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Working Group on Food Prices conducted its specific price survey on canned foods on 6th September at 20 retail outlets, surveying the retail prices of 11 canned food brand samples. The survey reflects that the highest price difference is over 50%, whereas the lowest is below 7%. In the recent specific price survey on canned foods, the selling price of the same brand of canned food varied in different retail spots. The highest and lowest selling prices of "Narcissus Brand Spiced Pork Cubes (142g)" recorded in the recent survey were $13.00 and $19.90 respectively, with a percentage difference of around 53.08 %. While, the selling price of Tulip Pork Luncheon Meat (340g) recorded a big drop in two retail spots, resulting in a percentage difference of around 40.16% and its highest and lowest selling prices were $24.90 and 34.90 respectively. Consumers are advised to check with the survey data to make practical consumption. The specific price survey on canned foods is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, met today with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Mr Sha Zukang, and the Chairman of National Tourism Administration, Mr Shao Qi Wei, who are in Macao taking part in the Global Tourism Economy Forum.
The meeting took place at the Santa Sancha, where the Chief Executive expressed gratitude for his counterparts' presence at the Forum and their long-term support for Macao's development.
Mr Chui said the success of the forum depended on the support of the Central Government and other international tourism organisations. Mr Sha said tourism development not only raise the overall economy, but also enhance personnel exchanges which facilitate a better understanding about a country or region and promote peaceful development. Mr Shao Qi Wei introduced the newest tourism development of China and pledged to support Macao's development into a world leisure tourism centre.
Head of Department of Affairs on Tourism of Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan of the National Tourism Administration, Mr Liu Kezhi, , the Director of the Asia Tourism Exchange Center, Ms Xu Weifang, the Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the the Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Ms O Lam, the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Mr Fung Sio Weng and the Advisor of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Kou Chin Hung, also attended the meeting.
Mrs Sha also attended the meeting.
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Consumer Council handled almost 3,800 cases in the first half of this year.760 cases were complaints and almost 3,000 cases were inquiry, the rest of 51 cases were suggestions of consumers. Among the over 700 complaint cases, 122 cases were about telecommunication services. The number of cases regarding fees charged for various telecommunication services and arguments on contract terms has dropped by almost 30 percent comparing to 2011's figures whereas the number of cases regarding telecommunication service providers' service quality has increased. A total of 97 complaint cases for telecommunications products were received in the first half year, half of the cases received were about quality of mobile phones and after-sales services of telecommunications products, and tourists' complaints amounted to 60 percent of the complaint cases received in this category. Under this category, consumer disputes arise mainly due to the differences between the operations of local market and that in mainland China, and the definition and scope of warranty service of mobile phones in the two regions. Consumer Council suggests mobile phone retailers to give detailed explanation to consumers when they purchase mobile phones. Meanwhile, only 9 complaint cases on mobile phones have been received, which had reduced by 70 percent comparing to the previous year. The Council will continue to update its website with the latest suggested retail prices of mobile phones for inbound tourists' reference. Other categories which recorded increase in the number of cases mainly included clothing & apparel, sporting goods, as well as service charges and services of banks under the financial services category. The Council will provide adequate information to consumers by releasing researches and consumer alerts to enhance consumers' own protection on consumer rights. In the first half year of 2012, the Council also handled 2,972 inquiry cases, which had increased by 20 percent than the number of the previous year. A detailed report on the cases received by the Council is covered in the latest issue no. 228 of Consumer Report.
The current Consumer Report also features articles on Consumers International and other activities of the Council and other mainland consumer organizations.
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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24th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest staged its première fireworks display tonight, featuring the wonderful performance from the Korean and Thailand teams and attracted a great number of citizens and visitors to enjoy. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Cheong U, Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macau Special Administrative Region, Feng Tie, Director of Department of Culture and Education of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macau Special Administrative Region, Liu Xiao Hang and Director of Macau Government Tourist Office, João Manuel Costa Antunes attended the Opening Ceremony of Macau International Fireworks Display Contest at the Macau Tower Outdoor Plaza. 24th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest is held at the Macau Tower shorefront from today until October 1. Among the show days, October 1 is China's National Day, on which the contest will feature the fireworks teams from Italy and Mainland China. The 10 participating teams this year are (according to the latest contest order) Korea; Thailand; Taiwan, China; Australia; Portugal; France; Japan; United States; Italy and Mainland China. Each participating team is requested again this year to complement their display with music to enthrall the audience with a light and sound spectacular. To enhance the enjoyment, the organizer has installed sound systems at the Macau Tower Outdoor Plaza and its waterfront, as well as the Macau Tower Street seaside and the front square of Kun Iam Statue on Ave. Dr Sun Yat-Sen so that the public can enjoy synchronized music to the spectacular displays. Spectators can listen to live music of the fireworks displays through TDM - Radio Macau's Chinese Channel live broadcast at FM100.7. MGTO continues its cooperation with Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau S.A.R.L. (CTM) to jointly present the "Macau International Fireworks Display Contest SMS Game" again this year in order to foster citizens' participation in the event. During the contest period, CTM will send out text messages to their mobile subscribers and introduce the game, in addition to promoting the SMS game on the MGTO and CTM websites. Macau citizens can send a text message to CTM through their mobile to vote for their favorite team after each night of fireworks display. Citizens who have voted for the most popular team on that night are eligible for the lucky draw which will grant one winner with two sets of reservoir stand tickets for the 59th Macau Grand Prix (Saturday and Sunday) and souvenir. The 5 fireworks teams who get the most SMS votes will be awarded with "The People's Choice" certificates and souvenirs. Nevertheless, the audiences' voting result will not affect the jury's decision on the fireworks display contest. MGTO will also post web banners on CTM's website to enhance promotion efficiency. MGTO continues to join hand with the General Union of Neighbors Association of Macau to present the "Fireworks Carnival 2012" at the area next to Macau Tower in order to add more fun and color to the fireworks display nights. In order to enhance spectators' enjoyment of the contest and to enrich the performance elements of the fireworks, MGTO will raise the subsidy given to the participating teams for fireworks materials by 25%, i.e. up to USD25,000, starting this year, while also increasing the correspondent support for fireworks materials delivery expense. Furthermore, to celebrate the silver anniversary of Macau International Fireworks Display Contest next year, MGTO will organize the Trophy Design Contest, which will not only foster participation and a deeper sense of involvement among the public but also inspire creativity among local design talents.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today sent a letter to inform the Central Government that the MSAR Government was ready to provide help with disaster relief works in Yunnan.
The Government Spokesman Office today released a statement which said that Mr Chui was very concerned with the multiple earthquakes that hit Yunnan, killing some 60 people.
According to the statement, Mr Chui said in the letter that the Macao people were very concerned about the victims and rescue works in the quake zone, and that he had conveyed condolences on the casualties and damage to properties of the residents.
Mr Chui said the MSAR Government would actively co-ordinate and fully supports relief works.
Two quakes measuring 5.7 and 5.6 on the Richter scale hit an area near Yiliang in Yunnan and Weining county in Guizhou province, southwestern China, at 11:19 a.m. and 12:16 p.m. Friday (7 September), respectively.
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The working group on food prices released its latest specific price survey on rice. Survey result showed that prices of the 16 surveyed products remained stable. Survey data is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. The working group on food prices collected prices of 16 brands of rice from 22 retail outlets on 3rd September. A general price difference of less than 10 percent was recorded; 'Golden Elephant Brand Premium Jasmine Rice/8kg', which was sold at $119.9 to $143.0, recorded the biggest price difference of 19.27 percent. In comparison with July's survey result, 8 out of the 16 surveyed rice brands recorded no change in price, 7 brands recorded general price increases or decreases of less than 5 percent, and 1 brand recorded no data. The biggest change in price was recorded in 'Golden Elephant Brand Premium Jasmine Rice/8kg', which observed a 9.8 percent price decrease in two retail outlets. The specific price survey on rice is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps.
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In the first half-year of 2012, a total of 311 applications for temporary residency for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders were received by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) (an increase of 91 compared with the same period last year), 54 applications for major investment and major investment plans (an increase of 21 compared with the same period last year), representing 85% and 15% of the total of 365 new applications in the first half-year of 2012. Approved cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders amounted to 192 (a decrease of 33 compared with the same period last year), approved applications for major investment and major investment plans totalled 6 (an increase of 1 compared with the same period last year). In accordance with the Administrative Regulation No. 7/2007, temporary residency applications for fixed asset purchases have been suspended since 4 April 2007. There were over 4,000 applications lodged before the closing date of the policy and are still being processed. Therefore, there were no new residency applications during the first half-year of 2012 for fixed assets purchases while all of the 16 already approved cases were lodged before 4 April 2007. Statistics of Investment Residency Applications and the Cases and Number of Beneficiaries in the First Half-Year of 2012
(* Please find the attached file) For further enquiries on the residency application guidelines, please contact IPIM by visiting the website: www.ipim.gov.mo, email: gjfr@ipim.gov.mo, tel: 28712055 or fax: 28713950. Applicants may also visit the website and enquire about the progress of their residency application status online.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, broad money supply increased at a faster pace in July. As total loans grew faster than deposits, the overall loan-to-deposit ratio of the banking sector rose from a month earlier. Money supply Currency in circulation and demand deposits rose 0.6% and 4.2% respectively. M1 thus increased 3.5% from one month earlier. Concurrently, quasi-monetary liabilities grew 2.8%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, grew 2.9% to MOP330.8 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 6.9% and 20.7% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 25.7%, down 0.4 percentage points over a month ago or 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 55.0%, up 1.0 percentage point month-to-month or 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits Resident deposits grew 3.0% from the preceding month to MOP323.7 billion. Of which, MOP deposits, HKD deposits and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 1.3%, 4.7% and 0.1%. Non-resident deposits grew 1.1% to MOP127.1 billion while public sector deposits with the banking sector increased 2.7% to MOP40.4 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector rose 2.5% from a month earlier to MOP491.2 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 21.2% and 45.5% respectively. Loans Domestic loans to the private sector increased 3.8% on a monthly basis to MOP186.5 billion. Among which, MOP50.3 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP117.4 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 26.9% and 62.9% of the total respectively. On the other hand, external loans rose 5.8% to MOP213.1 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.6% (MOP1.2 billion) and 24.6% (MOP52.5 billion) respectively. Loan-to-deposit ratios As domestic loans to the private sector grew faster than resident deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-July rose 0.4 percentage points month-to-month to 51.2%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors was 81.4%, up 1.9 percentage points from end-June.
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The 24th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest will take place at the sea area in front of the Macau Tower during September 8th and October 1st. Due to technical reasons, Foti International Fireworks Pty Ltd. from Australia will be withdrawn from the program and replaced by another Australian fireworks company Infinity Pyrotechnic. The program will also be revised. The newly joined Australian team will come on stage earlier as on September 15th, while the US team's fireworks display will be postponed to September 29th. The latest fireworks program is available at: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/documents/img/24th_Fireworks_Program.jpg
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Institute for Tourism Studies is an institute emphasising on both theoretical and practical learning. Students can choose to perform the half year internship programme in Macao or overseas organisations which are related to their specialisations, so as to technically apply what they have learned during classes to actual work environment. It is hoped that students can keep up with the market needs when they are still in school and get ready for their future work life. Besides studies, IFT always encourage and support students to join more public activities like sports, cultural, language, art, creativity and social related activities etc., maintaining their mental and physical well-being. In the academic year of 2011/12, IFT students had participated in various extra-curricular activities and they had achieved some outstanding results in some games:
2012 Macao University Volleyball Championship – the Champion in both Women and Man Category;
2011/12 University Student Swimming Championship - 100m Breaststroke Men, 200m Breaststroke, Men 4x100m Freestyle Relay Men, 50m Butterfly Men and 50m Backstroke - the Champion; 50m Freestyle Men - the 1 st Runner-up;
2012 Macao University Bowling Championship - the Champion and the 1 st Runner-up;
2011 Macao University Snooker Championship - the Champion;
Macau Open Taekwondo Championship - the 1 st Runner-up;
Students had also performed excellently at the 2012 Macau International Dragon Boat Races. Other than sports activities, students also enthusiastically engaged and performed very well in other activities like Galaxy Macao Cup - the 4th National Conditions Education Contest, the 1st Macao-wide Business Knowledge Competition, The 9th Macao Inter - Tertiary Debate Competition etc.. IFT offers various type of extra-curricular activities for students from time to time, for instance, jazz dance, step aerobics, Portuguese folk dance, painting, dragon boat, sketching, photography taking, fencing, volleyball, taekwondo, choir, English/Mandarin debate, Portuguese, Everyday Mandarin for foreigners. IFT hopes that students can utilise their spare time and effectively manage their time and work, participate in more extra-curricular activities to get in touch with more new people and new things and to broaden their view and their networking, these are all the essential elements tourism professionals should possess.
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