News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the economy of Macao contracted by 7.1% year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter of 2016, showing signs of improvement compared with the first quarter (-13.3%), mainly due to slower declines in service exports and investment, as well as a lower base of comparison in the previous year. External demand remained weak, as exports of goods fell by 24.7% year-on-year, a similar rate to the first quarter (-24.6%); exports of gaming services and other tourism services dropped by 12.0% and 7.4% respectively, less than the declines in the first quarter (-17.1% and -11.0%). Domestic demand saw continued slowdown, of which private consumption expenditure diminished by 2.2%, investment and imports of goods decreased by 15.2% and 16.2% respectively; meanwhile, government final consumption expenditure grew by 4.5%. The implicit deflator of GDP, which measures the overall changes in prices, rose marginally by 0.1% year-on-year. Residents tended to be cautious with their spending during the period of economic adjustment. Private consumption expenditure dropped by 2.2% year-on-year, similar to the rate in the first quarter (-2.3%). Expenditure on durable goods showed notable decline, revealing that households were relatively careful with spending on non-essential items. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market fell by 2.0% while that abroad rose by 2.2%. Government final consumption expenditure registered larger increase, expanding by 4.5% year-on-year, higher than the 1.5% growth in the first quarter. Compensation of employees and net purchases of goods and services went up by 3.0% and 7.3% respectively. Investment continued to decline, but at a slower pace. Gross fixed capital formation, the gauge of investment, contracted by 15.2% year-on-year, notably smaller than the decline in the first quarter (-31.9%). Investment was mainly dragged down by the decrease in private investment. Due to the successive completion of major tourism and entertainment facilities, private investment in construction and equipment shrank by 19.1% and 12.7% respectively, resulting in a significant drop of 18.4% in total private investment. On the other hand, government investment increased by 41.7%, of which public construction and equipment investment grew by 40.0% and 59.5% respectively. Merchandise trade remained sluggish. Private spending turned cautious while declines in investment and visitor spending lessened. Imports of goods decreased by 16.2% year-on-year, representing a smaller drop compared with the first quarter (-19.9%). Exports of goods fell by 24.7% year-on-year, a similar rate to the first quarter (-24.6%). Decline in service trade tapered off. Exports of services shrank by 9.5% year-on-year, lower than the 13.7% drop in the first quarter. Exports of gaming services and other tourism services diminished by 12.0% and 7.4% respectively, notably smaller than the declines in the first quarter (-17.1% and -11.0%). Meanwhile, imports of services reduced by 2.0%, lower than the 4.8% fall in the first quarter. In the first half year of 2016, the economy of Macao contracted by 10.3% in real terms. In terms of major GDP expenditure components, private consumption expenditure decreased by 2.3%, investment reduced by 23.5%, exports and imports of goods dropped by 24.7% and 18.1% respectively; exports and imports of services slid by 11.7% and 3.4%, of which exports of gaming services and other tourism services fell by 14.7% and 9.3% respectively; meanwhile, government final consumption expenditure rose by 3.1%, the only major expenditure component that registered growth.
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The XXXII Collective Exhibition of Macao Artists, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will be inaugurated this Friday, 2nd September, at 6:00pm, at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, featuring 56 selected and awarded works. The XXXII Collective Exhibition of Macao Artists is divided into three categories, namely Chinese Painting, Western Painting and Chinese Calligraphy, with a total of 260 works received. Assessment by the six juries was held in July and a total of 56 works were selected and awarded, including 19 Chinese paintings, 19 Western paintings and 18 Chinese calligraphy works. Lam Wun Keng was awarded the “Best Creation Special Prize” as well as the “Best Work - Western Painting” for her triptych on the Mandarin’s House, Rua dos Ervanários and Estoril Hotel titled “1. Mandarin's House inside the windows, the ‘Golden Age Prophecy’ Outside the windows; 2. Behind Rua dos Ervanarios, life remains the same; 3. Estoril, who are you?”, conveying the artist’s expectations about Macao’s old buildings and way of life. Tam Chon Kit participates in the XXXII Collective Exhibition of Macao Artists every year and is highly active in Macao’s artistic circles; this time he conquered the “Award for Best Work - Chinese Painting” with his work “Private talks at Lou Lim Ieoc Garden”; “Fantasy” by Leong Lampo, Professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia, was awarded “Best Work - Chinese Calligraphy Prize”. By using 2 simple Chinese characters in the name of the artwork, he brings out the contracts and rhythm which express the limits of fantasy and in pursuit of the strong and broad spiritual sense of Laozi’s and Zhuangzi’s philosophies .In addition, with the “New Talent Prizes” in each category the Organizer hopes to encourage young artists to pursue their creative vein. This year, two young artists were awarded the “New Talent Prize” in the Chinese Calligraphy category for the first time, wherefore a total of four artists were awarded in the three categories, namely Chan Chong Hei in the category of Chinese Painting, Chan In Iong in the category of Western Painting, and Un Ka Ian and Guan Seng Lok, both in the Chinese Calligraphy category. The XXXII Collective Exhibition of Macao Artists will be held from 3rd September to 30th October at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, located at No. 163, Av. Almeida Ribeiro, Macao, and is open daily from 9:00am to 9:00pm, including public holidays. Admission is free. Guided tours for public and groups are available, and guided tours for the public will be held every Saturday and Sunday (including public holidays), from 3:00pm to 4:00pm, during the exhibition period; whereas guided tours for groups must be booked in advance, and are open to organizations and schools. For enquiries about guided tours and the exhibition, please call IC through tel. no. through 8988 4100, during office hours.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours increased by 15.8% month-on-month to 660,000 in July 2016, yet down by 22.6% year-on-year. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (524,000) and Taiwan (41,000) decreased by 26.9% and 25.6% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (30,000) soared by 161.0%. In the first seven months of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 4,090,000, down by 30.0% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 109,000 in July 2016, up by 13.8% month-on-month and down by 16.5% year-on-year. Residents travelling on package tours decreased by 22.7% year-on-year to 43,000, with those travelling to Mainland China (29,000) and Taiwan (3,400) dropping by 35.1% and 14.3% respectively. On the other hand, residents travelling to the Republic of Korea on package tours totalled 4,100, a rebound from the significant decline in 2015 due to the impact of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. In the first seven months of 2016, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 708,000, down by 17.3% year-on-year. There were 104 hotels & guesthouses operating at the end of July 2016, down by 1 month-on-month and up by 2 year-on-year. Number of guest rooms totalled 32,000, up by 1,900 (+6.3%) year-on-year, of which 5-star hotel rooms (20,000) increased by 1.6% and 4-star hotels rooms (7,700) rose substantially by 28.4%. A total of 1,042,000 guests checked into hotels & guesthouses in July 2016, up by 12.3% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (647,000) increased by 9.6%, and those from Hong Kong (183,000) and Taiwan (44,000) surged by 22.2% and 24.1% respectively. The average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 0.1 night year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses rose by 4.0 percentage points year-on-year to 86.8% in July 2016, the highest single-month figure since November 2014; the occupancy rate of 4-star hotels went up by 8.8 percentage points to 90.6%. In the first seven months of 2016, guests of hotels & guesthouses totalled 6,484,000, up by 12.7% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 79.8%, up slightly by 0.5 percentage point; the average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 0.1 night. Visitor-guests accounted for 71.0% of the total overnight visitors, up by 2.7 percentage points year-on-year.
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The Government is striving to allocate additional resources to promote the development of the local sporting sector, and the principle of sport for all. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, made the comments this evening (29 August) during a meeting with the Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, Mr Liu Peng. Mr Liu is in Macao heading a delegation of athletes from the Chinese national team that competed in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Mr Chui said the activities organised for the visit to Macao of the Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation offered great opportunities for in-person exchanges between the athletes and locals, helping Macao young people better understand the athletes’ own stories and the determination needed to achieve Olympic success. The Chief Executive expressed his gratitude to the General Administration of Sport of China for its support regarding attempts by the Macao Olympic Committee to have its status fully recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Macao residents understood the challenges involved in this process, as only “independent states” have been recognised by the IOC since revisions made in 1996 to the Olympic Charter. As a member of the Olympic Council of Asia, Macao has spared no effort in promoting the development of local sport teams, and in reaching for new heights of achievement when participating in Asia-level international sporting competitions. Speaking at the meeting, Mr Liu said the achievements of the Chinese national team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were attributable to the strong support of the State Council and that of all the ethnic groups and communities across the country, including the support of Macao. The General Administration of Sport of China would further increase efforts to assist Macao in sending participants to a greater number of sporting events in Asia, stated Mr Liu. Officials of the General Administration of Sport of China also attending the meeting included: the Vice Minister, Mr Gao Zhidan; and the Director of the External Affairs Department, Mr Song Luzeng. The Government was represented additionally by: the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms O Lam; the acting Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Wai Cheng Iong; the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping; the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Mr Fung Sio Weng; and the President of the Sports Bureau, Mr Pun Weng Kun. The Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Wang Zhimin, also attended the meeting. The Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation is on a four-day visit in Macao. The athletes are to take part in several events in order to share their stories of success and their experience of the Rio 2016 Olympics. It is a chance for the Macao public to meet the athletes face-to-face.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said the visit to Macao starting today (Monday), by some of the nation’s athletes from the Olympics Games Rio 2016, would ignite the city’s passion for sport and give a boost to the development of the local sporting sector. Speaking at the welcoming banquet for the visiting Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation, Mr Chui said the in-person exchanges – a feature of the Delegation’s four-day visit – between the athletes and locals would help the public better understand the athletes’ own stories, their struggles, and the will to win that lead to their success at the Olympic Games. The athletes’ stories would serve as positive examples for young people and would encourage them in incessant self-improvement, Mr Chui added. Mr Chui gave a warm welcome to the 64-member Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation, at a banquet hosted by the Government and held at the Macao East Asia Games Dome. The Delegation arrived in Macao in the afternoon, on a four-day visit, right after the visit in Hong Kong SAR. Macao had seen huge success in the development of competitive sports and sport for all: the support of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Olympic Committee had been essential in achieving this progress, said the Chief Executive. The Minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, Mr Liu Peng, attended the welcoming banquet. He said in his speech that national athletes had achieved remarkable success at the Olympics. This success was attributable to the development of the country and the strong support from the Macao SAR. Mr Liu stated he looked forward to closer and deeper cooperation and exchanges in sport between the mainland and Macao. A total of 250 guests attended the welcoming banquet, including: the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Wang Zhimin; the Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR, Mr Ye Dabo; the Commander of the People's Liberation Army Macao Garrison, Major General Wang Wen; principal officials of the Macao Government; members of the Executive Council; members of the Legislative Assembly; Macao’s delegates respectively to the National People’s Congress and to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; members of the Sports Council and people from all walks of life. The Chief Executive presented a 14-million-pataca cheque – donated by non-governmental organisations and members of the community – to the Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation. Several representatives of the Delegation – namely volleyball athlete Ms Zhu Ting and track cyclist Ms Gong Jinjie – received the cheque. The Rio Olympics Mainland Olympians Delegation was – on arrival at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal – greeted by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng, and the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Mr Sun Da. A total of 235 students joined a welcoming ceremony – an event organised by the Government – and 15 students presented bouquets of flowers to members of the Delegation. During their stay in Macao, the athletes will take part in several events in order to share their stories of success and their experience of the Rio 2016 Olympics. It is a chance for the Macao public to meet the athletes face-to-face. Tomorrow morning (30 August), the athletes will meet young locals in order to share with them insights on preparatory training for the Olympics. In the evening, the Delegation will attend a variety show at the Macao East Asia Games Dome. On Wednesday (31 August), the athletes will divide into groups in order to visit a total of six local community centres and social services centres, and share their Olympic joy with local senior citizens and young people. On Wednesday afternoon, the athletes will take part in another experience-sharing session – this time with young Macao athletes and local students – at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion. The session will include performances and skill demonstrations by the athletes, and interactive games between the guests and Macao’s young athletes and students. The Delegation will leave Macao on the morning of 1 September, bound for Beijing. The 64-member Delegation includes 45 elite athletes from the mainland; five coaches from different sport events; and officials from the General Administration of Sport of China.
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The University of Macau (UM) has been certified under ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO 14001: 2015, in recognition of the university’s continuous effort to improve service quality management and its commitment to environment protection. UM is the first higher education institution in Macao to obtain certification under the latest ISO management system standards. To better support the university’s development and to meet the increasing demand for high-calibre talent in Macao, UM in August 2014 moved to the new campus which is 20 times the size of the old one. Since its relocation to the new campus, the university has received growing international recognition in various areas, including teaching, academic programmes, and scientific research. Recently, it obtained certification under the latest ISO management system standards—ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO 14001: 2015, in recognition of its continuous effort to improve service quality management and its commitment to environment protection. UM continuously improves the work procedures and performance of its various departments through system review. It also implements an environmental management system to promote energy conservation, resource recycling, and green purchasing, in an effort to increase environmental awareness among its staff and create a sustainable green campus. To comply with ISO 14001 standards, UM developed the Register of Environmental Aspects for its various facilities, offices, and laboratories. This allows the university to effectively monitor the environmental aspects that may be produced during the day-to-day operation of the campus, such as the disposal of laboratory waste, the discharge of pollutants, noise, and air quality. The latest ISO editions were published in September 2015, with ISO 9001：2015 being heavily revised to maintain its relevance in today’s marketplace. The new edition places greater emphasis on the support and participation of the management, risk management mindset, and sustainable development of the organisation.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the second quarter of 2016. Survey coverage comprises Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities; however, own-account workers are excluded. At the end of the second quarter of 2016, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 56,547 persons engaged, up by 5.2% year-on-year, with 35,754 working in Retail Trade. In June 2016, average earnings (excluding bonuses) of full-time employees rose by 2.3% year-on-year to MOP12,600. Transport, Storage & Communications had 10,872 persons engaged, up by 6.8% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in June rose by 4.1% year-on-year to MOP20,710. Security Activities had 10,941 persons engaged, up by 8.6% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in June rose by 4.5% year-on-year to MOP12,410. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 839 persons engaged, up by 10.1% year-on-year. Average earnings of full-time employees in June increased by 3.1% year-on-year to MOP17,480. At the end of the second quarter of 2016, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 3,820 vacancies (68.8% in Retail Trade), down by 1,243 year-on-year. Vacancies in Security Activities rose by 249 to 1,239. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, the majority of the vacancies in Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities (88.9%) and Security Activities (83.2%) only required junior secondary education or lower, while 47.2% of those in Wholesale & Retail Trade required senior secondary education or higher. As for language skills, 92.2% and 60.8% of the vacancies in Retail Trade required knowledge of Mandarin and English respectively; the corresponding rates in Security Activities were 67.6% and 43.3%. In the second quarter of 2016, the vacancy rate and recruitment rate in Wholesale & Retail Trade fell by 2.7 and 1.4 percentage points respectively year-on-year, while the turnover rate remained unchanged, indicating a decrease in demand for manpower. In addition, the vacancy rate (8.4%) in Transport, Storage & Communications dropped by 2.0 percentage points year-on-year, while the recruitment rate (4.6%) and the turnover rate (4.2%) were similar to those from a year earlier, suggesting that some of the vacancies had already been filled. As regards vocational training in the surveyed industries, a total of 16,865 participants attended 1,062 training courses provided by the establishments in the second quarter of 2016 (including courses organized by the establishments or in conjunction with other institutions, and those sponsored by the employer); 60.0% of the establishments in Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities and 55.8% of those in Security Activities provided vocational training to their employees. Wholesale & Retail Trade had the largest number of participants (9,045), attending a total of 772 training courses. Analyzed by course type, 80.1% of the participants from Transport, Storage & Communications and 59.2% of those from Wholesale & Retail Trade attended courses in “Business & Administration”. Almost all of the industries had over 80% of their participants attending courses paid by the establishments.
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In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Macao Artists Society, the Macao Museum of Art under the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macao Artist Society have co-organised the collective art exhibition “60th Anniversary of the Macao Artists Society – A Retrospective”, to be inaugurated on Wednesday, 31 August, at 6:30pm, at the Gallery of Special Exhibitions of the Handover Gifts Museum of Macao, presenting a selection of 60 works with high artistic and commemorative value by 36 late artists from the Macao Artist Society. All are welcome to attend. Established in 1956, the Macao Artist Society (formerly the Macao Art Research Association) is one of the most influential art organisations in Macao and has made a remarkable contribution to local art development. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Macao Artist Society, MAM holds this anniversary exhibition to commemorate the distinguished works of pioneer artists and support the local artistic development. The exhibition features a selection of calligraphy and oil paintings, watercolours and painting in traditional Chinese ink, as well as a series of rare collaborative paintings created exclusively for the National Day of the People’s Republic of China. Encompassing Chinese and Western techniques, the artworks are of different genres, ranging from Chinese traditional paintings of natural landscapes, flowers and birds, portraits and still life, calligraphy, collage, abstract paintings as well as comics. These products of the Chinese and Western cultures are items of Macao’s cultural heritage featuring Macao’s unique human characteristics. Throughout six decades, this generation of artists has generated and cultivated, against all odds, the emergence of Macao’s artistic identity. They have elevated the city’s artistic standard significantly and laid a solid foundation for its modern art development, demonstrating their far-reaching impact on the overall advancement of art in Macao. The exhibition “60th Anniversary of the Macao Artists Society – A Retrospective” is open until 4 December at the Handover Gifts Museum of Macao, located at Avenida Xian Xing Hai, and is open daily from 10am to 7pm including on public holidays (no admission after 6:30pm; closed on Mondays). Admission is free. For details about the exhibition, please visit www.MAM.gov.mo. For enquiries, please call IC through tel. no. 8791 9814 during office hours.
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in August on 26 August for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Sé Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. With reference to the local seven parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that both the unemployment rate (1.9%) and the underemployment rate (0.5%) for May-July 2016 remained stable as in April-June 2016. Total labour force was 399,400 and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.5%. Total employment increased by 1,600 from April-June, at 392,000. Analysed by industry, employment in Wholesale & Retail Trade registered increase, while that in Gaming & Junket Activities saw decrease. Number of the unemployed was 7,400, similar to that in April-June. With fresh graduates joining the labour market, the proportion of fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job increased by 6.5 percentage points to 15.5% of the total unemployed. In comparison with May-July 2015, the labour force participation rate dropped by 1.2 percentage points, while both the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point.
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