News

A carnival will be held by Consumer Council on 23rd March (Saturday) from 3PM to 5PM at Dr. Carlos D Assumpção Park in celebration of 15th anniversary of Consumer Arbitration Centre. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of 'Consumer Arbitration Centre, Consumer Council organizes several carnivals in different local communities on Saturdays in March. Three carnivals have already been held at Vasco da Gama Garden, Largo de Camões in Taipa, and at the leisure areas on Rua Quatro do Bairro Iao Hon in the past three weeks. Participants learnt about consumer rights and services of the Arbitration Centre through various on-site games. Consumer Council will hold the last carnival in March on 23rd March at Dr. Carlos D Assumpção Park. On-site quiz games, booth games and information about the Arbitration Centre will be exhibited during the event. Consumer Council indicates that different promotional activities will be held in the future to promote the fair, free, and fast services provided by the Arbitration Centre for consumer disputes that are more complicated and involves claims which do not exceed MOP50,000. For inquiry, please call 8988-9315.
…

The Macao SAR delegation, led by the Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan, attended the hearing of the UN Human Rights Committee at Geneva in Switzerland to present an in-depth interpretation of the MSAR existing laws, including the Basic Law and various single-line laws, the implementation and protection of human rights covered by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whilst introducing the initiatives of enhanced measures for protecting and safeguarding the population's rights and interests since the establishment of the MSAR Government. The delegation continued their second round of the UN Human Rights Committee hearing in Geneva yesterday (19th) (local time) to respond to the Members' questions relevant to the status of the MSAR's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During the two-day meetings, members asked questions in several aspects on the implementation of the Convention, most of them concerning the fundamental rights such as employment, freedom of movement, freedom of information, protection of children and women, the legal procedural rights, and so forth. In her closing remarks, Secretary Chan thanked the Human Rights Committee for the open, frank and constructive dialogue during the two-day hearing; agreeing that the MSAR Government recognized the importance of the reporting mechanism and took into account the Human Rights Committee recommendations. The Chairman of Committee, Nigel Rodley, said in his concluding remarks that the report submitted by the SAR Government presents detailed information and the team that was present at the session was professional, which enabled the Committee to understand better the situation in Macao. He commended on the seriousness and the positiveness of the delegation's response to contribute an excellent dialogue between the two parties. He referred to the Committee's concerns on the MSAR's political system development, its immigration policy and functions of the Ombudsman. According to Article 40 of the Macao Basic Law concerning the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights", the "International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" and the International Labour Convention as applied to Macao shall remain in force through the implementation of relevant MSAR laws. The MSAR Government continues to review the implementation of the Convention to achieve further effective implementation in the Region. The MSAR Government taking the recommendations and opinions from the United Nations Human Rights Committee will continue to take necessary measures to protect the human rights for the Macao residents and to implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Region.
…

Collecting aviation safety information from different channels, hence identifying safety threats and giving safety recommendations or warnings is one of the effective ways to prevent an accident or an incident, which is also an objective that the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) aims to achieve in enhancing aviation safety. Since some years ago, AACM started to plan for a voluntary reporting system for safety information and with endeavours, has finally devised the Macao Confidential Aviation Reporting System (MACCARES). The Authority held the first introductory session to the industry today (20 March 2013) to promote the objectives and the operational procedures of the system, as well as urge the operators to further promote the system internally within their organizations and encourage staff to report safety concerns to the Authority. Presently, apart from the reporting system for accident and serious incident, the operators report occurrences other than accident and serious incident to AACM through the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting System. The MACCARES, which will soon be launched, is a reporting system built on the voluntary, confidential and non-punitive principle. Any person who notices an occurrence or an act of non-compliance relating to aviation safety can complete the reporting form with the necessary information and then send it by post or through email to the Authority. Due to the fact that the MACCARES should be operated with the legal support of Law no. 2/2013 – "Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation and Aviation Safety Information Protection Law", the system will become operative on the same date as the effective date of the law on 21 May 2013. Safety information collected by AACM through MACCARES will be analyzed. Statistical reports with de-identified data will be generated, published and shared with the industry so that each entity can learn from experience and make improvement. In the case if a report shows a situation that poses immediate threat to aviation safety, AACM will address a safety alert to the concerned operator at the earliest time. The Authority points out that each report is handled by one staff member in the accident prevention and investigation group in AACM. When complete information is obtained, the staff member will de-identify the information and record the remaining information in the MACCARES database. To conform with the confidential principle, the email that contains the report will be deleted and the original report that is sent to AACM by post will be returned to the reporter through registered mail. The Authority emphasized that the system works on the confidential and non-punitive principle, in order to encourage the active participation from the operators. AACM will not penalize the operators or any person by using the information collected from this reporting system. To enhance the promotion of the system to the industry in order that the latter can better understand the objectives and the operational procedures for their future participation, AACM has produced promotional pamphlets (with the reporting form incorporated) and posters in Chinese, Portuguese and English and will launch an online special session for the system in their website. The reporting form will be distributed to the operators and can be picked up in Macau International Airport whereas the electronic copy can be downloaded from the AACM website. In addition, for the purpose of encouraging different levels of industry personnel to report any safety concern to AACM so that the Authority can collect as much safety information as possible, the Authority will organize a number of introductory sessions each aiming at a different category of staff. The first introductory session that took place today was done at 10:00 in AACM office, being part of the agenda of the regular Safety Management System Meeting held between AACM and the industry. Attendees from the industry were personnel responsible for safety management in Air Macau Company Ltd., East Asia Airlines Ltd., JetAsia Ltd., Macau Jet International Co. Ltd., the Administration of Airports Ltd. and Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd. In addition to introducing MACCARES and requesting the operators to help promote the system internally, AACM also made a detailed introduction of the Law no. 2/2013 – "Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation and Aviation Safety Information Protection Law". The MACCARES was developed on the basis of the need to comply with the requirements of Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Besides, the audit result of ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme which Macao participated in 2009 indicated a finding that Macao should be equipped with a voluntary incident reporting system in the area of accident investigation. AACM then established an internal accident prevention and investigation ad hoc working group to study into the legislation on accident investigation and the formulation of MACCARES, the process during which the regulations and the practice in other countries such as mainland China, Canada, United States of America, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and so on were taken into reference.
…

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) announced today in a special promotional event in Moscow the opening of its representative office in Russia, taking advantage of the peak period of travel shows in the country, where Macau is also joining hands with Hong Kong to promote the two cities as one destination, to develop the great potential of the Russian tourism market. MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes is at the Russian capital to officiate the opening of the new representative office at a launching lunch held today at Lotte Hotel Moscow, to Russian travel trade and media. "We are very excited to open a representative office here in Moscow following a few years conducting seasonal promotions to test the market. Russia is one of the most sought-after markets in the world in terms of tourism potential and for Macau the Russian market is the fastest growing emerging market," Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said at the function. The new MGTO representative office in Moscow was announced today taking advantage of the high season of tourism trade fairs taking place at the Russian capital. Moscow hosted the Luxury Travel Mart, held March 14, followed by Intourmarket International Travel Fair (ITM), organized between March 16 and 19, and the Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT), running March 20 to 23, with MGTO participating in all three events to promote Macau. MGTO director, along with a group of Macau travel trade, representing two local travel agencies and two hotels, is participating at MITT, which is considered the main international travel show held annually in Russia. Macau booth at MITT invites trade visitors and consumers to Experience Macau, network and learn more about the city's tourism and entertainment infrastructures, heritage and culture, festivals and events. On the day of MITT opening, tomorrow (20), MGTO is going to host a dinner for Russian travel agencies and other travel trade directors and managers to meet and exchange with the Macau delegation. On March 21, MGTO is also organizing a joint event with Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) to promote the two neighbor cities as one destination for Russian travelers. MGTO director, along with HKTB deputy-executive director Daisy Lui will host a cocktail-presentation of the two destinations for Russian media and travel trade. Following several years organizing regular promotions in Russia, MGTO opened a representative office in the country, which started operations in January this year. With a mutual visa free policy in force between Macau and Russia since October 2012, along with continuing increase of visitors from the country to Macau, as well as to Hong Kong, MGTO decided to open a representative office in Russia looking forward to diversify visitor source market to the city. Russia is one of the most sought-after markets in the world in terms of its tourism potential and is the fastest growing emerging market for Macau. Visitor arrivals from Russia have been increasing annually since 2004. Last year Macau welcomed 26,844 Russian visitors, marking a year-on-year growth of 62.6 per cent.
…

Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on biscuits. Survey result showed that the highest price difference recorded for the same biscuit brand sold at different retail spots was 33.33 percent. Consumer Council collected 8 brands of biscuits from 20 local retail outlets on 14th March. A general price difference of 10 to 20 percent was recorded for the same brand of biscuit sold at various outlets. 'Garden Cream Wafers/200g', which was sold at $7.2 to $9.6, recorded the highest price difference of 33.33 percent. In comparison with January's data, prices of the surveyed brands remained stable and 3 surveyed brands recorded no change in price. Apart from certain brands which were sold at special prices last time and recorded price adjustments in the current survey, other brands recorded price increases or decreases of about 5 percent, only 'Pacific Soda Cracker/200g' observed an obvious price increase of 17.6 percent at one retail outlet. The specific price survey on biscuits 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. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
…

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macau SAR Government presents the 24th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) with the aim of creating a platform for cultural exchange. This year, the Festival will open on 3 May and, for the period of one month, will feature thirty-four acts, half of which are local productions. This year's Festival includes a varied array of performances from Mainland China, Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore, ranging from contemporary dance to traditional Beijing opera, from multimedia performances to shadow puppetry, from audiovisual architectural mappings to exhibitions of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. Shows for all tastes take to the stage, not only at the city's performing arts venues but also at many of Macao's world heritage sites. The MAF begins and ends with two contemporary dance works. Drought and Rain, by renowned French-Vietnamese director, choreographer and performance artist Ea Sola, lifts the curtain on this year's edition. This ballet continues Sola's study of the memories of war, expressing deep humanistic concerns and developing the notions of "hardship" and "forgiveness". FAR, an anatomy-defying work by multi-award winning British choreographer Wayne McGregor, is sure to bring the Festival to a scintillating close. At the core of the Festival programme are other treats. A team of outstanding choreographers from across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have collaborated to deliver Love Letters, a dance performance revealing the splendid results of a fruitful inter-regional co-operation. Han Yuniang, a new work presented by the China National Beijing Opera Theatre, stars Dong Yuanyuan, artistic successor of famed performer Mei Lanfang. Local artists, who studied under Spain's Telenoika Audiovisual Open Creative Community, have created two audiovisual shows in Mapping: Made in Macao I and II, designed specifically for the façades of the Mandarin's House and Tap Seac Square. French choreographer and dance revolutionary Xavier Le Roy blends science with imagination to explore the infinite possibilities of the human body in Self-Unfinished. Art exhibitions are also featured in the MAF. Vanishing Techniques – Photography of Jean Baudrillard showcases the French thinker's unique photographic theory and practice, which allowed him to demonstrate with a camera his varied ways of looking at and perceiving the world. The Macao Museum hosts Fantasy World – Chinoiserie, a display of European-made artefacts dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, inspired by an admiration for the Chinese art and philosophy being imported from the East during the Age of Enlightenment. For more information please consult the MAF website at www.icm.gov.mo/fam or booklet. Tickets for the 24th Macao Arts Festival will be available after 10am on 24 March 2013 at all Macao Kong Seng Ticketing Network outlets. Telephone and online bookings will be available from 12pm on the same day. This year, the Festival offers early bird discounts of up to 40%, between 24 March and 7 April, when buying tickets for at least 4 different performances or when buying 10 or more tickets for the same performance. After 8 April, purchasers meeting the same conditions will still receive a 30% discount. A 20% discount is also available on tickets to any show upon presentation of a Bank of China (Macau), Banco Weng Hang (Macau), LTD., Tai Fung Bank, ICBC (Macau), BCM Bank, Luso International Banking LTD. or BNU Credit Card or a Bank of China Tri-Currency Debit Card. The Festival has also created, in collaboration with Pacific Coffee Company, the "Arts and Coffee" special offer. With every purchase of one ticket each for the Festival's opening and closing shows, Drought and Rain and FAR, purchasers will receive a voucher for one free "tall" coffee drink at any Macao branch of Pacific Coffee Company. By presenting their 2013 MAF tickets at any Pacific Coffee Company in Macao, festival goers may also upgrade one drink. The 24th MAF press conference takes place on March 19, Tuesday, at 3pm, at the Tourism Activities Centre, with the presence of the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng; the Deputy Director of the Macao Government Tourist Office, one of the Festival's supporters, Tse Heng Sai; the Chief Executive Officer of TDM, Teledifusão de Macau, Leong Kam Chun; the representative of Air Macau, Mavis Chan, the Vice-President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leong Hio Ming; the Chief of the Cultural Events Department, Ieong Chi Kin; and representatives of participating groups in this year's Festival. For more information on the 24th MAF, please call 8399 6699 during office hours.Ticketing hotlines: (853) 2855 5555 in Macao; (852) 2380 5083 in Hong Kong; (86) 139 2691 1111 in Mainland China.Online Reservations: www.macauticket.com
…

Delegation of the MSAR Government in Geneva of Switzerland yesterday (18th of local time) attended the United Nations Human Rights Committee Session on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In the meeting, Ambassador Liu Zhenmin, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland, gave his introductory speech that, in accordance with relevant provisions under the Macao Basic Law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with its applicable provisions to the MSAR continue to be in force after 20 December 1999, such implementation being made through the local laws enactment.
During the meeting, Head of delegation of the MSAR, Secretary for Administration and Justice – Florinda Chan, gave an overview of the major initiatives and progress made by the MSAR Government in relation to the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. She said that the MSAR Government is committed to the effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Covenant. The principle of "One Country, Two Systems" has contributed to the enlargement of the scope of human rights in the MSAR in accordance with the Basic Law with the adoption of relevant conventions on the field of the human rights. Since the return of Macao to the People's Republic of China, social development has been on a gradual and steady progress under the joint effort of the Macao population. The Government policies stress on increasing significant resources to improve the welfare of the population, such as upgrading the Social Security Fund and Access to Education, including implementing a basic 15 years free education system and financial subsidies to local students, whilst improving medical cares and benefits for the seniors, children, students, disable, and vulnerable groups. New legislation was enacted to comply with the obligations set forth in the ICCPR, and other international instruments applicable to the MSAR on human rights and other rights have been reinforced, such as in the field of data protection, against drugs and human trafficking, labour relations, persons with disabilities, refugees, access to law and legal aid, protection of women and children. These measures have been adopted to provide adequate assistance to vulnerable persons, as well as to promote dialogue and cooperation with local non-governmental organizations in tackling relevant social issues. In respect of the monitoring and supervisory mechanisms on human rights, the judiciary bodies observe and consider whether the MSAR legal order is in conformity with international conventional law applicable to the Region. Other institutional body within the context is the Ombudsman with its main function to protect the rights, freedoms, safeguards and the legitimate interests of the individuals and to ensure the legality in the exercise of public authority, justice, and efficiency in the public administration. The MSAR Government also emphasizes on the contributions of the non-governmental organizations to strive for a harmonious livelihood, including setting up hotlines, studying the social problems and their counter-measures, promoting public-awareness of the legal system, as well as playing an intermediary role between the Government and the population. The MSAR Government maintains regular dialogues with the non-governmental organizations, and actively encourages the participation of residents in public affairs and political life, through public consultations before major policies decision-making and law drafting.
In 2012, the MSAR Government completed and amended the Methodology for the Constitution of the Legislative Assembly, the Methodology for the Selection of the Chief Executive, and their relevant local electoral laws. Such processes were consistent with the Basic Law and the reality of the MSAR where a gradual and smooth democratisation process for its political system was being undertaken. It was worth emphasizing that this was a process open to the community which received full participation of the MSAR residents and the local associations through public consultations.
Subsequently, the Deputy Head of the MSAR delegation cum Director of the Law Reform and International Law Bureau - Chu Lam Lam, briefed the MSAR's legal reform and development on human rights in response to the key questions identified by the Committee, including the application of international treaties in the Region, the freedom of speech and press, the labour relations, the fight against terrorism and measures to combat the crimes of trafficking in persons. The Chairman and members of the Committee commended on the MSAR's first report being comprehensive, informative, with detailed clarifications to their questions. It helped the Committee gain a deeper understanding of the situation of the MSAR. The Meeting will be held for two consecutive days. Other members of the MSAR delegation also include the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice, the Office of the Secretary for Security, the Government Information Office, the Macao Economic and Trade Office to the World Trade Organization, the Labour Affairs Bureau, the Public Security Police Force, and the Social Welfare Bureau.
…

Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On disclosed today the Central Government has praised the performance of the Macao Government and would continue to support Macao's efforts to diversify the development of its economy. Mr Chui was speaking to reporters after meeting President Mr Xi Jingqing and Premier Mr Li Keqiang, who met him with the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, in Zhongnanhai. The two chief executives were in Beijing to attend the closing ceremony of the first session of the 12th National People's Congress. Mr Chui told reporters that the newly-elected state leaders would continue support Macao in terms of diversification of economic development and regional co-operation. Mr Chui said the leaders have advised him that while Macao was going through a good period of growth and development, he should also make contingencies for bad times. He said that the government has made preparations for bad times, such as setting up the fiscal reserve system comprised basic reserves, excess reserves and foreign reserves. Mr Chui said the government expected to have a balanced budget in the year's budget proposal, and would pay attention to its financial security and stability. In developing the economy, the government would also establish long-term mechanisms to improve people's livelihood, which is important to ensure the long-term prosperity and stability of Macao, he said. Mr Chui said that the two leaders also highlighted the importance of co-operation between the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, adding that Macao government would enhance support in two co-operative projects with the Mainland -- Hengqin in Zhuhai and Nansha in Guangzhou. The Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chun Weng and the personal assistant to Chief Executive, Ms Goretti Tam were also present at the meetings.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2012 expanded by 8.5% year-on-year in real terms that was spurred by the impetus of exports of services and investment. Among the major components, exports of gaming services increased by 3.9%, gross fixed capital formation expanded by 21.8%, private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose by 7.2% and 7.8% respectively, merchandise exports went up by 17.4%. For the whole year of 2012, GDP increased by 9.9% in real terms to MOP348.2 billion; per-capita GDP amounted to MOP611,930 (about USD76,588). The economic growth was fuelled by exports of services and domestic demand; in particular, exports of gaming services increased by 6.9% and total spending of visitors rose by 6.4%. In respect of domestic demand, gross fixed capital formation expanded by 19.1% on account of the upsurge in public construction; private consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure rose by 9.1% and 6.9% respectively, and merchandise exports rebounded sharply by 23.2%. Conducive factors to the economic expansion include:
- an increase of 13.4% in gross gaming revenue;
- a marginal rise of 0.3% in visitor arrivals and 15% increase in total spending of visitors;
- an increase of 10.8% in hotel guests;
- an upsurge of 54.8% in public investment;
- an increase of 22% in value of retail sales;
- quarterly data on median employment earnings posted increase, ranging between 13.4% and 17.0%. GDP growth in real terms for the second and third quarters of 2012 revised to 7.9% and 6.2% respectively; economic growth for 2011 revised to 21.8%. Moreover, the implicit deflator of GDP that measures overall changes in prices increased by 7.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 7.3% for the whole year of 2012. Principal Indicators of GDP
(* vide em anexo) As regards GDP structure by major components, relative importance of net exports of goods and services (58.6%) and domestic demand (41.4%) to GDP was identical as 2011. In view of the robust increase in public construction, relative importance of investment expanded by 0.9 percentage points to 14.7%, while percentage share of private consumption expenditure (19.9%) and government final consumption expenditure (6.8%) declined by 0.6 and 0.3 percentage points respectively.
…

The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released survey results of Manpower Needs and Wages for the fourth quarter of 2012. Survey coverage comprised Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communications; Security Activities and Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities, excluding own-account workers. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Wholesale & Retail Trade had 36,357 employees, up by 10.3% year-on-year, with 23,346 working in Retail trade. Average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) of full-time employees rose by 7.0% year-on-year to MOP10,880 in December 2012, with Sales representatives and Salespersons earning MOP12,100 and MOP10,230 respectively in average. Transport, Storage & Communications took on 8,606 employees, up by 6.1% year-on-year. In December, average earnings of full-time employees increased by 5.8% year-on-year to MOP17,170. Drivers of passenger/cargo transport by land earned an average of MOP20,740. Security Activities had 5,149 employees, up by 7.7% year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in December rose by 7.4% year-on-year to MOP8,980, with Security guards earning MOP8,600 in average. Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities had 726 employees, up by 9.5% year-on-year. The average earnings of full-time employees in December increased by 6.7% year-on-year to MOP12,720. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Wholesale & Retail Trade reported 4,238 vacancies, up by 101 year-on-year, of which 3,077 were in Retail trade. Security Activities had 948 vacancies, up by 110, while Transport, Storage & Communications offered 677 vacant posts. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, the majority of vacancies in Wholesale & Retail Trade (52.0%) and Transport, Storage & Communications (68.2%) did not require working experience. Regarding educational attainment, 79.6% of the vacancies in Security Activities and 59.0% in Wholesale & Retail Trade required junior secondary education or lower, 45.4% of those in Public Sewage & Refuse Disposal Activities required senior secondary education or higher, and 33.4% of those in Transport, Storage & Communications required tertiary education. Besides Cantonese, Mandarin (66.8%) and English (43.0%) were more preferable language skill in Wholesale & Retail Trade, while 40.9% of those in Transport, Storage & Communications required English. In the fourth quarter of 2012, the employee turnover rate (7.3%) and the employee recruitment rate (8.5%) of Security Activities decreased by 5.5 and 3.8 percentage points year-on-year, and the job vacancy rate rose by 0.7 percentage points to 15.8%, indicating that the outflow of human resources showed improvement but many of the vacancies were unoccupied still.
…