News

The Macao Orchestra, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presents the annual “Starry Vienna - New Year Concert”, to be held on Sunday, 8 January 2017, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. All music fans are welcome to join this delightful musical feast with their loved ones on this festive time of the year. Tickets are now available at the Macau Ticketing Network. Last year, the Macao Orchestra premiered the New Year Concert in Viennese style, bringing the traditional New Year Concert from Vienna, the capital of Austria, to Macao’s stage. In a festive atmosphere full of cheerful notes, the audience felt as if they were in an actual concert in Vienna. This year, the Macao Orchestra invited again the conductor Bruno Weil, who has been active in Austria, to render an elegant, refined and delightful concert in Viennese style. This year’s concert features a number of masterpieces by Johann Strauss II and Johann Strauss I, including the Pizzicato Polka, among others, as well as other pieces of festive music such as the Gold and Silber waltz by Franz Lehár and the Overture to Light Cavalry by Franz von Suppé, announcing the commencement of the new year with a high quality concert. Tickets for the concert “Starry Vienna - New Year Concert” are now on sale at the Macau Ticketing Network and are priced at MOP 400, MOP 350, MOP 250 and MOP 150 and there are various discount packages available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For details of the programme and enquiries, please visit the Macao Orchestra’s webpage: www.icm.gov.mo/om.
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The Macao Orchestra, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, presents the annual “Starry Vienna - New Year Concert”, to be held on Sunday, 8 January 2017, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. All music fans are welcome to join this delightful musical feast with their loved ones on this festive time of the year. Tickets are now available at the Macau Ticketing Network.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 677,000 in October 2016, down by 19.0% year-on-year and up by 11.8% month-to-month. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (542,000) and Taiwan (39,000) dropped by 22.7% and 2.0% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (32,000) recorded an increase of 37.8%. In the first ten months of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 6,093,000, down by 27.0% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 106,000 in October 2016, down by 12.4% year-on-year and up by 7.1% month-to-month. Residents travelling on package tours decreased by 21.7% year-on-year to 40,000, of which residents travelling to Mainland China (29,000) and Taiwan (3,100) dropped by 24.2% and 3.4% respectively, while those travelling to the Republic of Korea (3,100) rose by 16.8%. In the first ten months of 2016, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 1,023,000, down by 16.2% year-on-year. There were 107 hotels & guesthouses operating at the end of October 2016, up by 3 year-on-year. Number of guest rooms increased by 14.6% year-on-year to 36,000, with that of 3-star hotels (5,500) surging by 116.8%; guest rooms of 5-star (22,000) and 4-star hotels (7,700) accounted for 59.9% and 21.3% of the total respectively. Number of guests of hotels & guesthouses in October 2016 increased by 20.9% year-on-year to 1,084,000, of which guests from Mainland China (695,000) and Hong Kong (154,000) went up by 18.6% and 31.9% respectively. The average length of stay of guests went down by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 83.5% in October 2016, up by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year, with that of 4-star (87.9%) and 5-star hotels (83.9%) rising by 4.9 and 2.3 percentage points respectively. In the first ten months of 2016, guests of hotels & guesthouses totalled 9,652,000, up by 13.5% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 81.5%, up by 1.4 percentage points, while the average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 0.1 night year-on-year. Visitor-guests accounted for 71.2% of the total overnight visitors, up by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 677,000 in October 2016, down by 19.0% year-on-year and up by 11.8% month-to-month. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (542,000) and Taiwan (39,000) dropped by 22.7% and 2.0% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (32,000) recorded an increase of 37.8%. In the first ten months of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 6,093,000, down by 27.0% year-on-year.
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A student team from the University of Macau (UM) recently won the championship at the Fourth Macau Model European Union (EU). This is the second consecutive year that UM students have won a championship at Macao’s Model EU. Co-organised by the European Union Academic Programme in Macao (EUAP-M) and UM’s Youth Association of International Affairs (YAIA), this year’s event attracted 56 students of nine nationalities from six higher education institutions in Macao. The topic of this year’s Model EU was the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU. Participants discussed current issues in Europe from the perspective of heads of states and governments in a simulated European Council meeting. Participants demonstrated a deep understanding of the functions of the EU and the positions of the countries they represented. At the end of the two-day discussion, students reached a consensus on many topics, including the necessity of the free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital as preconditions for the European Single Market, and a proposal for the establishment of a transition period of a minimum of three years after the conclusion of the negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom. The team formed by UM students He Wenting and Fu Qiuming won a Best Team Award, while Evelin Rizzo, an exchange student from Italy, won the Best Individual Participant Award. Next summer, they will be awarded free study trips to Europe funded by EUAP-M. The team formed by UM students Lin Sijie and Xiao Shiling, and the team formed by UM students Esther Li and Li Xinwei, received a second prize and a third prize, respectively, in the group category. UM students Dorji Wangchuk and Yao Fangyuan won a second prize and a third prize, respectively, in the individual category. The team formed by UM students Hoi Keng Ieong and Haiyu Wang won the Best Position Paper Award. The 56 participants in this year’s Macau Model EU were selected from 120 applicants from UM, Macao Polytechnic Institute, the Macau University of Science and Technology, the Institute for Tourism Studies, the University of Saint Joseph, and the City University of Macau. Established in 2012, the EUAP-M is a partnership between UM and the Institute of European Studies of Macau and is co-financed by the EU. It aims to help Macao's general public, particularly students, better understand the EU.
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The SAR Government is proposing to implement from 20 December a measure supported by the Central Government that enables Macao-registered vehicles to enter Hengqin Island in Zhuhai Prefecture. The new measure has been an ongoing topic of discussion between, respectively, the SAR Government, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Zhuhai Municipal Government, via the established cooperation mechanisms for those authorities. The Office of the Secretary for Security represents the SAR Government in talks with the Zhuhai Municipal Government regarding matters related to the measure. They include: the formation of a plan for management of the scheme; implementation details; and eligibility criteria. At present, those two authorities are focusing on final discussions regarding the initiative. They concern: detailed planning for managing entry of Macao-registered vehicles to Hengqin; and arrangements for the launch ceremony of the initiative. The Macao authorities are additionally planning for the optimisation of facilities near the Lotus Flower Bridge Checkpoint, a structure that links Macao to Hengqin. That optimisation will occur following the implementation of the new measure. Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Government has passed a set of detailed measures for managing Macao-registered vehicles entering Hengqin Island. Premier of the State Council, Li Keqiang, has announced a total of 19 measures to boost further the development of Macao’s economy, including implementing – before year-end – the initiative to enable Macao-registered vehicles to enter Hengqin Island. Premier Li mentioned the measures while in Macao in October for the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao). The SAR Government is sincerely grateful for the support it has received from the Central Government, Guangdong Provincial Government and the Zhuhai Municipal Government regarding the promotion of Macao’s development.
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The ‘Parade through Macao, Latin City’ in celebration of the 17th anniversary of Macao’s handover to China, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), will be held soon. In order to publicise activities along the Parade’s route, the organizer arranged staff members to visit the local neighbourhoods and distribute pamphlets on 29 November. The public is eager to participate in the event. Small groups of staff from IC headed to the streets along the Parade route and distributed pamphlets to local residents, providing information about the event, a map with the Parade’s route as well as information about traffic arrangements during the event. The groups also distributed promotional materials to students and the elderly, promoting the Parade close by members of the population in different levels; while some tourists were interested in the Parade, hoping to participate in the event. The ‘Parade through Macao, Latin City’, a grand annual event of the city, marks its sixth edition. Dedicated to the celebration of the 17th anniversary of Macao’s handover to China, VIVA will cross a time gate and depart to the mysterious land of the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing), enthusiastically celebrating the Handover with the public. In addition, in order to allow residents to experience the Parade’s joyful atmosphere before the event, some of the Parade’s participating groups will perform in several locations in Taipa and Macao on Thursday and Friday (1 and 2 December) from 10am to 6pm. Admission is free and all are welcome to participate. On the day of the Parade, 4 December, TDM – Teledifusão de Macau S.A. will broadcast the entire event live and will install outdoor screens at several locations - Senado Square, Rotunda de Carlos da Maia, Areia Preta Garden and Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro. The popular Hong Kong TVB programme ‘Scoop’ will feature a foretaste of the event on 2 and 15 December, as well as a Parade Special Programme dedicated to the event’s highlights, to be broadcasted on 17 December, thereby spreading the celebration of Macao’s Handover to China even further. For more information about the Parade, please visit the event’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/macaoparade.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the third quarter of 2016. Survey coverage for this quarter comprises Manufacturing; Hotels; Restaurants; Insurance; Financial Intermediation Activities; Electricity, Gas & Water Supply; Child-care and Elderly Care. This survey excludes the self-employed, as well as insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies. At the end of the third quarter of 2016, Hotels had 54,600 full-time employees, up by 8.9% year-on-year; average earnings (excluding bonuses) of full-time employees in September rose by 2.1% to MOP16,810. Restaurants had 25,181 full-time employees, down by 9.1% year-on-year, with the average earnings rising by 1.2% to MOP9,310. Manufacturing had 9,922 full-time employees, an increase of 7.5% year-on-year; average earnings in September rose by 5.0% to MOP10,270. Electricity, Gas & Water Supply had 1,101 full-time employees, an increase of 2.3% from a year earlier; average earnings increased by 4.3% to MOP30,260. Insurance had 544 full-time employees, up by 7.5% year-on-year; average earnings in September rose by 4.1% to MOP25,400. Financial Intermediation Activities had 399 full-time employees, an increase of 2.6% year-on-year, with the average earnings falling by 1.5% to MOP13,970. Child-care and Elderly Care had 1,266 and 674 full-time employees, up by 10.0% and 1.8% respectively year-on-year; average earnings in September increased by 10.0% and 12.4% respectively to MOP13,910 and MOP13,850. At the end of the third quarter, job vacancies in Hotels (1,869) rose by 245 year-on-year, while those in Manufacturing (879) and Restaurants (2,141) fell by 142 and 51 respectively. About 70.5% of the vacancies in Hotels and 68.3% of those in Manufacturing merely required junior secondary education or lower. All of the vacancies in Financial Intermediation Activities required knowledge of Mandarin; meanwhile, 58.7% and 23.9% of the vacancies in Restaurants required knowledge of Mandarin and English respectively. In the third quarter, the employee recruitment rate (7.2%) and the employee turnover rate (5.1%) in Hotels fell by 1.1 and 0.1 percentage points respectively year-on-year, while the job vacancy rate (3.3%) rose slightly by 0.2 percentage points, indicating that the manpower situation in the industry was relatively stable. In Restaurants, the employee recruitment rate (10.1%) increased by 3.1 percentage points year-on-year, while both the job vacancy rate (7.8%) and employee turnover rate (7.1%) increased by 0.5 percentage points, implying that there were still vacancies available in Restaurants. In the third quarter, a total of 143,222 employee participants from the surveyed industries attended training courses provided by the establishment (including courses organized by the establishment or in conjunction with other institutions, and those sponsored by the employer), up by 49.6% year-on-year. Hotels had 139,155 participants in vocational training, with the majority attending courses in Services (54.1%) and Business & Administration (34.9%); besides, 99.8% of the participants attended courses during office hours. Meanwhile, over 60% of the participants from most of the industries attended courses paid by the establishment, while the corresponding rate in Child-care was 37.9%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for October 2016 amounted to MOP759 million, down by 0.7% year-on-year; value of re-exports (MOP618 million) slid by 1.6%, but that of domestic exports (MOP141 million) rose by 3.3%. Total merchandise import decreased by 19.3% year-on-year to MOP6.09 billion, of which imports of Motor cars and Mobile phones declined by 54.6% and 35.0% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP5.33 billion. From January to October 2016, total value of merchandise export dropped by 4.8% year-on-year to MOP8.50 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP6.87 billion) decreased by 7.6%, but that of domestic exports (MOP1.63 billion) increased by 9.0%. Total value of merchandise import fell by 18.2% to MOP58.12 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP49.62 billion for the first ten months of 2016. Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Mainland China decreased by 2.8% year-on-year to MOP1.47 billion in the first ten months of 2016, of which exports to the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.38 billion) fell by 5.5%, and exports to Hong Kong (MOP4.73 billion) dropped by 11.5%. Meanwhile, exports to the EU (MOP148 million) and the USA (MOP126 million) reduced by 19.8% and 24.0% respectively, and exports to Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP6 million) jumped by 1,089.0%. Exports of Non-textiles declined by 4.2% year-on-year to MOP7.90 billion, of which value of Clocks & watches (MOP833 million) dropped by 24.5%, but that of Tobacco & wine (MOP676 million) grew by 44.0%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP600 million, down by 12.5%. By place of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP21.18 billion) and the EU (MOP14.00 billion) in the first ten months of 2016 decreased by 19.8% and 12.0% respectively year-on-year. However, imports from Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP545 million) increased by 11.2%. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Mainland China declined by 6.7% to MOP9.96 billion, of which imports from the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP9.38 billion) fell by 7.6%. Imports of Consumer goods dropped by 14.5% to MOP36.33 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP3.70 billion) and Motor cars & motorcycles (MOP1.03 billion) decreasing by 32.3% and 55.4% respectively. Moreover, value of imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP5.14 billion), Mobile phones (MOP3.68 billion) and Construction materials (MOP1.67 billion) declined by 12.8%, 43.4% and 37.0% respectively. External merchandise trade totalled MOP66.61 billion in the first ten months of 2016, down by 16.7% compared with MOP79.98 billion a year earlier.
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For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council collects prices of fresh pork from wet markets and supermarkets for consumers’ reference on 29 November. The mentioned data collected during 23 November to 29 November are used for comparing the average selling price of the same products from Zhuhai and Hong Kong. The relevant data has been uploaded to the Council’s website for consumers’ reference. The specific price surveys on fresh pork and vegetables are now available on the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), iPhone & Android ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ app, and the Council’s WeChat Account page. The relevant surveys include the average selling prices of local fresh pork and vegetables, and comparison on the respective the average selling prices rom Zhuhai, HK, and Macao. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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