News

The Association of Portuguese Speaking Universities (AULP) held its board meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The meeting was chaired by João Nuno Calvão da Silva, president of AULP and vice rector of the University of Coimbra. Rui Martins, vice rector of the University of Macau (UM), attended the meeting on behalf of UM, which is one of the vice presidents of the association.
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With the aim of adopting the “1+4” adequate diversification development strategy and actively promoting the development of Macao as “a base for exchange and cooperation where Chinese culture is the mainstream and diverse cultures coexist”, the Macao SAR Government’s working group and the six integrated resort are continuously promoting the revitalisation of Macao’s historic districts. On the occasion of the celebration of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, an array of intriguing activities will be held at the Lai Chi Vun Shipyards, the Mount Fortress Garden, the Barra Zone around the D. Carlos I dock, the Former Iec Long Firecracker Factory, the Taipa Houses, the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro area and the Pedestrian Zone of Rua da Felicidade, celebrating the Spring Festival with residents and tourists and creating a vigorous atmosphere in the new year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the overall average residential property price index for 2023 decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to 244.4. The indices for existing residential units (262.4) and pre-sale residential units (286.1) dropped by 3.4% and 4.0% respectively year-on-year. Analysed by quarter, the overall residential property price index for the fourth quarter of 2023 fell by 3.7% from the third quarter.
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According to statistics released today (8 February) by the Monetary Authority of Macao, newly approved small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit decreased in the second half of 2023. Meanwhile, the outstanding balance of SME loans dropped while the share of SME loans to major industries remained stable.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has completed nine months of data collection for the one-year Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2023 (HIES 2023). As at the end of the third quarter, DSEC collected data from a total of 4,039 residential units, with 1,897 units completing the online questionnaire, which accounted for 47.0% of the completed questionnaires.
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Recently, the Hong Kong police have discovered for the first time that scammers are using AI technology to defraud businesses. The scammers use deepfake technology, a form of artificial intelligence, to impersonate a senior financial officer of a multinational company. They then asked the company's Hong Kong branch employees to attend a video conference via SMS. During the meeting, the employees convinced that the participants were indeed the company's chief financial officer and financial staff, made multiple transfers per their instructions. The transfers totaled approximately HKD 200 million. Only later, when the employees communicated with the multinational company headquarters, did they realize they had been deceived.
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Under the management of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Macao Grand Prix Museum (the “Museum”) widens the collection with a Lynk & Co 03 TCR race car. Once darting on the Guia Circuit, the car now joins other exhibits to recount another glorious chapter of the Macau Grand Prix. During Chinese New Year, the Museum will also hold the “Explore the Guia Circuit” Bus Tour once again as one of the festive highlights to enrich local and visiting museumgoers’ experience for a joyful Spring Festival.
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In order to promote public appreciation of its participation in culture and the arts and to provide more performance platforms for local artistic and cultural practitioners, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) has been hosting a new round of evening concerts at the Lai Chi Vun Shipyards – Plots X11-X15 in the second half of each month between December 2023 and February 2024, gathering musicians from various regions and in different languages to present a variety of music performances in multiple genres and facilitate exchanges. Following the concert featuring Macao rock bands in January, the evening concert “Spectrum of Musical Genres” will be held at 4 pm on 17 February. Admission is free. Residents and tourists are welcome to participate.
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To further reinforce the synergistic development of Macao-Hengqin MICE industry and implement the “1+4” industries development plan, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) organised a delegation of more than 30 representatives from the MICE industry and the government departments of these two regions to pay an on-site visit to the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin (the “In-Depth Co-operation Zone”) on 5 February. This is the first on-site visit held by IPIM this year, in an attempt to help the industry better understand and make good use of the convention and exhibition hardware and software facilities in the Co-operation Zone, so as to maximise the advantages of the Macao-Hengqin MICE industry. Some industry representatives believed that the convention and exhibition resources of these two regions are mutually complementary, so that the integrated development could enhance the competitiveness of the industry players of both regions.
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