News

Macau Government Tourist Office and the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) will present “Thinking Venues: Service and Market Success,” a specialist workshop for hotels and major venues working in the international meetings market on May 10 and 11. Executives and sales and marketing professionals from hotels and congress venues in Macau as well as other parts of Asia will attend the intensive seminar and workshop program to be held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center. The program aims to give participants a chance to further develop themselves, as well as their respective venues, into market leaders. The workshop is open for trade participants only. A distinguished group of speakers, including Kuala Lumpur Convention and Exhibition Center CEO Peter Brokenshire, Console Communications – Kuala Lumpur Director Yap Shook Fung, Asia Pacific Financial Services Association (Singapore) Convention Bureau Chairman Sani Kudus, Gary Grimmer and Company in Melbourne CEO Gary Grimmer, Asia Pacific - International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Regional Manager, Jane Vong Holmes and Marriott Intl Asia Pacific global sales– Melbourne former VP Bernadette Dennis, will focus on a broad range of competitive issues like how to find new sources of business, strategic approaches to ensuring success, strengthening sales and bidding processes and building new and powerful partnerships.
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On 23 March 2007, Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau(SMG) signed with the Macau University of Science and Technology an Cooperation Agreement in the area of Atmospheric Remote Sensing in which covers different technical areas from computing, installation of high precision optics components, metal-mechanics and electronic enginnering been holding conferences or workshops are part of it. After contacts with MUST, it will taken place at the headquarters of SMG on days 17 to 19 April 2007 a “Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Lidar Workshop” with about 10 specialists from the Asia/Pacific region. The objective of the workshop is to broaden the cooperation between Meteorological Institutions and Universities and using these meetings to show the importance in cooperating with the universities in the development of interdisciplinary of the technical and scientific knowledge in MSAR besides of a more effective implementation of LIDAR network and have its Central Station located in Macao. Keynote speakers are invited in these area to share the latest results of Lidar Networking, Airborne Atmospheric Elements Measurement, Atmospheric Modeling, and Air Quality Monitoring. An openning session of the workshop will take placed at 10 a.m. on day 18 April 2007 in the Headquarters of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau located at Taipa Grande.
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Macao police officials held talks with their Shanghai counterparts in Macao this morning to promote co-operation in the fight against drugs trafficking, cross boundary organised crime, and offences connected to the economy and gaming. The Fifth Shanghai Public Security Bureau and Macao Police Working Meeting was led by the Commissioner-General of the Unitary Police Service, Mr Jose Proenca Branco, and the Deputy Director of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, Mr Zhu Ying. The two sides discussed measures to enhance exchanges in preventing and investigating organised crimes related to gambling, drugs trafficking, and economic crimes. The meeting mechanism between Macao and Shanghai police authorities was initiated in 2003 and the two cities take turns in hosting the meeting every year to enhance ties and the exchange of intelligence. Macao's representatives who attended the meeting today included the Director of the Judiciary Police, Mr Wong Sio Chak, and Acting Commissioner of the Public Security Police, Mr Lei Siu Peng.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of 2007 was 126.68, up by 3.63% over the previous quarter. All the section indices moved upwards. Attributable to price increases of jewellery and watches, the index of Miscellaneous goods rose most significantly by 5.78%. On account of the higher price of air ticket, the index of Transport and communications went up by 3.71%. The indices of Restaurant service and Accommodation increased by 3.66% and 2.90% respectively, due to upward prices of restaurant food and hotel rooms during the Chinese New Year. Compared with the first quarter of 2006, TPI rose by 9.91% in this quarter, with notable increases in the indices of Miscellaneous goods (+18.98%), Accommodation (+14.03%), and Clothing & footwear (+7.84%). The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended in the 1st quarter of 2007 increased by 9.93% over the previous period. TPI is an indicator that reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, alcoholic drinks & tobacco; Clothing & footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant service; Transport & communications; Medicine & personal goods; Entertainment & culture; and Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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The two-day Fourth China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference, under the theme of “Direct Cooperation in the Fight Against Transnational Crimes”, closed in Macao today. Delegates from 13 countries and regions agreed that concerted efforts of different jurisdictions were crucial in the fight against transnational and transregional crimes. Macao’s Public Prosecutor-General, Mr Ho Chio Meng, said in his closing remarks that during the conference some delegates had pointed out the differences in the legal systems of different countries, information deficiencies and complicated procedures were among the major obstacles to judicial co-operation. He said that only by a serious implementation of international conventions and an effective integration of internal legislations and international conventions could reduce the difficulties in direct judicial co-operation and unite efforts from different jurisdictions in the fight against transnational crimes. He urged prosecution institutions to promote the optimisation of internal law and order and bring it into conformity with the provisions of international conventions.
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Macao will send a working group to Singapore this month to learn from the nation’s extensive experience in this field, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Mr Ho, who is in Singapore for an official visit, paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong. Macao and Singapore were willing to bolster bilateral co-operation based on the existing foundation, and the island republic is pleased to share its extensive experience in the public housing area, Mr Ho said when he met the press in the afternoon. A working group, headed by the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, would study and establish Macao’s public housing policies, said Mr Ho. He said he hoped that the team could lay out a plan in the near future that would suit Macao’s situation. He said Macao would study the practices of Singapore and Hong Kong, and he hoped that the public could learn from their experience through the mass media, especially its advantages and the responsibilities to be shared by the community. In the morning, Mr Ho and his delegation visited the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He said that Macao would like to promote co-operation with the school and send send civil servants to it at a suitable time. Afterwards, he attended a briefing on Singapore’s integrated resorts projects. Asked by the reporters about the impact of Singapore’s entry into the gaming industry, Mr Ho said he believed that there would not be vicious competition between the two and healthy competition would help promote Macao’s competitiveness. Mr Ho also paid a courtesy call on the Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Ho and his delegation arrived in Singapore last night on the last stop of his seven-day official visit to three countries in Southeast Asia. Mr Ho is scheduled to return to Macao tomorrow.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today paid courtesy calls on the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Bin Syed Jaafar Albar. Speaking to the press in the afternoon in concluding his three-day visit to Malaysia, Mr Ho said he was pleased with the results of the visit, as both sides have agreed to increase exchanges in tourism, culture and education. He said the Middle East and India were targets of Macao's tourism sector in the future, and Macao could work with Malaysia to develop these markets, in which the latter had extensive networks and experience. Mr Ho also disclosed that the authorities of Melaka have agreed to provide venues for Macao to promote its tourism industry and culture. He also noted that many Malaysian corporations had expressed interests in entering the markets in Macao. Earlier in the morning, Mr Ho attended a trade promotion activity entitled ''Malaysia-Macao Economic Co-operation Seminar'', where the Macau Government Tourist Office signed a memorandum of co-operation with the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. The Macao Chamber of Commerce also signed a memorandum with the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) at the same event. Later, Mr Ho attended a banquet hosted by China's Ambassador to Malaysia, Mr Cheng Yonghua, before leaving for Singapore.
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The Joint Declaration signed by China and Portugal 20 years ago safeguarded the successful implementation of the principle of 'One country, two systems' in Macao, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Asked by reporters about the significance of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration, Mr Ho, who was on a visit in Malaysia, said the document demonstrated the friendly relationship between the governments and people of the two countries. In recent years, the two countries had established all-round strategic partnership and further promote bilateral relationship in a comprehensive and in-depth manner. He said the long-term friendship between the governments and people of Macao and Portugal would continue to enable Macao to act as the platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
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The two-day Fourth China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference opened in Macao today, bringing together high-ranking prosecutors, officials and legal experts from 13 countries and regions for co-operation in the fight against transnational crimes. At the opening of the conference, Macao's Acting Chief Executive, Ms Florinda Chan, said the Macao Government had always been exerting the best efforts to launch different pragmatic co-operation on regional and international bases to jointly prevent and combat all probable transnational and cross-border crimes. Moreover, the Macao judicial and law enforcement agencies had launched mutual legal assistance with other jurisdictions on transnational and cross-border matters, with significant results achieved. Macao would continue to attach great importance to legal exchange and judicial co-operation with other countries and regions, she said. The Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Mr Jia Chunwang, emphasised in his address that further dialogue and co-operation between prosecution agencies of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries was essential to the fight against transnational crimes. Macao's Public Prosecutor-General, Mr Ho Chio Meng, said that prosecutors and experts in the field would study mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and he believed that the conference would be of great significance to the stability and security of China and ASEAN member countries. The China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference was initiated by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate in 2004, with representatives of Hong Kong and Macao taking part as members of the Chinese delegation. Member countries of ASEAN are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The three previous conferences were held in Kunming in China, Bangkok in Thailand and Jakarta in Indonesia.
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Under the witness of H.E. the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah and the Minister of Tourism of Malaysia, Mr Adnan Tengku Mansor, the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop and strengthen mutual cooperation in tourism. Director of MGTO Mr João Manuel Costa Antunes and Director General of MTPB Dato' Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, signed the MOU at the opening ceremony of the Malaysia-Macau Economic Cooperation Seminar, held today (April 12) at Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur. The MOU states that the two parties will exchange delegations to share experiences in the fields of tourism development and management and tourism promotion. The Parties will encourage tourism businesses of the two places to establish business contacts and will participate in tourism fairs, exhibitions and the like hosted by one or both Parties, while at the same time, undertake study of joint tourism programs in the fields of advertising, development of tour packages, health tourism and homestay programs, promotion and development of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. Other activities will include the exchange of information on tourism market, experience on market researches and co-organize opportunities for foreign agencies and mass media representatives to introduce the tourism potentials of Macau and Malaysia. Malaysia became the 5th largest source market of Macau in 2006. Last year, Macau welcomed over 200,000 Malaysian visitors, a remarkable growth of 106 percent over the previous year. The first two months of 2007 saw another significant growth of 93%, with over 40,000 arrivals from Malaysia. “Macau attaches great importance to the Southeast Asian market, and MGTO has set up representation offices which have spared no effort to promote Macau tourism and have made notable achievements in a number of Southeast Asian countries. The signing of the MOU between MGTO and MTPB will surely bring the tourism promotion and cooperation between Macau and Malaysia a step further to boost the tourism development of the two places.” said Mr. Antunes, Director of MGTO. “The introduction of direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Macau by AirAsia will encourage more visitors from Macau and the surrounding areas to visit Malaysia. Over the years, the number of visitors from the region has grown substantially. Hence, I am confident that this joint cooperation will boost development of tourism and air services in both countries.” said Dato' Mirza, Director General of MTPB. Macau Government Tourist Office, a government body, plays the vital role to promote tourism of Macau and co-ordinates related activities and services within the local tourism industry. Its function also includes assisting the formulation and implementation of local tourism policies and issuing tourism related licences. In keeping with Macau’s development strategy, MGTO will continue to devote itself to promote Macau as a tourism, gaming, entertainment, meetings, exhibitions and events destination through its network of 17 representatives around the world. Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board’s activities are designed to stimulate Malaysian tourism and tourism-related industries. They also develop domestic tourism and enhance Malaysia's share of the market for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). This helps promote new investments in the country while providing increased employment opportunities. The growth of tourism in Malaysia will contribute positively to the country's economic development and the quality of life for the people.
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