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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that total number of visitor arrivals reached 1,667,520 in December 2005, up 9.8% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China and Hong Kong increased 10.2% and 13.0% respectively, whereas those from Taiwan, China decreased 16.6%. Meanwhile, same-day visitors accounted for 49.9% of the total arrivals, at 831,625. The majority of visitors came from Mainland China (55.5% of the total), Hong Kong (31.0%) and Taiwan, China (6.1%). Among the Mainland visitors, 457,262 (49.4%) travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In 2005, visitor arrivals reached an all-time record of 18,711,187, up 12.2% over 2004. Visitors from Mainland China increased 9.8% to 10,462,966 (55.9% of the total), with 5,331,419 arriving in Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. Moreover, visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China shared 30.0% (5,614,892) and 7.9% (1,482,483) of the total arrivals respectively. Same-day visitors accounted for 51.8% of the total, at 9,697,123. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up 6.6% over 2004 to 6,719,895 in 2005, with 6,503,195 arriving at the Outer Harbour (+5.4%); the majority of these visitors were from Hong Kong (59.0%) and Mainland China (29.6%). Visitor arrivals at the Inner Harbour rose 58.7% to 216,700, within which 67.3% were from Mainland China. In 2005, arrivals by land increased 15.2% to 10,951,191, with 10,341,814 arriving through the Border Gate. The majority of these visitors came from Mainland China (76.4%) and Hong Kong (16.4%). In addition, arrivals by air were 1,040,101, up 20.7% compared with 2004, with 1,029,540 arriving at the Macao International Airport (+22.0%). Visitors from Taiwan, China (67.6%) and Mainland China (17.0%) were the major users of this access.
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(Macao – 19 January 2006) US Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Mr Daniel Glaser, today visited the Macao Special Administrative Region. During his brief visit, he met separately with the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen and the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Macao, Mr. Anselmo Teng Lin Seng. Mr Glaser was briefed on the latest developments of Macao SAR and the progress of anti-money laundering legislation: proposed legislation has been submitted to the Legislative Assembly and discussion was in progress. Mr Daniel Glaser was also met by the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today that the current Macao SAR Government officials and entrepreneurs visit to Jiangxi has helped to enhance trade and tourism co-operation between the two places. On the last day of leading the delegation for the three-day visit to Jiangxi, Mr Ho said the trip had “enhanced the communication between the two governments and built a strong foundation for further co-operation”. He said the Macao SAR’s Trade and Investment Promotion Institute had signed a co-operation memorandum with their counterpart in Jiangxi on providing information and technical assistance to the business communities in Macao and Jiangxi. “After this visit we can expect more constructive co-operation between the business communities in Macao SAR and Jiangxi,” he said. "One of the significant feature (of the visit) is to promote Macao as the platform for Portuguese-speaking countries: both the Jiangxi Government and the Jiangxi business community were very interested". Mr Ho said visiting Jinggangshan had also deepened the delegation members’ understanding in the history of the Chinese revolution. Jinggangshan had rich tourism resources and the delegation had "explored significant opportunities for exchanges in tourism and culture," he said. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said the visit had also shown the more than 60 Macao entrepreneurs in the delegation Jiangxi’s abundance in human resources. And with the enhancement of traffic network in the province, it could prove favorable to Macao exporters who might wanted some of the secondary work on their products done in the province, Mr Tam said.
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The Macao SAR Government will donate one million patacas towards the development of the city of Jinggangshan. The donation, through the Macao Foundation, was announced today during the welcoming dinner hosted by CPC Jinggangshan Municipal Committee and the Jinggangshan Municipal Government for the visiting Macao SAR delegation, headed by the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah. In addition to the MSAR Government donation, 10 Macao entrepreneurs would donate to Project Hope for the building of one primary school each. Two of them would donate another 250,000 patacas each for the development of the province. Meanwhile, Mr Ho and his delegation continued on the second day of their three-day visit in Jiangxi: today they visited several scenic spots and memorial of the China Communist Party Revolution, including the former residence of Chairman Mao Zedong in Dajing, Huang Yangjie, Jinggangshan Mountain, and the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.
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Macao had been enjoying significant economic growth since the Handover in 1999, with its GDP surging from 45 billion patacas to more than 80 billion patacas in 2004, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah said today in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Having arrived in the morning for his three-day visit, Mr Ho met the Secretary of Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Mr Meng Jianzhu, and Governor of Jiangxi Province, Mr Huang Zhiquan. After visiting a few scenic spots, Mr Ho the Macao delegation attends a meeting with the high-ranking officials of Jiangxi Province, headed by Mr Meng Jianzhu, and Mr Huang Zhiquan in the afternoon. Addressing the officials of the province, Mr Ho said the introduction of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and the Facilitated Individual Travel (FIT) scheme had fueled the development of Macao, especially in the tourism and gaming sectors. Mr Ho said the introduction of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional (PPRD) co-operation had enhanced the relationship between Macao and Jiangxi, adding that businessmen from Macao had set up 88 companies and invested more than US$200 million in the province. He also praised the Jiangxi people for the development of the province since the reforms and opening up of the Mainland, especially in their effort to streamline their industries and increasing employment. Mr Ho said he hoped that his visit would further strengthen the relationship and understanding between the businessmen of Macao and Jiangxi, and would forge a foundation for further co-operation. Macao was eager to assist Jiangxi province and other provinces to develop connections and trade with the Portuguese-speaking countries, he said. During the meeting, officials from the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) signed Memorandums of Understanding with their counterparts of the Jiangxi Provincial Government for further co-operation. Mr Ho and the Macao SAR delegation is scheduled to visit Jinggang Mountains tomorrow, a popular tourist destination in the province. His visit ends the day after tomorrow.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah left for Jiangxi this morning with a high-level government delegation on the start of a three-day visit to promote bilateral co-operation in economy, tourism and other areas. Mr Ho told the press before his departure that he hoped that the visit would further enhance understanding between Macao and Jiangxi, both of which are members of the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Region. He also encouraged the more than 60 Macao entrepreneurs who were going on the same visit to explore new business opportunities in Jiangxi. Mr Ho said there were plans to send a MSAR Government delegation to Hunan later this year, in addition to sending a delegation to Yunnan for the third Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum in mid-2006. Heading the entrepreneur delegation, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said as implementation of CEPA continued, the MSAR Government had prioritised co-operation with neighbouring cities and provinces in implementing its regional co-operation policy and PPRD regional co-operation was a very important drive for Macao’s economic development. He said the bond between members of the PPRD had strengthened since they signed the “Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation Frame Agreement” and he hoped that Macao entrepreneurs would seek to strengthen trade and economic co-operation between Macao and Jiangxi during this visit. Mr Tam said Macao would also promote its role as a service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries to the whole PPRD region, and that significant results have been achieved in this aspect so far.
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Information from Statistics and Census Service indicated that Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the fourth quarter of 2005 was 111.43, up by 3.12% over the previous quarter. Due to higher prices in hotel accommodation, in jewellery that was influenced by rising gold prices, as well as in Winter clothing and footwear, indices of Accommodation; Miscellaneous goods; and Clothing and footwear rose by 10.91%, 6.26% and 2.26% respectively. On the other hand, Transport and communications was the only section that recorded a slight decrease (-0.01%) in the index. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2004, TPI rose by 2.83% in this quarter. In 2005, the annual average TPI increased by 2.89% over 2004, with notable increases in the indices of Accommodation (+7.39%); Entertainment and culture (+4.57%); and Restaurant service (+4.16%). TPI is an indicator used to reflect the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco, Clothing and footwear, Accommodation, Restaurant service, Transport and communications, Medicine and personal goods, Entertainment and culture, as well as Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah is to lead a delegation to Jiangxi Province for a three-day visit on Monday. Delegation members will include the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Members of the Executive council and heads of Government departments. More then sixty Macao entrepreneurs will also be going on the visit and will meet with entrepreneurs in Jiangxi. During his stay in Jiangxi, Mr Ho and the delegation will meet with officials of the Provincial Government and the CPC provincial Committee. They will also visit the scenic spots in the cities of Nanchang and Jinggangshan. Mr Ho is scheduled to return to Macao in the afternoon of 18 January. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan will act as the Chief Executive when Mr Ho was away.
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The Macao SAR Government today announced a 20-year urban development plan that would include reclaiming 398 hectares of seabed to provide more land for the mid-term development of the SAR. Secretary for Transports and Public Works, Mr Ao Man Long, said the plan was in line with the Government’s outline for development and would be carried out in several phases. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Ao said the Government expected that the reclaimed land would provide room for road network enhancement, more green areas, larger living space and a more impressing sight on the waterfront. Reclamation of 398 hectares would involve 105 hectares off the northeastern coast of Macao Peninsular, 13 hectares along Sun Yat Sen Avenue on the southeastern coast, and 280 hectares off the northern coast of Taipa Island. Of the reclaimed land, 41% or about 163 hectares would be for residential, commercial buildings and hotels, while the remaining 59% or about 235 hectares would be for green areas, leisure space, communal facilities and road networks. Mr Ao said the Taipa reclamation works would be awarded after an international public tender exercise.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in November 2005, visitor arrivals in package tours totalled 289,189 up 6.6% over November 2004. Visitors from Mainland China (239,999) increased 8.7% year-on-year; visitors from Taiwan, China (15,953) decreased 33.6% and those from Hong Kong (9,810) increased 23.8%. In the first eleven months of 2005, arrivals in package tours grew 6.9% over the same period of 2004 to 2,434,608. Number of Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 19,418 in November 2005, a year-on-year decrease of 8.8%. Mainland China, Taiwan, China and Republic of Korea were the three more popular tour itineraries, which accounted for 81.1%, 4.7% and 3.7% of the total respectively. In the first eleven months of 2005, Macao residents travelling in package tours surged 41.3% compared with the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, 30,567 Macao residents travelled under own arrangements with the assistance of travel agencies, an increase of 55.2% over November 2004; Hong Kong (29.4%), Mainland China (28.5%) and Taiwan, China (21.3%) were the major destinations. In the first eleven months of 2005, Macao residents travelling under such arrangements rose 12.3% compared with the same period of 2004. At the end of November 2005, there were 10,833 rooms available in hotels and similar establishments, an increase of 1,678 rooms (+18.3%) over November 2004. In November 2005, a total of 387,940 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments in Macao, up 10.2% over November 2004. The average hotel occupancy rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 82.6% compared with the same month of 2004; the highest average hotel occupancy rate was in 3-star hotels, at 90.7%. The average length of stay of hotel guests showed an increase of 0.05 night over November 2004 to 1.21 nights. The majority of the guests came from Mainland China (62.0%), Hong Kong (21.9%) and Taiwan, China (2.8%). In the first eleven months of 2005, number of hotel guests recorded a year-on-year increase of 3.5% to 3,734,564. In the first eleven months of 2005, hotel guests (excluding Macao residents) accounted for 43.2% of the total number of tourists, which was lower than the 45.7% recorded in the same period of 2004.
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