News

The University of Macau (UM) and the Tertiary Education Services Office of Macao SAR will co-organize an International Forum on University Governance: Keys to Competitiveness, on 21 and 22 February, at Macao Science Center. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Mr. Cheong U will officiate at the forum. Government officials of higher education (HE), council members and presidents/rectors of tertiary institutions, as well as senior HE scholars and administrators having first-hand experience in governance-wise reforms from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Europe and North America will attend the forum. They will discuss a range of issues, including university governance, autonomy, accountability and strategic planning, with Macao SAR government officials, members of Macao's Legislative Assembly, members of UM's Charter Revision Task Force, and representatives from local tertiary and other educational institutions. The forum aims to help find a governance model that suits UM and is in line with international trends and standards in higher education. The 2-day forum will revolve around six topics, namely "Optimizing Autonomy of Publicly-funded Institutions: Objectives, Structures, Process and Strategy", "Models of University as Legal Person: Statutory Entity, Foundation Subsidiary or Incorporated Body", "System (External) Governance: Government Relationship, Funding Models & Increased Autonomy", "Institutional (Internal) Governance: Enhanced Role of University Council/Board and Its Effective Relationship with the Administration", "Balance between Autonomy, Control and Accountability", and "Towards a First-Class University: Governance Reform Experience". The first day will be devoted to the first four topics, and the second day will focus on the last two. Keynote speakers for the first day will include Director-General of the Department of Policies and Regulations, Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China, Mr. Sun Xiaobing; Former Secretary-of-State for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal and current Director of the Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, Prof. Manuel Valsassina Heitor; Secretary-General of the International Secretariat, University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific, Taiwan, Mr. Tony W.T. Lin; Dean of the School of Law, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Prof. Wang Zhenmin; Senate Chairman and Professor Emeritus of Economic Geography at National Seoul University, South Korea, Prof. Sam Ock Park; Rector of the New University of Lisbon and President of the Portuguese Council of Rectors Prof. Antonio Rendas; Senior Executive Vice President of Global Strategy, Development, and Evaluation at Tsinghua University, Taiwan, Prof. Feng Da-Hsuan; former Commissioner of Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas System, U.S., Dr. Kenneth Ashworth; Provost of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof. Benjamin W. Wah; Emeritus President at Texas A & M University (U.S.) and Visiting Chair Professor of Management at UM Prof. William Mobley; former Senior Advisor to the Vice Chancellor and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Chair Professor of Education at the University of Hong Kong, Prof. Kai Ming Cheng; and Vice Council Chairman at Hong Kong Baptist University, Mr. Yan Kee Cheng. Keynote speakers for the second day will include President and CEO of Higher Education Quality Council Ontario, Canada, Dr. Harvey P. Weingarten; Vice President (International Affairs) of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Prof. Er Meng Hwa; Associate Vice President (External Relations) of Hong Kong Institute of Education Prof. Mok Ka Ho; Chair Professor and Dean of the College of Commerce at Chengchi University, Taiwan, Prof. Kwei Tang; Rector of the University of Minho, Portugal, Prof. Antonio M. Cunha; and Prof. Elsa Hackl at the University of Vienna, Austria. Faced with fierce competition amid increasing economic globalization, the Macao SAR government is in urgent need of a large number of outstanding professionals to meet future challenges. The implementation of the new UM campus project shows that the central government and the Macao SAR government attach great importance to higher education development in Macao. In view of external competition and high expectations from various parties, it is more necessary than ever for UM to establish a governance model that can cope with international competition and better support its future development. Last June, the SAR government established the UM Charter Revision Task Force to revise UM's Charter in order to create more favorable conditions for the university to realize the goal of becoming a world-class institution. It is against the abovementioned background and with the purpose of finding a suitable governance model to enhance UM's international competitiveness that this forum is organized. The forum will be conducted mainly in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Portuguese and Mandarin. For enquiries, please call 83974306/83974392 or email to rebeccatai@umac.mo/ lawrencelou@umac.mo.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that number of building units purchased and sold in the fourth quarter of 2011 decreased further by 5.2% quarter-to-quarter to 3,543 as per Stamp Duty record, yet the total value increased by 5.2% to MOP10.12 billion. There were 2,173 residential units purchased and sold, down by 1.0% over the previous quarter, while the total value rose by 5.9% to MOP6.27 billion. With high-end new properties being offered for sale in the fourth quarter of 2011, the average transaction price of all residential units increased by 14.2% quarter-to-quarter to MOP41,519 per square metre of usable area. The average price of those in the Macao Peninsula (MOP39,228), Taipa (MOP45,057) and Coloane (MOP64,063) rose by 10.8%, 18.1% and 3.5% respectively quarter-to-quarter. On account of the measures introduced by the Government to curb property prices, number of building units purchased and sold (27,624) in the whole year of 2011 decreased by 6.7% over 2010, yet the total value (MOP76.26 billion) increased by 34.4%; number of residential units (17,176) dropped by 4.5% year-on-year whereas the total value (MOP58.86 billion) went up by 28.1%. Among the residential units, 12,862 units were situated in the Macao Peninsula and 3,317 in Taipa. Regarding the price of transaction, a total of 4,967 residential units were sold for over MOP2,000,000 to MOP4,000,000, and 4,872 units for over MOP4,000,000. Analyzed by year of completion of the building, 8,396 residential units purchased and sold were completed in 2000 and after, 5,236 units in 1990-1999 and 3,544 units in 1989 and before. As regards floor area of the unit, 45.9% (7,889) of the residential units had an area of 50 to 99.9 square metres. For 2011 as a whole, the average transaction price of residential units increased by 33.6% over 2010 to MOP41,433 per square metre. The average price of office units rose by 53.5% year-on-year to MOP35,076 per square metre, and that of industrial units went up by 72.4% to MOP12,001 per square metre. For the whole year of 2011, a total of 10,935 cases of real estate sale and purchase contracts were made, down by 13.9% over 2010, and the number of units dropped by 12.7% to 14,075. Moreover, there were 7,930 cases of residential mortgage contracts signed, a decrease of 6.7% year-on-year. In 2011, gross floor area of buildings completed dropped by 8.6% year-on-year to 1,162,506 square metres, altogether providing 1,387 units (1,099 are residential units), 2,940 parking spaces for cars and 1,185 parking spaces for motorcycles.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today the credit card statistics for the fourth quarter of 2011. The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 527,359 at the end of December 2011, equivalent to an increase of 4.8% over a quarter ago. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 398,659, 66,774 and 61,926 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective growth of 3.5%, 1.9% and 18.1% quarter-to-quarter. On an annual basis, RMB cards surged 109.9% while MOP cards and HKD cards rose 18.1% and 11.4% respectively. As at the end of December 2011, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP8.9 billion, up 5.2% from end-September 2011. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP1.5 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP482.8 million, accounting for 32.5% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, slid to 0.82%. For the fourth quarter of 2011, the credit card turnover grew 10.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP2.8 billion. The cash advance turnover was MOP139.8 million, accounting for 5.0% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, increased 5.2% from the previous quarter to MOP2.7 billion. For enquiry, please contact: Research and Statistics Department
Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel：8395 2532Fax：2835 3042)
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP283.3 billion (USD35.46 billion) at the end of January 2012. The reserves rose by 4.0% from the revised value of MOP272.4 billion (USD34.03 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP91.3 billion or 47.6%. Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves at end-January 2012 represented 47 times the currency in circulation or 366.6% of Pataca M2 at end-December 2011. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, rose by 0.20 points month-to-month but fell by 0.23 points year-on-year to 88.60 in January 2012. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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Police are acting more proactively against crimes such as robbery, in particular in areas frequented by visitors.
And at the same time they will strengthen their relationship with the public to help fight crime, the Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, said today.
Mr Cheong disclosed this when he released the crime statistics for last year, which showed a slight increase of 7.4 per cent compared with 2010.
He said as work had commenced on large infrastructure projects which could bring more visitors to Macao, they might have to recruit more police officers to cope with an increasing workload.
Mr Cheong said due to the increase in robbery cases, the authorities would act more proactively against crimes, particularly at tourist spots and strengthen the relationship between the police and the public. He said crimes against property made up of 56.6 per cent of the total of 12,512 cases in the reporting year, with crimes against the person accounting for 19.4 per cent. Crimes against the person -- one of the five major categories of crimes classified in the Penal Code of Macao -- dropped 1.7 per cent to 2,428 cases. Wounding increased by 6.7 per cent to 1,704 cases, with criminal intimidation up 16.9 per cent to 207 cases. Crimes against property rose 16.2 per cent with 7,080 cases, with pick-pocketing and robbery cases up 20.1 per cent. Crimes against society dropped 1.4 per cent with 670 cases, due to a 10.6 per cent drop in the use of counterfeit banknote cases. Other crimes not included in the above classifications dropped 11.3 per cent, with 1,379 cases. Juvenile crimes fell by two cases compared with last year, with 100 cases in 2011.
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Owing to the strike action by workers of the public sector in Israel, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Israel are subject to delay until further notice.
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Owing to the flooding in Australia, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to New South Wales and Queensland, particularly for the areas with postal codes bearing the prefixes below are subject to delay until further notice.
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Consumer Council pays attention to price trend of all consumer goods, long-term and individual projects are therefore constantly adopted for the improvement of the Council's work on collecting price data. A price survey on milk tea was conducted by surveying prices of milk tea in 35 randomly picked local cafés; survey result showed that over half of the surveyed cafés had not changed their prices for milk tea in the last two months. The Council reminded food establishments that any updated price lists or menus must be submitted to the license issuing department for record. Many consumers have reflected that prices of food sold in local cafés have been raised apparently after Chinese New Year and hope that the Administration could pay close attention to it. Consumer Council started its price survey on milk tea last December. Prices of milk tea for take-away from 35 local cafés were collected in December 2011 and February 2012 respectively. Result of the price survey showed that 18 out of the 35 cafés had not changed their prices for milk tea during the surveyed period. 13 cafés had raised their prices for milk tea for MOP1.00, 4 others had a price increase of MOP0.50; the percentage increase ranged from 5% to 12%. The Council indicated that as Macao is a free market, businesses have the right to determine the prices of their goods and services, however, in accordance with Article 35 of Decree Law No. 16/96/M, hotels and food establishments should submit their price lists or menus to the license issuing department and the license issuing department must be informed of any changes in the price lists as well. Café is one of the food establishments regulated by the above-mentioned Decree Law. Consumer Council conducted the price survey by purchasing beverages for take-away on the spot, and differences were noted between the actual selling prices and prices listed on the menu at those cafés. Though food establishments are free to determine their prices, the Council indicated that in accordance with Decree Law 16/96/M, any price changes or surcharge added are required to be stated on the menu and the license issuing department must be informed of the updated menu. Meanwhile, consumers have the right to pay according to the amount stated on the menu, otherwise, consumers may lodge their complaints with the Council or the license issuing body. For inquiries, please call Consumer Council at 8988 9315.
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Macau Government Tourist Office takes part in the South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) to meet with quality buyers from all over India to promote Macau tourism and expand the source market. The 19th edition of SATTE is held in two leading outbound travel markets in India, New Delhi (February 10-12) and Mumbai (February15-16). Representatives from MGTO, accompanied by its representation office in India and Macau travel trade members, participate in the event. As India's leading B2B travel & tourism event, SATTE is the most anticipated travel and tourism event in South Asia. Over the years SATTE has grown, both in terms of exhibitors and visitors (including buyers), and is today the largest networking forum for the travel & tourism industry in South Asia. MGTO makes its debut at SATTE to showcase its new brand and slogan "Touching Moments Experience Macau" and promote new developments, new properties and attractions, including World Heritage to quality buyers in India, especially those from the smaller towns and cities to further expand the market. Macau is diversifying its tourism products and facilities to offer different experience for different age groups. MGTO has recently launched the "Incentive Travel Stimulation Program" to continue its support in boosting the development of business tourism and diversify portfolio of tourism market segments. India is an important source market for Macau and MGTO has been working extensively to explore the Indian market and lure more travelers from India to Macau. These efforts have also shown encouraging results with the number of Indian visitors to Macau increasing consistently over the past few years. Last year Macau welcomed close to 170,000 visitors from India, and over 70% were overnight guests.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitors in package tours surged by 51.5% year-on-year to 794,636 in December 2011. Visitors from Mainland China (574,427); Taiwan, China (48,071); and Hong Kong (40,203) soared by 57.7%, 135.8% and 13.8% respectively. For the whole year of 2011, visitors in package tours reached 7,307,438, up by 27.2% year-on-year. In December 2011, Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours decreased by 12.9% year-on-year to 24,119. The most popular tour itineraries were Mainland China (69.9% of total); Taiwan, China (6.6%); and the Republic of Korea (6.0%). In 2011, outbound residents in package tours decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to 242,997. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies increased substantially by 40.4% year-on-year to 64,167; the main destinations were Mainland China (52.9% of total); Hong Kong (18.0%); and Taiwan, China (16.0%). For the whole year of 2011, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements increased by 29.7% year-on-year to 648,739. At the end of December 2011, number of available guest rooms of hotels and guest-houses totalled 22,356, up by 2,265 rooms (+11.3%) year-on-year, with that of 5-star hotels accounting for 63.5% of the total. Hotels and guest-houses received a new record of 820,163 guests in December 2011, an increase of 12.7% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (54.9% of total) and Hong Kong (17.8%). The average length of stay increased by 0.05 night to 1.5 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses stood at 89.7%, up by 2.0 percentage points year-on-year. Average occupancy rate of hotels was 90.3%, with 4-star and 5-star hotels reaching 93.6% and 90.2% respectively. Total number of guests increased by 11.0% year-on-year to 8,612,127 in 2011; average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses was 84.1%, up by 4.3 percentage points year-on-year. For the whole year of 2011, visitor-guests accounted for 62.3% of the total number of tourists (overnight visitors), higher than 61.1% in 2010.
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