News

Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the 27th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF) brings 22 outstanding shows to the territory from October 2nd to November 3rd 2013. The Festival presents a rich variety of musical performances, including opera, musical theatre, chamber music, jazz, choral music, Portuguese Fado and Cantonese Naamyam, counting with renowned soloists and catering to music lovers' different tastes. The Festival's offering of symphonic music begins with a concert by the Gulbenkian Orchestra, which, steered by recently appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Consultant Paul McCreesh, returns to Macao after a long absence, presenting a programme featuring works by Luís de Freitas Branco (Duas Melodias), Brazilian composer Ney Rosauro (Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra) and by Antonín Dvorák (Symphony No.9 in E minor, op. 95 "From the New World"). Established in 1962 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as a mere twelve-piece ensemble, the Gulbenkian Orchestra today boasts a permanent body of sixty-six musicians and a repertoire spanning from the classical period to the 20th century. Each season, in addition to giving their regular series of concerts in the Portuguese capital, the Orchestra travels to perform at numerous other venues throughout Portugal and around the world. A concert not to be missed by one of Portugal's most prestigious and talented orchestras! Portuguese Fado, a regular presence on local stages, joins Cantonese Naamyam for a unique concert uniting Western and Eastern folk music expressions. Fado emerged in the middle of the 19th century, becoming more widely known in the 20th century and taking to the international arena by the hand of famous singer Amália Rodrigues. In recent decades, a new generation of young singers has given Fado a new impetus, leading to its recognition by UNESCO as an item of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011. The Cantonese Naamyam (Narrative Songs) were originally sung by blind artists as a form of musical storytelling, with lyrics reflecting the hopelessness endemic to the lower classes of society. Following the art's heyday in the 1950s, when the songs were promoted on radio broadcasts, Naamyam fell into a decline, with only vestiges enduring as part of Cantonese Opera. Better understood today, they were inscribed on the Tentative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Items of the Macao S.A.R. in 2009 and on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. A highlight of this MIMF season is the violin recital by Kyung-Wha Chung. Undeniably one of the leading violinists in the world today, Kyung-Wha Chung, throughout her life as a violin soloist and recitalist, has garnered global recognition of the very highest stature. She was awarded the South Korean Government's highest honour in 1972 and the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts in 2011, among numerous other honours. Tickets for the 27th Macao International Music Festival can be purchased at all Kong Seng Ticketing outlets, by telephone and through online booking. A variety of discount plans will be offered. For more information related to the 27th MIMF, please visit the Festival's website at: www.icm.gov.mo/fimm.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price surveys on rice and canned foods on 4th September for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Results of the mentioned surveys have been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and are available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call the Council's hotline: 8988 9315.
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The new academic year is about to start! In the new academic year, 53 scholars joined the University of Macau (UM)'s faculty team, with some holding managerial positions. Among the new members are Chair Professor Ge Wei, Prof. Kevin Thompson, Prof. Chung Ling, Prof. Spencer A. Benson, and Dr. Patrick Chan Ping Cheung. They have already assumed office. UM welcomes all the new members and hopes to work with them to accelerate its development into a world-class university. Chair Professor Ge Wei from Hong Kong has been appointed interim dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Prof. Ge is an expert in reproductive biology. He has attained outstanding achievements and enjoys a leadership position in reproductive endocrinology, especially in the area of comparative endocrinology of reproduction. He also has rich experience in curriculum development and university management. UM believes that Prof. Ge's rich experience makes him the ideal person to lead the Faculty of Health Sciences through its inaugural period, and to set a solid foundation for its future development into a world-class medical research centre. Prof. Kevin Thompson from the United Kingdom has been appointed college master. Prof. Thompson is a world-renowned trumpeter, composer and conductor. He has made outstanding contributions in promoting the arts, cultural exchange, and the development of the creative industries. He also has rich experience in leading music colleges. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Music, fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and founding principal of the Birmingham Conservatoire. Before joining UM, he was the director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, chairman of the Royal West of England Academy, and director of the Dartington College of Arts. UM believes that Prof. Thompson's rich experience makes him the ideal person to lead one of the residential colleges and to promote horizon-broadening international exchange activities with world-class music colleges, thereby supporting the university in its mission to nurture well-rounded graduates. Prof. Chung Ling from Taiwan has been appointed college master. Prof. Chung is a renowned fiction writer, poet and scholar of China-West comparative literary studies. She has outstanding academic achievements and rich experience in senior-level management at higher education institutions. She held leadership positions at well-known universities in the United States and Taiwan for 20 years. She is an emeritus professor of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). Before joining UM, she served at HKBU for nine years, as associate vice-president, dean of the Faculty of Arts, and chair professor. UM believes that Prof. Chung Ling's rich experience makes her the ideal person to lead one of the residential colleges in its founding and development as well as to support the university in its mission to provide a multifaceted education to the students. Prof. Spencer A. Benson from the United States has been appointed director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement. Prof. Benson enjoys a leadership position in teaching and learning innovations. He has attained outstanding achievements in scholarship and faculty development. His highly effective administrative and teaching skills have also gained international recognition. Prof. Benson has more than 30 years of experience in biological research, teaching, and administrative management. Before joining UM, he was the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, associate professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics in the College of Computer Math and Natural Sciences, and affiliate associate professor in Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Maryland. UM believes that Prof. Benson's rich experience makes him the ideal person to lead the Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement to enhance teaching and learning at all levels within UM by working with administrators, faculties, departments, and individual instructors. Dr. Patrick Chan Ping Cheung from Hong Kong has been appointed director of the Office of Sports Affairs. Prof. Chan is an expert in sports management and has attained outstanding achievements in sports management, teaching, and administrative management. He has more than 30 years of experience in sports management at senior levels. He has participated in physical education and other scholarly activities at numerous higher education institutions, and has played a leadership role in promoting sports development in Hong Kong. UM believes that Dr. Chan's rich experience makes him the ideal person to lead the university's sports affairs to new heights of success.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply rebounded in July. As total deposits grew at a faster pace than total loans, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector dropped from a month earlier.
Money supply
Currency in circulation and demand deposits grew 1.4% and 8.0% respectively. M1 thus increased 6.9% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 3.1%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 3.6% to MOP410.7 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 38.6% and 24.1% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 24.9%, up 0.3 percentage points from a month ago but down 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 52.7%, down 0.9 percentage points month-to-month or 2.2 percentage points year-on-year.
Deposits
Resident deposits rose 3.6% from the preceding month to MOP402.2 billion. Of which, MOP deposits, HKD deposits and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 5.4%, 1.9% and 6.2%. Non-resident deposits dropped 3.2% to MOP155.4 billion. Public sector deposits with the banking sector increased 4.0% to MOP59.0 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 1.9% from a month earlier to MOP616.6 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 20.2% and 45.2% respectively.
Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector increased 3.0% from a month ago to MOP233.2 billion. Among which, MOP74.1 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP136.5 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 31.8% and 58.6% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans remained virtually unchanged at MOP266.4 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 1.1% (MOP3.0 billion) and 21.9% (MOP58.3 billion) respectively.
Loan-to-deposit ratios
The loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-July dropped 0.3 percentage points from the previous month to 50.6%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors also decreased 0.4 percentage points to 81.0%.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, will lead an official delegation to Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province in Southwest China, on 8 September to attend the 9th Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation and Development Forum. Heads of the so called 9+2 PPRD – nine provinces on the delta and the 2 special administrative regions of Macao and Hong Kong – will take the opportunity to further discuss ways to strengthen co-operation in tourism, finance and regional development. Mr Chui will attend the opening ceremony of the Forum on 9 September, then meet with leaders of Guizhou province. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, the Director-General of the Macao Customs, Mr Choi lai Hang, the Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Ms O Lam, the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, and the President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr Cheong Chou Weng will take part in the visit.
The Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, will be Acting Chief Executive while Mr Chui is away.
The PPRD Forum was established by Fuijian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. The first PPRD Forum was co-organised by Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong in 2004.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) joined hands with Macau Economic Services and 19 local tourism business delegates to promote Macau business and incentive travel at "The China Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition" (CIBTM) in Beijing, an occasion to enhance connections and collaboration with industry partners from the Mainland as well. Co-organized by China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, CIBTM was held in China National Convention Centre in Beijing from 2 to 4 September 2013. During the exhibition, MGTO promoted the "Incentive Travel Stimulation Program" among incentive travel organizers. The Office also showcased Macau's latest business tourism products and trends to industry partners and buyers, hoping to facilitate networking and business opportunities between Macau and Mainland trade through the exhibition. As a leading expo for the global meetings and incentive travel industry, CIBTM enjoys wide recognition as one of the biggest and most developed trade fairs of its kind in China. Marking its presence at CIBTM for several years, MGTO seeks to enhance cooperation and build up a great commercial network between Macau and Mainland industry partners through this important platform. The exhibition program mainly comprised China Meetings Week, professional education sessions, seminars, inaugural ceremony, networking events, welcome dinner and so forth. Nearly 400 domestic and overseas buyers registered for the Hosted Buyer program offered by CIBTM 2013. Over 500 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions joined the event this year, marking an increase of 25% in the attendance rate than the 2012 edition. The numbers of hosted buyers and exhibitors this year have both reached the unprecedentedly highest record ever.
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The Macao Orchestra (MO), under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, is set to begin yet another concert season. The season opening concert, titled "The Great Beethoven", will take place on September 14, at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. Renowned French pianist Cyprien Katsaris was specially invited to join the MO in this concert to perform Beethoven's most creative and representative composition, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, under the baton of MO's Music Director and Principal Conductor, Lü Jia. The programme of the concert also features the Overture to "Egmont" and the Symphony no. 6 in F Major, op. 68 "Pastoral", timeless pieces by the great German composer.
In its 11th season, MO continues to offer high-quality performances. Acclaimed for his technique, experience and artistic achievements, Cyprien Katsaris has received in over four decades dedicated to his art a total of sixteen awards in prominent international piano competitions, such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium International Competition. He has been hailed by the New York Times as "an intense personality; his style has led him to surpass all of the contemporary piano schools." Tickets for MO's 2013-2014 Season opening concert can be purchased through the Kong Seng Ticketing Network at MOP 150, 120 and 80. Discount plans are available. Tickets for MO's 2013-2014 Concert Season are also already available at all Kong Seng Ticketing Network outlets as well as through the ticketing hotline 2855 5555. The programme for this new concert season is available at MO's website at www.icm.gov.mo/om. For more information, please call 8295 7305 during office hours.
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The Historical Archives of Macao has invited Ms. Barbara Hassel, a specialist in book and paper conservation from Germany, to give a public lecture on "Western Style Book Conservation (Germany)" in the reading room of the Archives on Tap Seac Square from 3pm to 5pm on Sunday, 8 September 2013. At the lecture, Ms. Hassel will share her experiences in the conservation and restoration of paper art pieces and western ancient books and give an in-depth discussion on cases of various paper conservation techniques. Books in French-style full leather binding as well as tools and materials for bookbinding and paper restoration will also be displayed. Ms. Barbara Hassel was the head of the Department for Book and Paper Conservation at the State Academy of Art and Design in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1993 to 1998. Since 2000, she has been teaching bookbinding and conservation courses in universities in Stuttgart, Germany, and Ascona, Switzerland. In 2011, Ms. Hassel was invited to teach in the 2nd Training Course on Western Ancient Book Conservation Techniques which was jointly organized by the China National Centre for Preservation and Conservation of Ancient Books, the library of Zhongshan University of Guangzhou and the library of the Goethe-Institut of Hong Kong. Macao boasts profound cultures with time honored history and a rich collection of precious western documents. Protection of paper heritage is essential to the preservation and promotion of traditional culture. The public lecture will be given in English with Cantonese interpretation. All those interested in attending are invited to register. Entrance is free. For enquiries and registration, please call the Archives at 28592919 (during office hours) or email readingroom.ah@icm.gov.mo.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, and the Vice Minister of Commerce, Ms Gao Yan, today signed a supplement to an economic agreement to further enhance trade exchanges between Macao and the Mainland. Mr Tam and Ms Gao signed Supplement X to the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at the Government Headquarters after officials from Macao and the Mainland met at the 2013 CEPA Joint Steering Committee high-level meeting. The signing ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On; Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR, Ms Qiu Hong; the Acting Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the Macao SAR, Mr Feng Tie; Inspector of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Huang Guang, and the Director-General of the Macao Customs, Mr Choi Lai Hang. Similar to the nine previous supplements, Supplement X would further relieve restrictions and facilitate trade in services between Macao and the Mainland in a wide range of areas such as legal, financial, health, tourism, sports and social services sectors. Highlights of the supplement included expanding the scope of privileged policies for Macao companies and individuals to provide services in varied sectors in Guangdong Province, and abolishing some restrictions in investing in transport industry in Fujian Province. One of the initiatives in Supplement X is to enable individuals with Macao identification documents to work temporarily in the Mainland for Macao services providers that are not commercially registered in the Mainland. These individuals, under the role of contracted services providers, could work temporarily in 26 services areas, including construction, information technology, real estate, convention and exhibition, translation and interpretation, tourism, sports, and transportation. In terms of trade and investment facilitation, Macao and the Mainland would continue to strengthen co-operation in commodity inspection, quality specification and protection of intellectual property rights. Supplement X to CEPA will come into force on 1 January 2014. Speaking to the press after the signing ceremony, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, said the targets of CEPA, which was signed a decade ago, had been met and the agreement should be seen as a success. He re-iterated that basically all products made in Macao entering the Mainland now enjoyed zero tariff treatment.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific price survey on milk powder on 29th August for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12th June. Result of the mentioned survey has been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and is available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call the Council's hotline: 8988 9315.
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