorbed 51.4% of the total workforce, with 18,800 persons. Gross output of the manufacturing sector registered an increase of 4.8% to MOP 14.164 billion over 2003; gross value added amounted to MOP2.591 billion, an increase of 4.1%. Manufacture of wearing apparel and manufacture of textiles accounted for the biggest shares of the manufacturing sector, with gross output reaching MOP8.808 billion (up 2.1%) and MOP2.836 billion (up 6.8%) and gross value added amounting to MOP1.547 billion (down 2.1%) and 402 million (up 9.5%) respectively. There were 3 electricity, gas and water supply establishments operating in 2004, the number of persons engaged was 992, a decrease of 2.9% over 2003. Gross output increased by 7.1% to MOP2.636 billion, but gross value added amounted to MOP1.327 billion, a decrease of 0.6%.
…

The Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuok Va, said today the police would enhance the collection of intelligence and continue to watch for out crimes, especially burglary and fraud, which had see an increase in the first nine months of this year. Disclosing crime statistics for the first three quarters of the year, the Mr Cheong said the 17.6% increase (up 626 cases to 4,194 cases) in property-related offences was the main reason for the 8.2% rise in the total number of crimes (7,774 cases) reported compared with the same period last year. Among property-related offences, Mr Cheong said, more significant increases were seen in burglary (+239 cases, 125.1%) and fraud (141 cases, 114.6%). In response to this rise the police had launched a series of operations and neutralized a number of syndicates. Despite the increase in the total number of crimes, he said, the number of violent crimes saw a drop of 12.3% (-80 cases), most significantly in extortion, which dropped by 34.9% (-22 cases), though robbery had increased slightly, by 4.2% (+11 cases). He said the authorities were very concerned with these crimes, which could affect the daily lives of residents and Macao's image as a tourist attraction, and that the authorities would step up its efforts to combat crime. Mr Cheong said a total of 1,773 cases of offences against the person were recorded in the first three quarters, with a slight increase of 1.4% (+24 cases), but serious physical offences had dropped significantly, by 55.6% (-15 cases). In the category of offence against social life, a total of 645 cases were recorded, with 266 cases of forgery (up 2.7%, +7 cases) and 248 cases of passing counterfeit currency (up 12.2%, +27 cases). Illegal gambling had also increased by 38 cases (79.2%) while drug trafficking and drugs taking had dropped by 23.1% (-15 cases) and 24.1% (32 cases) respectively. In the same period the police had repatriated 6,987 people from Macao, among which 345 illegal immigrants from the Mainland (+28 cases), 4,475 Mainland overstayers (+447 cases), and 465 foreign overstayers (-81 cases), Mr Cheong said.
…

Dr. Fernando Chui Sai On, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and President of the Macau Grand Prix Committee, today (November 9, 2005) said that the FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC), a new addition to this year’s Grand Prix, will definitely further boost Macau’s status in international motorsport. Accompanied by Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes, Co-ordinator of Macau Grand Prix Committee and other Committee members, Dr. Chui visited the Grand Prix Building at noon to review preparation of the different aspects of the 52nd Macau Grand Prix. Dr. Chui stated in an interview that every aspect of the Grand Prix is ready and the ticket sales have been satisfactory. In addition, he also said that the Macau Grand Prix always puts the safety of the circuit as a high priority which fulfills the strict requirements of the FIA. Dr. Chui also pointed out that the FIA WTCC, a new addition to the 52nd Macau Grand Prix, will bring motorsport in Macau to a new level, and the Macau Grand Prix Committee has great confidence in running this world class event successfully. At 1pm in the Scrutineering Area of the Grand Prix Building, Dr. Chui hosted a traditional Chinese worshiping ceremony to bring good luck and smooth sailing for year’s event, which was attended by Engineer Costa Antunes, Ms. Davina Chu, Deputy Co-ordinator of Macau Grand Prix Committee and other Committee members. That evening Dr. Chui hosted a working conference with the Macau Grand Prix Committee at the Hotel Ritz Macau. After the conference, Dr. Chui invited Grand Prix Committee members, Sub-committee members, local drivers and the media to a dinner where Dr. Chui delivered a speech. During his address, Dr. Chui said that this year’s Grand Prix will be staged next week. In addition to the exciting races, the Food Festival (Nov 11 - 27), the Super Car display at the Macau Tower (Nov 14 - 19) and the Firework Display (Nov 12, 16 and 20) will again create a carnival atmosphere for the Grand Prix. Dr. Chui added that the SAR Government has long been supporting the China-Macau Motorsport Club in training local drivers and racing officials. There will be 93 Macau drivers competing in seven races in this year’s Grand Prix, and he wishes our drivers victory. Dr. Chui also expressed his gratitude to the media for their tremendous support.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service shows that in the third quarter of 2005, 800 companies were newly incorporated, with MOP191.49 million in registered capital. Compared with the third quarter of 2004, the number of newly incorporated companies and their registered capital increased 33.1% and 9.6% respectively. These newly incorporated companies were mostly in Wholesale and Retail sector (215), followed by Construction (175), Business Services (127) and Real Estate (118). On the other hand, 63 companies were dissolved in the third quarter of 2005, with MOP21.72 million in registered capital. Among them, most had engaged in Wholesale and Retail (21), followed by Business Services (16). Among the stockholders of the newly incorporated companies, 55.1% were Macao residents. In addition, newly incorporated companies with capital of MOP50,000 or less accounted for 62.1% (497 companies) of the total number, but their capital only made up 7.5% of the total. Meanwhile, 744 of the newly incorporated companies were limited companies. Based on the residence of the stockholders, the capital of the newly incorporated companies in the third quarter of 2005 mostly came from Hong Kong (MOP74.66 million), followed by Macao (MOP48.60 million) and Portugal (MOP26.01 million). Among the capital from the Pan-Pearl River Delta provinces, Guangdong province topped the list with MOP5.30 million. As regards the combination of the residence of stockholders, 658 of the newly incorporated companies were established by stockholders from a single country/region, the majority of which (362 companies) were established solely by Macao stockholders, followed by those from Hong Kong (202 companies). The number of the newly incorporated companies with stockholders from Macao and other countries/regions was 117, of which 59 were joint ventures of Macao and Hong Kong stockholders and 36 were of Macao and Mainland China stockholders. The newly incorporated companies with stockholders solely from countries/regions other than Macao totalled 25, of which 8 were joint ventures of Hong Kong and Mainland China and 5 were of Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.
…

Information from Statistics and Census Service indicated that there were 10,468 wholesale and retail outlets, including establishments, market stalls and fixed stalls on the street operating in 2004, an increase of 406 outlets compared with 2003; number of persons engaged totalled 29,694, up 10%. Total receipts and total expenditure amounted to MOP19.68 billion and MOP18.44 billion respectively, which increased by 17% and 18% compared with 2003. Gross value added and gross fixed capital formation were MOP2.94 billion and MOP277 million, up by 17% and 20% over 2003. There were 8,324 wholesale and retail establishments operating in 2004, an increase of 461 establishments compared with 2003, of which 643 establishments were in the sale of motor vehicles & automobile fuel, 2,848 establishments were in wholesale trade and 4,833 establishments were in retail trade. Number of persons engaged totalled 26,052, up by 12% over 2003. Sales and other receipts of the wholesale and retail establishments amounted to MOP18.80 billion, up by 18% compared with 2003. Analyzed by industry, receipts of wholesale trade reached MOP10.04 billion (53.4% of total), while retail trade accounted for MOP6.67 billion (35.4%). Furthermore, total expenditure of the wholesale and retail establishments increased by 19% over 2003 to MOP17.71 billion. Among the expenditure items, purchase of goods and commission paid amounted to MOP14.58 billion; operating expenses and compensation of employees were MOP1.86 billion and MOP1.27 billion respectively. Gross value added of the wholesale and retail establishments was MOP2.78 billion, an increase of 17% compared with 2003; gross fixed capital formation rose by 20% over 2003 to MOP277 million. Besides, number of operating market and street stalls decreased by 55 over 2003 to 2,144 stalls, among which 811 were market stalls and 1,333 were fixed stalls on the street. There were 3,642 persons engaged, down 3%. Receipts and expenditure amounted to MOP875 million and MOP738 million respectively, which increased slightly by 2% and 1% compared with 2003.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicates that, in September 2005, Macao’s total value of exports amounted to MOP2.08 billion, up 5.4% over the same month of 2004. Among this, the value of domestic exports increased 8.3% to MOP1.64 billion and the value of re-exports fell 4.4% to MOP437 million. Value of imports amounted to MOP2.93 billion, up 16.5% over the same period of 2004. A trade deficit of MOP851 million was recorded this month. During the period of January – September 2005, the value of total exports decreased 20.6% year-on-year to MOP13.37 billion. Among this, the value of domestic exports and re-exports decreased 26.4% and 1.5% respectively. Meanwhile, the value of imports amounted to MOP22.20 billion, up 8.6% over the same period of 2004. In the first nine months of 2005, Macao’s trade balance registered a deficit of MOP8.83 billion. During this period, the exports/imports ratio decreased from 82.4% in the corresponding period of 2004 to 60.2%. In the first nine months of 2005, the value of Textile & garment exports, which accounted for 76.6% of the total exports, decreased 24.2% over the same period of 2004. Moreover, the value of Non-textile exports also dropped 6.1%. As the major components of non-textile exports, Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof expanded 9.2%, whereas Footwear fell 91.2% year-on-year. The USA and the EU remained as Macao’s major export markets, together making up 63.4% of the total value of exports. Among this, exports to the USA, which made up 49.3% of the total value of exports, decreased 19.7% over the same period of 2004; exports to the EU, which made up 14.1% of the total value of exports, also decreased 48.2% over the same period of 2004. During the period of January – September 2005, Macao’s total value of imports increased 8.6% year-on-year. In terms of broad economic categories, Fuels & lubricants, Capital goods and Consumer goods rose 36.5%, 22.9% and 6.1% respectively, whereas Raw materials & semi-manufactures registered a year-on-year decrease of 0.9%. Meanwhile, Macao’s main suppliers of imported goods still concentrated in the Asian region. Imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong together constituted 51.9% of the total value of imports. Compared with the same period of 2004, the value of imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong rose 2.6% and 1.5% respectively.
…