News

Urban planning is of great importance to Macao and the Government would study Macao's needs to develop a modern and scientific plan for the city's future urban development, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking at a reception hosted by the General Union of Neighbours Association of Macau to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Mr Ho said that as the economy continued to expand, the city's environment had changed rapidly in the past few years. He said the Government would carefully study Macao's needs in economic development, environmental protection, heritage conservation, population, infrastructure, transport and urban renewal, in order to better develop a urban development plan for the future. Regarding Macao's transport, the Chief Executive said that by consulting the public and integrating the city's resources, the authority would better implement policies and measures in this area.
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The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, in his swearing-in ceremony today, reaffirmed that his working principles would be fair, selfless and pragmatic. Mr Lau took the oath at Government Headquarters in the afternoon, witnessed by the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and more than 100 guests including principal officials, members from the Executive Council and legislators. After the ceremony, Mr Lau told the press he was grateful for the Chief Executive’s nomination and the approval from the Central Government. He said he had already started to meet with officials in the areas of transport and public works, and had listened to their reports. He said he believed that would facilitate his work in the future, with a better understanding. Mr Lau also said he would work out the policies, while adjustments could be made during its implementation. He would conduct further study on the adjustments. Under the MSAR Basic Law, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works is a principal official. The Chief Executive has to appoint a nominee, who has Chinese nationality and is a permanent resident of Macao. The Chief Executive would have to submit his nomination to the Central Government for approval.
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With the successive completion of various large-scale hotels and resorts, the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) industry of Macau is gradually internationalized. Deputy Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Mr. Manuel Pires headed the MGTO Philippines team to host the “2007 Corporate Roadshow”, a 12-day promotion that comprises corporate dinner, arts exhibition, photo exhibition, among other activities. A selected group of 100 corporate decision-makers from various industries were invited to join an MGTO hosted corporate dinner on Feb 27th. During the dinner, Deputy Director Pires introduced to the participants the mix of east and west cultures of Macau as well as the most up-to-date tourism developments. Last September, four famous Filipino artists (Ben Cabrera, Phyllis Zaballero, Claude Tayag, Soler Santos) led by Philippine National Artist Ben Cabrera came to Macau to paint their impressions of Macau. Their paintings will be exhibited from February 28th to March 7th in The Podium Shopping Mall of Ortigas Centre, showcasing Macau through their eyes. Celebrities, including former President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, and collectors who are prospective travelers to Macau will attend the opening ceremony, during which the artists will each present one of their paintings to MGTO as a gift to Macau. Other than the arts exhibition, a travel trade and photo exhibition with the theme “Explore, Experience, Enjoy Macau” will be held from March 9th to 11th at The Podium. Exhibits will feature the past and present of Macau, namely the ‘Historic Centre of Macau’ and the new developments. Moreover, a travel trade area will be set up for local residents who are interested to visit Macau. Last year, over 170 thousand people from the Philippines visited Macau, a considerable increase of 87 percent compared with 2005. At present, there are 22 weekly air services between Macau and Manila. MGTO aims to arouse the interest of more enterprises and residents of the Philippines to visit Macau through this series of promotional activities.
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Women in Macao are playing more important roles in promoting the economy and public affairs, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking at a reception hosted by the Women's General Association of Macau to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD), Mr Ho said as Macao's economy continued to expand, more and more women have entered the workforce, making the most out of their potential and forging ahead in their careers. They have also devoted their efforts to public affairs, putting their attention not only on family and female issues, but also on state matters and the development of the city. Mr Ho said he believed that the increasing participation of women in social affairs would help reach consensus in different issues for the community and promote a harmonious society in Macao. Moreover, Mr Ho praised the host's efforts in promoting its services to the society and he pledged that the Government would continue to support social services associations of its kind for the betterment of the less privileged.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and VIVA Macau joined hands to promote Macau tourism in Jakarta, Indonesia. A series of promotional activities hosted by MGTO and VIVA Macau in Jakarta today (February 28) started with a presentation on Macau’s latest tourism industry development by Betty Fok, Marketing Division Head of MGTO, who also highlighted to the guests the World Heritage of Macau, the new tourism and entertainment facilities as well as the latest tourism products. Andrew Pyne, CEO & Founding Partner of VIVA Macau, introduced the company’s development strategies and flight expansion plans. Currently, there are 3 direct flights between Macau and Jakarta every week. Joining the presentation were representatives from Macau International Airport Co. Ltd., hotels and travel agents, who met with the local travel trade and media. About 100 travel trade and media from Indonesia attended the event. Following the presentation and ensuing luncheon, representatives of the Indonesian travel trade attended a mini mart organized by MGTO and VIVA Macau to build relationship and explore opportunities to cooperate with their Macau counterparts in attracting visitors from Indonesia. Indonesia is a beautiful country boasting 1,300 islands. With over 200 million in population, Indonesia is a potential source market for Macau. In addition to Indonesian visitors to Macau on holidays, a large number of Chinese living in Indonesia often travel to their hometowns in Macau or on the Mainland, making Indonesia one of the major source markets for MGTO to develop. The Indonesian market witnessed significant increase in recent years. In 2006, Macau welcomed over 680,000 Indonesian visitors, a remarkable growth of 47.53 per cent. MGTO looks forward to enhance cooperation with the travel trade in Indonesia to capture the growth potential of the source market.
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According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for November 2006 - January 2007 was 3.4%, which fell by 0.1 percentage point over October - December 2006 and 0.5 percentage point over November 2005 - January 2006. The underemployment rate was held stable at 0.8%, same as that recorded in October - December 2006, but down by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year. About 900 unemployed persons were searching for their first job, representing 9.2% of the total unemployed population, a decline of 1.5 percentage points over the preceding period. Compared with October - December 2006, the unemployment situation was improved in Transport, storage & communications; Wholesale & retail trade; and Real estate, renting & business activities, while the situation in other sectors remained stable. Total labour force was estimated at 291,000 in November 2006 - January 2007, of which 281,000 were employed and 10,000 unemployed. Labour force participation rate was 66.8%, up by 0.4 percentage point over the preceding period and 2.6 percentage points year-on-year.
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The SAR Government will continue to enhance transparency in different administrative works, while the strength of the incorruptible helps the entire market to grow healthier. The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, made these remarks while attending the Spring reception hosted by the Macao Chamber of Commerce. Mr Ho said the future market for the local Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were optimistic, but there were many challenges ahead. He pledged that the government, in line with his 2007 policy address, would balance the needs between local employees’ working opportunities and the human resource required by the SMEs. Mr Ho praised the contributions by the Macao Chamber of Commerce over the years, and said he believed the chamber would continue to act as a model in the society.
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A delegation of the Treasury Department of the United States of America visited Monetary Authority of Macao this morning. The two parties exchanged views on current issues of international development on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT). Taking this opportunity, Monetary Authority of Macao gave an update of the series of unfailing policies and measures taken by Macao on AML and CFT. The latest development and assessment given by international bodies were also introduced. The US Delegation also introduced to Monetary Authority of Macao on the latest situation of the case of Banco Delta Asia.
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Immigration authorities recorded a total of 2497153 crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the holidays (17 to 24/Feb /2007) Total number of arrivals stood at 1269911 with Border-gate: 848,842
Lotus Bridge: 678
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 335,314
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 38,553
Macao International Airport: 46,379
Cross-border Industrial Zone 145 Total of departures stood at 1227242 with Border-gate: 875378 Lotus Bridge: 1,073
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 293,572
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 21,175
Macao International Airport: 35,912
Cross-border Industrial Zone 132 Meanwhile, total number of tourist arrivals in that period stood at ,with a growth of 811,893
over the same period of last year. 17.84%
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Macau’s tourism industry has started on a bright note this year with over 760,000 visitors coming to Macau during the Lunar New Year “Golden Week” holiday (1st to 7th day of Lunar Year), a growth of 17.78% over the same period in 2006. About 420,000, or 55% of the arrivals were from Mainland China, a growth of 21.55%. Both the average occupancy rate and hotel room rate have also increased. From February 13 to February 25, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and the Provincial Tourism Administrations of Guangdong and Fujian have jointly operated the “Chinese New Year Tourism Notifying System” to cope with the increase in visitor arrivals. From February 18 (1st day of Lunar Year) to February 24 (7th day of Lunar Year), visitor arrivals grew 17.78% over the same period of last year to 767,122. About 422,737, or 55% of the arrivals were from Mainland China, a growth of 21.55%. Arrivals from Hong Kong have also registered a growth of 10%, from 246,000 last year to 270,000. From last Lunar New Year to the present, the total number of hotel rooms has increased from 10,747 to 12,809. In 2006, the number of overnight guests has surged 13.58% to almost 4,700,000 compared to 2005. During the Lunar New Year “Golden Week” holiday, average occupancy rate of 3 to 5-star hotels was 94.98%, an increase of 0.1 percentage point. The average hotel room rate for 3 to 5-star hotels was MOP$1154.55, a rise of 16.5% over the same period of last year. For the first time this year, the room rates of guesthouses and 2-star hotels were included in the “Chinese New Year Tourism Notifying System”. The average room rate of guesthouses was MOP284.65, while that of 2-star hotels was MOP519.14. During Lunar New Year, MGTO has reinforced supervision at various tourist attractions and entry checkpoints. MGTO’s information counters and tourist hotline operated as usual to provide visitors with tourist information. Close collaboration among various departments and the support of tourism and related entities helped to enhance the hospitality of the city to welcome visitors. In addition to the new tourism and entertainment facilities, a series of celebrations and cultural activities have taken place during Lunar New Year to give a colorful and multi-dimensional experience to both visitors and citizens. This press releases is available on the website of MGTO: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/
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