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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, said today Macao would continuously participate in Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) regional co-operation, especially in regional tourism to boost mutual benefits. With great support from brotherhood provinces and regions, Macao's economy had steadily grown despite unfavourable global economic conditions, Mr Tam said in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 8th Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation and Development Forum being held in Haikou, Hainan, from 28-30 November. He said Macao was dedicated to diversifying the economy by speeding up development on leisure tourism, exhibitions, retailing, creative culture, traditional Chinese medicine, and acting as a business service platform for China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. Meanwhile, the Macao Government would pragmatically support the promotion of "multi-destination travel" – travelling with different stopovers in the PPRD region to overseas markets, he said. At the end of the ceremony, Mr Tam visited the Macao Pavilion before meeting with the leaders from Hainan and Yunnan provinces, to exchange views on tourism and business and trading co-operation. During the meetings with the Deputy Governor of Hainan Province, Mr Tan Li and the Governor of Yunnan Province, Mr Li Jiheng, respectively, Mr Tam introduced Macao's latest economic development and expressed that Macao would strengthen tourism co-operation with the two provinces. The Governor of Yunnan Province, Mr Li said that Macao is a channel for Yunnan to access to the world: he said he expected to foster co-operation on exhibition, tourism and business and trade with Macao. The Deputy Governor of Hainan Province, Mr Tan said that Macao's tourism industry has reached international level and Hainan will take Macao's development experience as a reference. A memorandum was signed between Macao and Hainan tourism departments to further promote tourism co-operation by setting up a communication mechanism. Mr Tam will attend the Leader Joint Conference to be held in Sanya on 1 December before returning to Macao
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Consumer Council conducted its specific product price survey on eggs earlier. Survey result, together with data from previous months, showed that prices of eggs were stable, and the greatest price difference of the same egg brand sold at different retail outlets recorded was 21.28 percent. The Council conducted a price check on 9 brands of eggs from 13 supermarkets on 27th November. In comparison with the data from September's survey, egg prices remained stable. 'Surewin Egg/8 pcs', which were sold at $12.0 to $14.5, observed a price difference of 20.83 percent, 'Fred Meyer Grade AA Extra Large Eggs/12 pcs', which were sold at $18.8 to $22.8, recorded a price difference of 21.28 percent. Other surveyed brands observed a general price difference of about 10 percent. Prices of 'Fresh eggs (Hubei Jinsheng)/8 pcs', which were on sale at two branches of Park'n Shop, had dropped $1.6 in its highest price in comparison with last time's survey and resulting in a price difference of 11.22 percent this time. Consumer Council indicates that its specific price survey aims at helping consumers make price comparison for the same product, consumers are therefore advised to check with the 'Specific product price information platform' prior to making purchase. The specific price survey on eggs is now available on the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that consumption of Electricity increased by 10.7% over the previous quarter to 1.26 billion kWh in the third quarter of 2012. Consumption of Electricity by the Business sector (73.7% of total) increased by 6.9% quarter-to-quarter to 928 million kWh, with that of the Gaming sector rising by 6.5%; consumption by Households went up by 25.3% to 273 million kWh. Imports of Electricity increased by 22.5% quarter-to-quarter to 1.213 billion kWh in the third quarter, bringing its relative importance to the available supply to rise by 8 percentage points to 91.2%; meanwhile, local generation of Electricity decreased by 40.4% to 128 million kWh. For the first three quarters of 2012, consumption (3.219 billion kWh) and imports (2.95 billion kWh) of Electricity increased by 9.2% and 26.6% respectively year-on-year, while local generation (453 million kWh) of Electricity dropped significantly by 42.1%. In the third quarter of 2012, consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) decreased by 6.2% quarter-to-quarter to 9,399 tonnes; meanwhile, imports of LPG declined by 8.6% from the previous quarter to 9,279 tonnes, with the average price of imports falling by 19.4% to MOP8.11 per kilogram. For the first three quarters of 2012, consumption of LPG (32,165 tonnes) rose by 0.7% year-on-year. In the third quarter of 2012, the average price of Unleaded Gasoline (MOP12.15 per litre) and Gas Oil & Diesel for automotive (MOP12.95 per litre) both increased by 0.6% quarter-to-quarter, but that of Bottled LPG (MOP13.92 per kilogram) dropping by 11.4%. At the end of the third quarter of 2012, stock of Fuel Oil (18.21 million litres) and Gas Oil & Diesel (19.67 million litres) increased by 34.4% and 1.5% respectively quarter-to-quarter, while stock of LPG (1,541 tonnes) decreased by 14.1%.
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Prof. David Chung-Laung Liu, a world-renowned computer scientist, education expert and Doctor honoris causa of the University of Macau (UM), today (28 November) gave a lecture entitled "Poetic Mathematics and Mathematical Poetry", at UM's Cultural Centre, to a full-house audience of UM staff and students, local secondary school teachers and students, as well as members of the general public. UM Rector Wei Zhao gave a speech before the lecture, in which he mentioned four reasons that make Prof. Liu the pride of all Chinese people. First, Prof. Liu received his early education in Macao, and after graduation from high school, he went to Taiwan and then the United States to pursue further education, and eventually attained remarkable academic accomplishments. Second, during the time he served as the president of Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, the university progressed by leaps and bounds, which is testament to his brilliant leadership skills. Third, he answered the famous "Qian Xuesen Question" by educating a student (Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao) who later became the first and only Chinese to receive the Turing Award, which is considered the Nobel Prize in computer, since the founding of the award. Fourth, he gave up his tenured professorship in the United States to return to Taiwan and devoted himself wholeheartedly to educating Chinese—this admirable decision of Prof. Liu has motivated a large number of Chinese scholars to do the same. Prof. Liu opened his lecture with discussion of a chessboard, and went on to intriguing examples of questions, problems and phenomena in our everyday lives that could be easily explained by mathematical theories. He unveiled the mathematical aspect of poetry and the poetic aspect of mathematics through ingeniously interwoven examples of maths theories and problems and quotes of Chinese and foreign poems, both ancient and contemporary, to an entranced audience, who frequently interrupted his speech with thundering applause and laughter. Prof. Liu also shared some of his life experiences, especially the period when he was studying in Macao. He stressed that education knows no boundaries, and every life experience could be a disguised opportunity to learn something. The essence of maths, explained Prof. Liu, is to find and establish connections between things where others don't see any. Therefore, noted Prof. Liu, maths and literature are like two different paths leading to the same destination—to discover and appreciate what's beautiful in life and in the world. The audience lingered long after the lecture was over, taking turns asking Prof. Liu questions. Prof. Liu advised the participants to have extensive interests in the pursuit of knowledge, to explore in an in-depth manner, to imagine boldly, to listen with an open mind, to think critically, to strive for perfection, to have a sense of humility, and most importantly, to never give up. He also encouraged everyone to be a diligent reader and thinker. Towards the end of the Q&A session, Rector Wei Zhao presented a souvenir to Prof. Liu on behalf of UM. Prof. Liu received his bachelor degree from Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and received his master's and PhD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States. A world-class computer scientist and a dedicated educator who has nurtured many outstanding students, Prof. Liu is the pride of Chinese people. He has successively taught at MIT, the University of Illinois, and Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), for over forty years. He is currently William Mong Honorary Chair Professor of Computer Science at Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. He is a member of the Academia Sinica and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery. He has received honorary doctorates from UM and Chengchi University, Taiwan. His major awards include the Phil Kaufman Award from IEEE's Council on Electronic Design Automation, the Technical Achievement Award from IEEE's Real Time Systems Technical Committee, the Technical Achievement Award from IEEE's Circuits and Systems Society, and the IEEE Education Medal. His research interests include computer-aided design of VLSI circuits, computer-aided instruction, real-time systems, combinatorial optimization, and discrete mathematics. He has published over 180 technical papers, eight technical books, and seven essay collections in Chinese.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao will host the 12th Quadripartite Meeting on November 29, 2012 at Macao Four Seasons. The one-day meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. and participants include representatives from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, Guangdong Bureau, Shenzhen Bureau, Office of the Commissioner of Insurance in Hong Kong and the Monetary Authority of Macao. On account of the close business cooperation between the insurance sectors in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen, coupled with the introduction of new insurance products as well as the need to respond to ongoing changes in market development and the demand for innovation, regulators need to maintain close contact in order to reinforce supervisory cooperation. For this, the related regulators have agreed to establish a regular meeting mechanism starting from the year of 2002 onwards. Each regulator will take turn to organize quadripartite meeting for the purpose of sharing information on market development, opportunities and challenges encountered by the respective insurance sector. The 2012 Quadripartite Meeting will be organized by the Monetary Authority of Macao. The purposes of this meeting are to explore ways to exploit opportunities created by the Central Government, deepen cooperation among the four regulators, as well as to pursue stable market development and enhance governance.
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A survey on the services and charges of recruitment agencies to hire foreign domestic helpers has been released by Consumer Council, detailed survey result can be found in the Council's latest issue no. 230 Consumer Report. The magazine also features an introduction of the origins of global and local consumer protection work. The first consumer protection organization was established in New York in 1891 and it aimed to promote the development of consumer protection work by 'maintaining price index'; other consumer organizations, such as Hong Kong Consumer Council, were also established at a later stage to respond to the need of society to counter inflation. Consumer protection work first appeared in Macao in 70s and the establishment of Macao Consumer Council later also bore the same background and vision. The latest Consumer Report gives a review on the history of global consumer protection movement in the past 100 years and elaborates the promulgation of consumer protection law in Macao, as well as the current work of Macao Consumer Council. According to statistics, there are over ten thousand foreign domestic helpers in Macao, therefore, recruitment agencies has become a main channel for consumers to hire domestic helpers. The Council conducted a survey on the services and charges of recruitment agencies to hire foreign domestic helpers earlier. Survey result shows that a general service fee of MOP500.00 to MOP1,000.00 is charged by recruitment agencies to hire foreign domestic helpers. Service areas such as guarantee period for replacing new hires or refund for service charges all differ for various recruitment agencies, consumers should compare the fees, service areas, as well as regulations of different agencies before commissioning any to hire foreign domestic helpers. The Council also reminds recruitment agencies to provide services according to the related laws and regulations in Macao and consumers should refuse any services or terms which go against the laws. Details of the mentioned survey can be found in this issue no. 230 Consumer Report. The current issue also features recent work of the Council and the promotion of 'Certified Shop' campaign in Guangdong province. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the office of Consumer Council (Rua Inácio Baptista, Nº 6-6A Edficio Seaview Garden R/C), and the service counter of Consumer Council at Macao SAR Government Service Centre (Rua Nova da Areia Preta, Nº52), Public Information Centre at Vicky Plaza, libraries and bookstores. Consumers may also access the resources online on the Council's official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiries, please call 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that a total of 223 MICE events were held in the third quarter of 2012, a decrease of 13 events year-on-year, of which 192 events were held in paid venues. Total number of participants and attendees increased by 34% year-on-year to 699,805. There were 22 exhibitions held in the third quarter of 2012, an increase of 7 exhibitions year-on-year; number of attendees increased by 38% to 684,268. Meanwhile, the other 201 meetings and conferences had 15,537 participants. In accordance with the information collected from the 22 exhibition organisers, there were 16 repeated exhibitions that were previously held in Macao in 2011. The major reasons for selecting Macao as the exhibition destination are "business operation in Macao" (50%) and "expanding local market" (45%). Moreover, the 22 exhibitions held in the third quarter attracted 3,029 exhibitors and 45,504 professional visitors. With an increased number of exhibitions, revenue of the exhibition organisers surged by 319% year-on-year to MOP44.78 million in the third quarter of 2012, mostly from the Financial Support from Government and Other Organisations (71% of total). Expenditure amounted to MOP65.30 million, up by 101% year-on-year, with expenses on Advertising, Promotion & Public Relations; and Production, Construction & Decoration Services accounting for 20% and 19% of the total respectively. In the first three quarters of 2012, revenue and expenditure of the exhibition organisers amounted to MOP69.92 million and MOP97.09 million respectively. Information from 229 exhibitors interviewed showed that revenue of the exhibitors amounted to MOP5.40 million, with 93% coming from Sales of Products. Expenditure amounted to MOP4.15 million, of which Rental for Exhibition Booth accounted for 71%. In the first three quarters of 2012, revenue and expenditure of the interviewed exhibitors totalled MOP25.39 million and MOP9.65 million respectively. There were 728 MICE events held in the first three quarters of 2012, down by 45 events year-on-year. Total number of participants and attendees increased by 29% to 991,602, of which 903,444 attendees were attracted by the 42 exhibitions.
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Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs. Survey result showed that price discrepancies had shrunk since last surveyed, price differences recorded this time ranged from 14.9 percent to 42.53 percent. Consumer Council collected prices of 6 over-the-counter drugs from 28 drugstores on 22nd November, surveyed drugs included remedies for cold and flu, cough syrup, and stomachache medicine. The current survey result showed that price discrepancy of the same drug sold at different drugstores had shrunk. 'Advance Cough Suspension/120ml', which observed a price difference of 81.82 percent last time, now dropped to only 20.7 percent. 'Coltalin – Cold & Flu/Allergy Formula/12 tablets', which was sold at $33.0 to $43.5 and recorded price increases in several spots, observed a price difference of over 30 percent. The specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs also revealed that selling prices of the surveyed drugs were generally stable, only 'Coltalin - Cold & Flu / Allergy Formula/12 tablets' recorded a price increase of about 10 percent in 8 drugstores. Consumer Council indicates that its specific price survey aims at helping consumer make price comparison for the same product, consumers are therefore advised to check with the 'Specific product price information platform' prior to making purchase. The specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs is now available on the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that favourable situation of the job market prevailed. The unemployment rate for August-October 2012 declined further to 1.9%, down by 0.1 percentage point from the previous period (July-September); the underemployment rate held stable at 0.8%. In August-October 2012, total labour force was 353,300 and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.3%. Total employment reached 346,600, an increase of 2,400 over the previous period. Analysed by industry, notable increase was observed in the employment in Retail Trade and Construction. Number of the unemployed decreased by 300 from the previous period to 6,700, with 19.3% being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 1.5 percentage points. In comparison with August-October 2011, the labour force participation rate, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate decreased by 1.0, 0.6 and 0.2 percentage point respectively.
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Constructed and operated by Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association with the support from Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), "Macau Budget Hotels Site" is officially launched today (November 27) to help boosting local budget hotels' competitiveness and capability of operation as well as fostering the diversified development of tourist markets. The web address of "Macau Budget Hotels Site" is www.macau-budgethotels.org , a non-profit website available in three languages, namely traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese and English. The website content includes information of the budget hotels, online room-booking service for direct transactions between consumers and operators, travel information, etc. While some budget hotels are not prepared yet to run their operation electronically, 8 budget hotels have joined the online room-booking service at the first stage with the assistance of Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association, with over 500 rooms available for booking, comprising one third of same-category rooms operated in Macau. With the trade and government's concerted efforts, it is believed that more accommodation entities can participate in the online booking service in the future. After receiving a booking confirmation from the hotels, clients can settle the payment upon check-in. "Macau Budget Hotels Site" will also launch the online payment service soon. Clients can pay online through Visa, Master or Unionpay cards. Room payment can be refunded if booking is cancelled within the stipulated period. In order to increase budget hotel operators and employees' competitiveness and also in accord with the website development, Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association have progressively organized various kinds of training courses for the industry practitioners of budget hotels, e.g. sales and operation management, cleaning management, room product procurement, website back-end management, etc. In order to facilitate the long-term goal of developing Macau into a "World Centre of Tourism and Leisure" as well as to cater for the demand of budget hotel market development, MGTO encourages and supports the trade to launch "Macau Budget Hotels Site", endeavoring to upgrade Macau budget hotels' capability of operation and competitiveness and to contribute more effort in promoting budget accommodation so that it can further diversify the tourist markets and fulfill various visitors' needs. Budget hotels commonly refer to hotels and guest houses rated two stars or lower. Currently, there are 13 two-star hotels, 4 three-star guest houses and 29 two-star guest houses, providing close to 1,500 rooms.
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