News

The 18th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) is held from 28 December 2022 to 2 January 2023. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) of the Macao SAR Government, in cooperation with the Cultural Development Fund, has arranged for Macao’s cultural and creative entities to partake in the ICIF through the establishment of the “Macao Creative Pavilion” in an endeavour to lead the cultural and creative industries in Macao to identify business opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and promote exchange and development of these industries.
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The 32^nd issue of Books and the City, published by the Macao Public Library under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, is now available to the public. Themed “About Parent-Child Reading”, this issue of Books and the City introduces a series of parent-child reading promotion activities recently held by the Macao Public Library and related collections, and shares with parents how to create more opportunities to read with children through different activities during their development, from infants and toddlers, students in elementary schools who can read independently, to the teenagers who reach teen rebellion.
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The Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies of the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) recently held the High Technology Seminar Series. The seminars explored the development of advanced technology such as big data, blockchain and the Metaverse to the students of MPU and discussed the application and importance of high technology in the development of gaming, tourism and other industries. The technology-themed seminars aim to cultivate talents for the high-tech development and moderate economic diversification in Macau. The two lecture sessions were organized from both industry and academic perspectives and were delivered by Mr. Jay Chun, Chairman of Paradise Entertainment Limited, and Dr. Kuo Zhao, associate professor of computer science at Jinan University, respectively.
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With a number of large events held in November, the demand for manpower increased, which helped improve the employment of local residents. Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the general unemployment rate (3.7%) and the unemployment rate of local residents (4.7%) for September-November 2022 decreased by 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points respectively from the previous period (August-October 2022). Besides, the underemployment rate dropped by 2.2 percentage points to 4.3%.
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The COVID-19 research team of the University of Macau (UM) has provided suggestions for protecting not only physical but also mental health during the combat against the epidemic. It is important for individuals to remain calm, maintain good mental well-being, take preventative measures and seek medical help when needed, and also be mindful of the needs of the people around them.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that a total of 119 hotel establishments offered accommodation services to the public in November 2022, an increase of 2 year-on-year; number of available guest rooms rose by 1.6% to 37,000. Data on hotel establishments designated for medical observation and self-health monitoring were excluded in the compilation of the results. The average occupancy rate of guest rooms in November dropped by 7.8 percentage points year-on-year to 38.7%, with the rates for 3-star and 5-star hotels decreasing by 14.0 percentage points and 8.6 percentage points respectively.
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Under the auspices of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government and jointly organised by the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong SAR and Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the “2022 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Fair for Trade in Services” (BAFTIS) was held earlier in the form of “one event, two places”. The main venue was in Zhuhai, while a sub-forum on the high-quality development of MICE in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) was held in Macao.
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The Financial Intelligence Office, as the coordinating agency of the Interdepartmental Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism Working Group (AML/CFT WG), held the second plenary meeting of the year via online conferencing platform on December 16, 2022. The main items discussed during this plenary meeting were the latest updates on the Macao SAR ML/TF/PF Risk Assessment, including preliminary analysis results and major threats and risks identified in relation to different sectors, as well as the updates on ML risk associated with VA/VASPs in Macao SAR. At the meeting, representatives of different member agencies also discussed the follow-up work of the abovementioned risk assessment in 2023 and the work plan for reaching out to the sectors.
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In response to the latest development of COVID-19, the Social Security Fund (abbreviated to FSS in Macao) will extend the deadline for relevant payments (contributions of long-term employees for the fourth quarter of 2022, the employment fee for non-resident workers, the contributions of casual workers for December 2022, and arbitrary system contributions for the fourth quarter of 2022) to 28 February 2023, and waive any late payment interest and fine. To reduce crowd gathering, the FSS calls on residents to make use of electronic means for checking and applying for various social security services.
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The COVID-19 research team of the University of Macau (UM) has analysed the latest situation of epidemic prevention in Macao, stressing that the relaxation of anti-epidemic regulations is a necessary step to help the local community return to normality. Macao, like other cities, was impacted by the first wave of the Omicron variant. The resulting major changes have put a strain on the whole community and the healthcare system. While trying to adapt to the new normal, residents could be puzzled as to what to do when they and their families are threatened with getting infected with COVID-19. In such circumstances, the research team hopes that everyone stays calm and works together to combat the epidemic.
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