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Results of the 4th Quarter 2005 Tourist Price Index

Information from Statistics and Census Service indicated that Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the fourth quarter of 2005 was 111.43, up by 3.12% over the previous quarter. Due to higher prices in hotel accommodation, in jewellery that was influenced by rising gold prices, as well as in Winter clothing and footwear, indices of Accommodation; Miscellaneous goods; and Clothing and footwear rose by 10.91%, 6.26% and 2.26% respectively. On the other hand, Transport and communications was the only section that recorded a slight decrease (-0.01%) in the index. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2004, TPI rose by 2.83% in this quarter. In 2005, the annual average TPI increased by 2.89% over 2004, with notable increases in the indices of Accommodation (+7.39%); Entertainment and culture (+4.57%); and Restaurant service (+4.16%). TPI is an indicator used to reflect 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 and tobacco, Clothing and footwear, Accommodation, Restaurant service, Transport and communications, Medicine and personal goods, Entertainment and culture, as well as Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.


Chief Executive to visit Jiangxi

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah is to lead a delegation to Jiangxi Province for a three-day visit on Monday. Delegation members will include the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Members of the Executive council and heads of Government departments. More then sixty Macao entrepreneurs will also be going on the visit and will meet with entrepreneurs in Jiangxi. During his stay in Jiangxi, Mr Ho and the delegation will meet with officials of the Provincial Government and the CPC provincial Committee. They will also visit the scenic spots in the cities of Nanchang and Jinggangshan. Mr Ho is scheduled to return to Macao in the afternoon of 18 January. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan will act as the Chief Executive when Mr Ho was away.


Government announces 20-year urban development plan

The Macao SAR Government today announced a 20-year urban development plan that would include reclaiming 398 hectares of seabed to provide more land for the mid-term development of the SAR. Secretary for Transports and Public Works, Mr Ao Man Long, said the plan was in line with the Government’s outline for development and would be carried out in several phases. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Ao said the Government expected that the reclaimed land would provide room for road network enhancement, more green areas, larger living space and a more impressing sight on the waterfront. Reclamation of 398 hectares would involve 105 hectares off the northeastern coast of Macao Peninsular, 13 hectares along Sun Yat Sen Avenue on the southeastern coast, and 280 hectares off the northern coast of Taipa Island. Of the reclaimed land, 41% or about 163 hectares would be for residential, commercial buildings and hotels, while the remaining 59% or about 235 hectares would be for green areas, leisure space, communal facilities and road networks. Mr Ao said the Taipa reclamation works would be awarded after an international public tender exercise.


Results of the Package Tours and Hotel Occupancy Rate for November 2005

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in November 2005, visitor arrivals in package tours totalled 289,189 up 6.6% over November 2004. Visitors from Mainland China (239,999) increased 8.7% year-on-year; visitors from Taiwan, China (15,953) decreased 33.6% and those from Hong Kong (9,810) increased 23.8%. In the first eleven months of 2005, arrivals in package tours grew 6.9% over the same period of 2004 to 2,434,608. Number of Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 19,418 in November 2005, a year-on-year decrease of 8.8%. Mainland China, Taiwan, China and Republic of Korea were the three more popular tour itineraries, which accounted for 81.1%, 4.7% and 3.7% of the total respectively. In the first eleven months of 2005, Macao residents travelling in package tours surged 41.3% compared with the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, 30,567 Macao residents travelled under own arrangements with the assistance of travel agencies, an increase of 55.2% over November 2004; Hong Kong (29.4%), Mainland China (28.5%) and Taiwan, China (21.3%) were the major destinations. In the first eleven months of 2005, Macao residents travelling under such arrangements rose 12.3% compared with the same period of 2004. At the end of November 2005, there were 10,833 rooms available in hotels and similar establishments, an increase of 1,678 rooms (+18.3%) over November 2004. In November 2005, a total of 387,940 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments in Macao, up 10.2% over November 2004. The average hotel occupancy rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 82.6% compared with the same month of 2004; the highest average hotel occupancy rate was in 3-star hotels, at 90.7%. The average length of stay of hotel guests showed an increase of 0.05 night over November 2004 to 1.21 nights. The majority of the guests came from Mainland China (62.0%), Hong Kong (21.9%) and Taiwan, China (2.8%). In the first eleven months of 2005, number of hotel guests recorded a year-on-year increase of 3.5% to 3,734,564. In the first eleven months of 2005, hotel guests (excluding Macao residents) accounted for 43.2% of the total number of tourists, which was lower than the 45.7% recorded in the same period of 2004.


Press Release of MGTO’s 2006 Press Conference “Join Hands to Bring Macau Tourism to the Next Level”

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a press conference and a lunch reception for the media and the tourism trade on January 11 (Wednesday). Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Dr. Chui Sai On, attended the press conference and delivered a speech. Director of MGTO, João Manuel Costa Antunes presented a summary on the work and achievements of the tourism industry over the past year and outlined the objectives and strategies for the year ahead at the press conference. Speaking at the press conference, Secretary for Social Affairs & Culture Chui Sai On considered 2005 a fruitful year for the tourism industry, with total visitor arrivals of 18.7 million. This achievement, which represents 12% growth over 2004, sets 2005 a record-breaking year. He also pointed out that a number of major events held last year, including the successful hosting of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Conference in April, the inclusion of the “Historic Centre of Macau” in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July with the support of Central Government and the 4th East Asian Games in October, have significantly raised the profile of Macau globally while boosting the development of Macau’s tourism industry. To capitalize on the World Heritage brand effect of the “Historic Centre of Macau” and strengthen Macau’s appeal as a “City of Culture”, Secretary Chui noted that MGTO has set 2006 the “Macau World Heritage Year”. A “2006 Macau World Heritage Task Force” was set up at the first general meeting of the Commission for Tourism Development in 2006 held last week to encourage close cooperation with Macau residents to promote Macau’s heritage legacy to the visitors. He added that in line with the “Macau World Heritage Year” campaign, the world’s largest remote controlled and LIVE broadcast camera network, earthTV, has started broadcasting the spectacular sights of the “Historic Centre of Macau” from 20th December 2005 to a worldwide audience from over 35 countries and regions. He expressed that the policies of “Macau Tour” and the “Individual Visit Scheme” have manifested the steadfast support of the Central Government on tourism development of Macau. Mainland China continued to be the leading source of visitors to Macau. Among the total visitor arrivals of 18 million last year, 10,460,000 are Mainland visitors, who accounted for 56% of total visitor arrivals and have recorded a significant growth of 9.9%. About half of the arrivals from Mainland came to Macau under the “Individual Visit Scheme” and at present, over 9 million Mainlanders have visited Macau under this scheme. Chui Sai On pointed out that with a number of new hotels and large-scale tourism and entertainment facilities to be opened, the tourism industry of Macau, cultivated in an environment full of opportunities and challenges, will grow rapidly into a key destination in the Asia Pacific region. Since the initiation of the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation in 2004, Macau is actively working on overall tourism cooperation with the participating provinces and cities. Through fostering closer cooperation and complementary relationship, Macau and the PPRD region can establish a mechanism to enhance their combined competitive edge by sharing resources and joint promotions. Apart from the Mainland market, Macau will continue to reinforce promotional efforts in other major source markets including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and North America among others. Secretary Chui noted that MGTO would step up its promotion force with the theme “Historic Centre of Macau” through its representative offices worldwide. He stressed that for Macau to be an international destination, it is essential to maintain a balanced market structure. Last year, in addition to expanding its representative office in the United States from the west coast to the east coast, MGTO has also set up a new representation in France. He expressed that the successful hosting of the PATA Annual Conference in Macau has shown to the world that Macau is capable of organizing world-class events. The MICE Research and Information Centre to be operational this April will provide the latest information of the MICE industry to the companies bidding for international and regional events to be held in Macau. The Center will help to create favorable conditions for the MICE industry to develop. Chui Sai On noted that the steady growth in visitor arrivals over the years has not only brought economic effectiveness to the tourism industry but various dilemma as well. To provide quality service to visitors and assure the healthy and sustainable development of the tourism market have become the targets for both the government and trade to achieve. The government will fully support the training efforts of the tourism trade and the Commission for Tourism Development will continue its role to strengthen the connection with the trade to join hands to bring Macau tourism to the next level. MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes said in the press conference that MGTO seeks to build Macau into a City of Culture and Entertainment with Macau’s uniqueness in culture, life style, gourmet, sports and festive events. “Macau a world of difference, the difference is Macau” will continue to be the promotional slogan and a series of promotional programs will be launched to mark the “Macau World Heritage Year”. He added that MGTO has planned to launch various promotional campaigns at respective markets while keeping a vigilant watch on new markets, such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe, for a more diversified market portfolio. Antunes stressed that the operation of the MICE Research and Information Centre will further facilitate the development of the MICE industry and business travel. The Centre will assist the bidding of international meetings to be held in Macau and help to attract overseas entities and meeting planners to organize MICE activities in Macau. The preparation for the “United National World Tourism Organization Ministerial Round Table Meeting” and the “44th Meeting of the Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the 48th Meeting of the Commission for South Asia” to be held this year are in full swing. In order to follow swiftly the pulse of the tourism market, MGTO will continue its efforts to enhance service quality, improve tourism supporting facilities and, through the restructuring of MGTO and the construction of a new MGTO building, respond to the appeals of current tourism trends


Over 800 thousand Crossed Border During New Year Holidays

Immigration authorities recorded a total of 852761 crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the holidays ( 31 December 2005 to 2 January 2006 ) Total number of arrivals stood at 430,921, with:
Border-gate: 342,357
Lotus Bridge: 1,857
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 72,923
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 5,829
Macao International Airport: 7,955 Total of departures stood at 421,840
with Border-gate: 340,817
Lotus Bridge: 2,103
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 65,907
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 3,734
Macao International Airport: 9,279 Meanwhile, total number of tourist arrivals in that period stood at 201,018,with a growth of 19.72% over the same period of last year.


Results of the External Trade Statistics for November 2005

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicates that, in November 2005, Macao’s total value of exports amounted to MOP2.17 billion, up 14.0% over the same month of 2004. Among this, the value of domestic exports increased 5.4% to MOP1.57 billion and the value of re-exports rose 44.3% to MOP608 million. Value of imports amounted to MOP2.94 billion, up 19.1% over the same period of 2004. A trade deficit of MOP761 million was recorded this month. During the period of January – November 2005, the value of total exports decreased 14.3% year-on-year to MOP17.69 billion. Among this, the value of domestic exports decreased 20.1%, whereas the value of re-exports went up 4.9%. Meanwhile, the value of imports amounted to MOP28.25 billion, up 11.7% over the same period of 2004. In the first eleven months of 2005, Macao’s trade balance registered a deficit of MOP10.56 billion. During this period, the exports/imports ratio decreased from 81.6% in the corresponding period of 2004 to 62.6%. In the first eleven months of 2005, the value of Textile & garment exports, which accounted for 76.8% of the total exports, decreased 17.9% over the same period of 2004. However, the value of Non-textile exports rose 0.3%. As the major components of non-textile exports, Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof expanded 16.6%, whereas Footwear fell 91.6% year-on-year. The USA and the EU remained as Macao’s major export markets, together making up 64.7% of the total value of exports. Among this, exports to the USA, which made up 48.7% of the total value of exports, decreased 14.8% over the same period of 2004; exports to the EU, which made up 16.0% of the total value of exports, also decreased 35.8% over the same period of 2004. During the period of January – November 2005, Macao’s total value of imports increased 11.7% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in the value of imports by broad economic categories. Increases were registered for Fuels & lubricants (40.4%), Capital goods (23.8%), Consumer goods (8.2%) and Raw materials & semi-manufactures (3.7%). Meanwhile, Macao’s main suppliers of imported goods still concentrated in the Asian region. Imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong together constituted 52.7% of the total value of imports. Compared with the same period of 2004, the value of imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong rose 6.8% and 4.5% respectively.


Chief Executive calls for open mind and no prejudice

The Chief Executive Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, in his new year message today, encouraged the people of Macao to keep an open mind and face challenges to make 2006 a prosperous year for everyone. He stressed that if Macao people could combine new experience with traditional wisdom, keep their minds open and without prejudice, unleash their potential and focus on overall development of the society, 2006 would be a substantial and prosperous year for everyone in Macao. “In the year 2005, we had successfully hosted the fourth Asian Games and had had the Historical Centre of Macao listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. These successes have provided Macao with valued experience on the path of joining the international community.” He said the smooth process of the legislative Assembly Election had also demonstrated the gradual development of democracy in accordance with the Basic Law. Mr Ho said that the New Year would see the opening of new enterprises and outlines of making Macao an international tourism city would be more clearly drawn. In the midst of an ever-changing market, many traditional industries would be transformed and more challenges at a higher level could be expected. The Government would also redirect its efforts at different level in response to the changes in the society, and introduce new thoughts while ensuring the stability and continuance of basic policies, he said. “The Government will also contribute more input in enhancing human development and promote economic growth in order to enable harmonised interaction between people and the society, rational distribution of gains and in turn, ensure the sustainable development of the Macao SAR.” Mr Ho conveyed his New Year greetings to the people of Macao on behalf of the Macao SAR Government.


State leaders happy with Macao development

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah said today the Central Government was satisfied with Macao’s achievement in the past year and had appreciated that Macao people had united “with one heart and one mind” in building the SAR. Mr Ho was on his annual duty visit in Beijing and had met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao respectively. He spoke of his meeting with the state leaders in a press briefing before ending his visit, he said the state leaders expected the Macao SAR Government to enhance its governance and hope that the whole society could united in harmony, grasp opportunities in new developments and contributed to the successful implementation of the “One Country Two System” principle in Macao by fulfilling their own duties. Mr Ho said he had briefed Premier Wen on the latest economic developments in Macao including the implementation of CEPA and the progress of the Zhuhai-Macao Cross-Boundary Industrial Park. Mr Ho said Premier Wen told him the Central Government would continue its full support of Macao’s development in all aspects and would introduce the facilitated individual travel scheme to more provinces and cities, in order the support the development of Macao’s tourism and service sector. In respond to a reporter’s question, Mr Ho said the constitutional development of Macao had not been discussed during the meetings and that the process of selecting the Chief Executive and the makeup of the Legislative Assembly in 2009 would be proposed in due course in accordance with the Basic Law after thorough public consultation. Mr Ho also expressed regrets on the recent industrial accident in Macao which resulted in two deads and four injuries. He said the MSAR would speed up the review of the relative legislations to better protect workers, especially those in high risk professions.


Results of the Employment Survey for September – November 2005

According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, unemployment rate for September - November 2005 dropped by 0.1 percentage point over August - October 2005 to 4.0%, and down by 0.2 percentage point compared with the same period of 2004. The underemployment rate was 1.5%, which stayed at the same level recorded in August - October 2005, but decreased by 0.1 percentage point over the same period of 2004. Number of the unemployed searching for their first job was about 1,400, which represented 13.7% of the total unemployed population, down by 2.4 percentage points over August - October 2005. Compared with August - October 2005, the unemployment situation was improved in Hotels, restaurants & similar activities and the Retail trade sectors, while it was less favourable in the Manufacturing and the Construction sectors. Total labour force was estimated at 254,000 in September - November 2005; the employed and the unemployed populations were 244,000 and 10,000 respectively. Labour force participation rate was 63.5%, which fell by 0.1 percentage point compared with August - October 2005, but increased by 0.9 percentage point over the same period of 2004.


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