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The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Manpower Needs and Wages Survey for the first quarter of 2007. The survey covered the Manufacturing; Hotels & restaurants; Financial intermediation and Electricity, gas & water supply sectors, but excluded own-account workers and insurance intermediaries not directly employed by insurance companies. The survey results were extrapolated based on the data obtained from 644 statistical units successfully interviewed, given as follows: At the end of the first quarter of 2007, the Manufacturing sector had 29,528 paid employees, down by 7.3% over the same period of 2006. Among them, 20,376 were working in the manufacture of wearing apparel. In March 2007, the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full time employees in this sector amounted to MOP 4,789, up by 6.6% over the same month of 2006. The average earnings of the Sewing machine operators in the manufacture of wearing apparel was MOP 3,620. The Hotels & restaurants sector logged 30,563 employees, with 15,957 working in hotels. Number of employees surged by 35.0% over the first quarter of 2006, which was driven by the booming hotel industry. The average earnings for employees in March 2007 rose by 18.9% to MOP 7,078. The average earnings for the hotel Housekeeping employees and the restaurants Waiters/waitresses were MOP 4,659 and MOP 4,915 respectively. The Financial intermediation sector had 4,866 paid employees, up by 7.4% compared with the first quarter of 2006, with 4,135 working in banks. The average earnings for March 2007 went up by 4.7% to MOP 14,647 and that for the Bank tellers was MOP 8,498. The Electricity, gas & water supply sector had 1,024 paid employees, which dropped slightly by 1.4% year-on-year. The average earnings increased by 12.6% over March 2006 to MOP 20,449. At the end of March 2007, the Manufacturing sector recorded 6,550 vacancies, of which 5,025 were in the manufacture of wearing apparel. The Hotels & restaurants sector had 5,430 vacancies, while the Financial intermediation and the Electricity, gas & water supply sectors logged 261 and 27 vacant posts respectively. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, approximately 80.0% of the vacant posts in the Manufacturing sector required working experience. Over 90.0% of the vacancies in the Electricity, gas & water supply and the Financial intermediation sectors required senior secondary or higher education. Besides Cantonese, English (82.4%) and Mandarin (82.0%) were the more preferable language skills for the vacancies in the Financial intermediation sector.
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Great strides in business, culture and tourism co-operation and exchange between Macao and Fujian have been achieved, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said in Fujian today. “The two-way economy have also grown rapidly over the past years, including business activities,” Mr Ho said in a keynote speech at a meeting where high-ranking officials from Macao and Fujian were taking part during his two day visit to the province. “By taking the advantages of Macao acting as a trading platform, Macao and Fujian have jointly opened up overseas markets, and organised delegations to study the business opportunities in the Portuguese-speaking countries,” he said. The Macao-Fujian collaboration has gone into an all-around and deeper stage, he added, when he highlighted that the Central Government has given indispensable assistance. “Following the extensive implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the degree and level of collaboration between these two places would definitely be advanced.” The Macao SAR Government is highly interested with the concept of HaiXi Economic Zone, which would be a key step in speeding up economic development of the west strait, he said. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive revealed that Macao would host a large-scale international forum on the environmental industry in 2008, which is another gateway for Fujian to seek business co-operation with the European Union. He said Macao would continue to promote partnership with Fujian, and boosting trade between Fujian and Taiwan, China, would be one of the focal points under the Macao-Fujian collaboration framework.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is to lead a delegation of officials to Fujian Province on Sunday for a number of trade promotion events. In Fujian, Mr Ho is scheduled to meet with high-ranking officials of the province and attend an annual economic forum between Macao and Fujian, as well as a number of trade promotion events. Members of the delegation include the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen; Chief-of-Office of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Ho Veng On, and Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping. The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute will organise a group of businesspeople to attend relevant business promotion events in Fujian. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, will be Acting Chief Executive while Mr Ho is away.
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The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the 2006 Health Care Survey, which covered three hospitals providing hospital care services, 434 private clinics and health care centres providing primary health care services, as well as 214 establishments providing Chinese medicine and therapy services in Macao. In 2006, there were 2,778 persons engaged in hospitals, comprising 946 nurses and 490 doctors. The hospitals provided 980 in-patient hospital beds, with the occupancy rate increased slightly by 0.5 percentage point over 2005 to 76.4%. A total of 4,044 deliveries and 12,059 surgical operations were carried out during the year. Among the 1,577 persons engaged in primary health care services, 606 were doctors and 347 were nurses. Number of medical consultations administered totalled 2,280,000, up by 10.0% over 2005. In addition, 97.0% of the 434 establishments providing primary health care were operated by the private sector and the majority (369) were private clinics. With respect to the entire health care system, the ratio of residents to doctor (excluding dentists) was 447:1 and the ratio of residents to nurse was 424:1. In 2006, the number of blood donors registered an increase of 1.4% over 2005 to 9,122; the median age of the blood donors was 24.4. Meanwhile, the Blood Donation Centre provided 16,544 units of blood and blood components to the hospitals. Within the 503 persons engaged in Chinese medicine and therapy services in 2006, there were 119 doctors of Chinese medicine, 166 Chinese herbalists, and 22 masseurs, acupuncturists and therapists, providing approximately 669,000 consultations in Chinese medicine and therapy services.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, today confirmed that Banco Delta Asia had remitted a sum of over 20 million US dollar out of Macao. The money is from dozens of accounts and the remittance was done according to instruction of several dozens clients from Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said Mr Tam at a public occasion. ''The affairs had come to an end for Macao,'' he said. When asked by reporters, He said he could not disclose where the money was sent as transaction was private matters between the bank and clients. Mr Tam said the SAR Government's management over the bank had been extended to September this year and the operation of the bank is normal and stable now. He maintained the Government regretted the US Treasury's so-called sanction over Banco Delta Asia. ''The Bank had officially appealed against the US Treasury Department's sanctions,'' said Mr Tam.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) promoted both leisure and business tourism at the 21st International Travel Expo Hong Kong (ITE). Being an official supporter of the event, MGTO organized a big delegation of Macau travel trade to participate in this travel fair, and was represented by the Head of Promotion and Marketing Department of MGTO, Ms. Cecilia Tse, in the opening ceremony this morning. ITE is a prime travel expo held annually in Hong Kong. Previous statistics show that the expo has successfully attracted an international portfolio of exhibitors and visitors, and helped creating an effective platform for the travel industry to inspire one another. The MGTO booth was decorated with a strong festive atmosphere, to align with its global promotional theme “Experience Macau!” – in addition to an eye-catching thematic signage at the reception counter, eight colorful banners were hung to echo with the main theme; while the rear entrance of the booth resembled the main gate of the A-Ma temple. As MGTO strives to position Macau as a leisure and business destination, MGTO seized the occasion to cater for trade, corporate and public visitors. Apart from actively disseminating the relevant Macau information, MGTO has also led a delegation of 32 Macau travel entities who share the same vision to co-exhibit in the expo. On top of these, MGTO has hosted a Macau familiarization tour yesterday for the expo’s hosted buyers, to showcase to them the latest development of Macau’s leisure and business tourism. During the expo, MGTO hosted an in-booth cocktail to greet HK trade partners, MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention & Exhibition) organizers and media friends. It will also hold two on-site seminars during consumer days (16 & 17 June) for its HK promotional campaign, “the Difference is Macau”. The campaign will introduce 10 themed travel itineraries to the public, with an aim to position Macau as a “destination-for-all”. The 21st ITE is held from 14 to 17 June 2007 (14 & 15 June are trade days, while 16 & 17 June are public days) at HK Convention and Exhibition Centre. According to official release, there are over 600 international exhibitors from 50 countries and regions participate in the expo.
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A directional proposal to Macao’s urban planning should be completed in the last quarter of the year, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today in the plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly. Mr Lau said the Research Center for Sustainable Development Strategies, a think-tank governmental institution, was studying this specific subject and the Government would welcome comments when the proposal goes to the public. “An all-round evaluation of relationship between land allocation, industry development, world heritage protection, environmental protection, population growth, large-scale construction, transportation, restructure of old district, will be studied to provide reference for the government to make for better urban planning,” said the Secretary. Due to historical reason and limited by geographical feature of Macao, existing urban planning is based mostly on a string of legislations related with construction, fire prevention, real estates, and protection of building, landscape and cultural property. Aside from the above factors, the Land, Public Works, and Transport Bureau would also consider other dynamics, such as transportation network, historical background and resident’s habit when mapping or approving land for development, said Mr Lau. “A mechanism has been set up between the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau and the Cultural Affairs Bureau to discuss the land planning near the Guia Mountain. Both sides’ common view is to balance the city’s development and its protection,” he said. Mr Lau also revealed that the planning for Nam Wan Lake, Pak On Industrial Zone in Tapia and Butterfly Valley Industrial Zone in Coloane, which were made more than 15 years ago, were not suitable for today’s rapid social and economic development. The Government would study the relevant planning and make necessary arrangement in order to advance the landscape, he added.
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A safe and stable power supply would benefit social development, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today. Mr Lau, who was attending a plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly, said the Government has gradually increase the power supply from the Mainland to satisfy Macao's development needs. "In order to consolidate power transfer networks, we are going to build the fourth channels for transferring power from the Mainland to Macao. "We have also decide to terminate the power station in Macao considering the need for environmental protection and land shortage. Meanwhile, the one in Coloane will be used as backup," he said. Mr Lau added that the government would closely monitor the company to introduce natural gas to Macao at the end of this year.
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The Government will introduce a set of initiatives to enhance Macao's transportation system, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today. Mr Lau was answering questions at the Legislative Assembly, where he reiterated that the Government would put mass public transport in the forefront of its transportation policy. 'By introducing a safe, convenient and economical public transit system, we can reduce people's reliance on privately-owned vehicles,' said Mr Lau. 'The authority would continue to enforce compulsory vehicles examinations to better monitor greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate vehicles in bad conditions. 'We would also encourage gaming operators and hotels to provide group transportation and parking spaces for their employees.' As for measures to increase parking spaces, Mr Lau said that the Government would introduce more on-street parking meters and continue to encourage private developers to build public carparks in their buildings. Moreover, the Government would increase the obligations for vehicle owners to rein in the increase of vehicles, Mr Lau said. To relieve congestion during rush hour, the authority would also divert traffic from major avenues to less busy roads, he said.
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The Secrectary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuok Va, maintained today that the police had taken appropriate measures to maintain public order during a protest march on 1 May. He said that internal investigations and reviews had been commenced to enhance the handling of demonstration in the future. Mr Cheong was speaking at a plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly today, to answer questions from legislators. He said the police had decided the route of the protest march based on the consideration of its effect on law-abiding residents and visitors, as the demonstration was to take place on the first day of the labour day Golden Week holiday, when a great number of visitors were expected in Macao. But the demonstrators deviated from the agreed route and had begun to charge the police defence line during their march. Considering that the demonstration had steered away from the original objective, which was to peacefully express appeals, the police decided to call an end to the demonstration at 16:45 on that day. But demonstrators continued to charge the police’s defence line so police had to take action to disperse the crowds and order was restored at 19:51 that day. Regarding the incident whereby an officer fired warning shots into the air, Mr Cheong said the shooting was neither a means to suppress the demonstration nor was it based on an order made by a senior police official. He said the shooting was an on-the-spot judgment of the situation made by the officer to prevent demonstrators from trampling on one another, as some people at the front of the crowd had started to fall at the time. An internal investigation had begun into the incident, including a review of how demonstrations would be handled in the future, he said.
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