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Law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation” took effect today (August 13), and from midnight, the Cross-departmental Working Group mounted a citywide operation and searched premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally and conducted inspections in the streets. Till now, seven premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally were cracked successfully. Acting Director of MGTO Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes expressed that the operation has delivered initial results and such enforcement actions will continue. All staff from MGTO’s Inspection Division, together with additional manpower from other subunits, joined force with the Public Security Police Force to take immediate action after the law took effect and swooped in districts with higher density of premises suspected to provide accommodation illegally, conducted inspections in the streets and seized touts. In the first round of operations, 25 premises were checked, with 18 unanswered doors. 7 premises were temporarily sealed, 3 suspected offenders were seized including two operators (also working as touts) and one managing staff. 26 occupants were detained. Following the operation, MGTO began sanction proceedings on involved operators, managing staff and touts and adopted provisional measures to cut the supply of water and electricity to the above premises and sealed the doors. Directors and concerned department heads of MGTO also took on-call duties around the clock to give command and coordinate operations to combat the malpractice. To enforce the law on “Prohibition of Providing Illegal Accommodation”, office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture guided the operation planning. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U chaired a Cross-departmental Working Team meeting attended by directors of concerned departments before the law took effect, where he stressed the determination of the government in combating illegal accommodation. The Cross-departmental Working Team also held meetings to discuss operation planning while MGTO met with Public Security Police Force frequently for co-ordination work. In line with the newly implemented law, staff of MGTO are equipped with trainings provided by the Judiciary Police to enhance techniques and skills in inspecting, searching and obtaining evidence, inquiring and questioning and compiling cases. At the same time, additional staff have been deployed internally and MGTO has also started recruiting more inspectors to cope with the long-term operations. As the law has also added new measures to cut the supply of water and electricity, MGTO also held meetings with Macau Water Supply Co. Ltd and CEM to discuss the related procedures and arrangements. Directors and concerned department heads also met with legislator, representatives from General Union of Neighbors Association of Macau and committees of affected apartment owners to introduce the measures against the malpractice as well as to exchange and collect opinions on enforcement of the new law.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that per-capita spending of visitors increased by 3% year-on-year to MOP 1,575 in the second quarter of 2010. Analyzed by place of residence, per-capita spending of Mainland visitors took the lead, at MOP 2,397; per-capita spending of those from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China amounted to MOP 1,349, MOP 1,068 and MOP 787 respectively. Compared with the second quarter of 2009, per-capita spending of tourists rose by 26% to MOP 2,635 and that of same-day visitors surged by 41% to MOP 665. In the second quarter of 2010, per-capita non-shopping spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors decreased by 20% year-on-year to MOP 813, of which expenses on Accommodation and Food & Beverage accounted for 46% and 34% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita shopping spending grew by 49% to MOP 761, with expenses mainly on Local Food Products (24%), Clothing (18%) and Jewellery/Watches (17%). Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,575 in the second quarter of 2010, a year-on-year increase of 15%. Mainland visitors had the highest per-diem spending of MOP 2,397 and the respective spending of visitors from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China was MOP 1,349, MOP 1,068 and MOP 787. The average length of stay of visitors shortened by 0.2 day to 0.9 day over the second quarter of 2009, with Mainland visitors staying an average of 0.9 day. The average length of stay of tourists increased by 0.1 day to 1.7 days, while that of same-day visitors stayed unchanged at 0.2 day.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours surged by 167.0% year-on-year to 489,023 in June 2010, as visitors in package tours for June last year were still under the adverse effect of the human swine influenza. In comparison with June 2009, visitors from Mainland China (337,558), Hong Kong (23,357), Japan (22,591) and Taiwan, China (22,152) rose substantially by 210.6%, 51.5%, 142.3% and 75.4% respectively, and those from India (12,231) and the Republic of Korea (11,777) also registered notable increase. In the first half year of 2010, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 34.8% year-on-year to 3,064,939. In June 2010, Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours soared by 81.6% year-on-year to 21,984, with Mainland China (74.1% of total), Japan (7.2%) and Taiwan, China (6.1%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first six months of 2010, residents travelling in package tours totalled 110,559, up by 20.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies rose by 28.7% year-on-year to 43,001 and the main destinations were Hong Kong (31.9% of total), Mainland China (31.0%) and Taiwan, China (17.0%). In the first half year of 2010, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements increased by 10.5% year-on-year to 217,313. At the end of June 2010, total number of available guest rooms of the hotel sector increased by 1,389 (+7.6%) year-on-year to 19,560 rooms. A total of 603,004 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses in June 2010, up notably by 35.3% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (50.4% of total) and Hong Kong (20.6%). The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses rose substantially by 15.2 percentage points year-on-year to 75.7%; average occupancy rate of hotels stood at 76.5%, with 4-star hotels leading at 77.3%. The average length of stay of guests decreased by 0.03 night to 1.5 nights. Number of guests reached 3,800,614 in the first half year of 2010, up by 22.4% over the same period of 2009. In the first six months of 2010, visitor-guests of hotels and guest-houses accounted for 60.9% of the total number of tourists, down from 61.7% in the same period of 2009.
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The Macao Government today donated 50 million Renmenbi for support rescue works in mudslide-stricken Zhouqu county in Gansu. More than 1,110 people are reported killed and some 600 were still missing last weekend. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said all Macao residents were deeply concerned with tragedy and extended their condolence to the victims and their families. He wished them smooth rescue operations and reconstruction.
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To encourage local enterprises to utilise e-commerce during daily business operations, SME Service Center of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute and Hong Kong Trade Development Council organized the Seminar on “How to Create Quality Company and Brand Image through Online Business Platforms and Exhibitions” on 12 August 2010 at Macao Business Support Center. The objective of the seminar is to facilitate enterprises to promote their products and businesses through online service platform, achieve greater publicity for their products and services, hence create more business opportunities.。 The seminar worked in line with the “E-Commerce Promotion Incentive Measures” launched by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and carried the theme “Building quality enterprise and brand image”. During the first part, Mr. Carven Yiu and Ms Salina Lee, Directors of Mindlinks Training and Consultancy, shared insights on exhibition strategies, attract overseas buyers and gain accesss to merchandising trends. Mr. Angus Wong, Senior Regional Sales Manager of Hong Kong Trade Development Council introduced about the services of hktdc.com, which has been recognised as IPIM’s Accredited E-Commerce Operator in April 2010. He encouraged enterprises to take advantage of online promotional channels and joining exhibitions to search for overseas buyers. A total of 102 participants from local associations and enterprises took part in the seminar, including Mr. Tylor Ian, Acting Senior Manager of Macao Business Support Center of IPIM, Mr. José Tang, Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of Industrial Association of Macau, Mr. Iong Ieng Chun, Vice President of The Macao Small and Medium Enterprises Association, etc.
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Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) has the honour of inviting culinary expert of the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Schools to feature again the “Le Cordon Bleu Master Chef Week at IFT” since 2009. Cuisine chef instructor Philippe Guiet will visit Macao to showcase his expertise in “French and French Thai Fusion Cuisine Culinary Art” - the theme of this year’s programme. Le Cordon Bleu, one of the leading schools for teaching classical French cuisine, patisserie and boulangerie, was founded in Paris, France in 1895. Over the last century, Le Cordon Bleu has evolved from a cooking school to an international network of 29 international schools across 5 continents, in the area of culinary arts and hospitality institutes, maintaining at the same time the highest standards of culinary excellence. Born in Vendée, France, Chef Philippe Guiet obtain his Restaurant Management Diploma at the Lycée technique d’hôtellerie Guyenne in Bordeaux. He joined Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute in 1990 and is currently the school’s Technical Director as well as a Cuisine Instructor. He oversees the culinary curriculum, recipe development and academic evaluation systems. During his visit in Macao, Chef Guiet will demonstrate the culinary concept in French cuisine, adding an interesting twist by using local food in a French style. Also included is the French Thai Fusion Cuisine concept.
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The “E-Commerce Promotion Incentive Measures”, launched by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) last year has been a continuous effort to encourage local enterprises to utilise e-commerce for business development and explore e-commerce horizons. To achieve this objective, IPIM has proactively organized a series of seminars and workshops to promote the use of e-commerce in business, including the “Ceremony of Cooperation with ‘E-Commerce Incentives Scheme’ Supporting Partners and Seminar on Exploiting Online Business Markets for SMEs (17 November 2009) and Seminar on “Opportunities Using Online Business – How to Expand Sales Channel” (18 May 2010). SME Service Center will join hands with Hong Kong Trade Development Council to organize a Seminar on “How to Create Quality Company and Brand Image through Online Business Platforms and Exhibitions” on 12 August 2010, 3 p.m. at Macao Business Support Center Multi-function Conference Hall. Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), subsequent to Alibaba Hong Kong Limited and eBay HK), has been recognised as IPIM’s Accredited E-Commerce Operator in April 2010. The Service packages offered by www.hktdc.com are eligible for subsidies application under the E-Commerce Promotion Incentive Measures. “hktdc.com” aims to help enterprises to explore markets through a variety of channels, including organizing exhibitions, issuing product/service promotion magazines and utilizing its 24-hour online business platform to help enterprises to gain access to overseas buyers. With the theme “Building quality enterprise and brand image”, the seminar covers topics on how the services of tdc.com assists SMEs to attract international buyers and merchandisers as well as other supporting services. Invited business consultant will give insights on how to build enterprise and brand image. The seminar will be conducted in Cantonese. Registration is now open to interested parties (especially enterprises from manufacturing sector and original equipment manufacturers). To sign up, please contact Mr. Harvey Ho or Ms. Fanny Leong of SME Service Center (Tel：28728212; Fax: 28 728213；E-mail: smec@ipim.gov.mo)or visit IPIM website: www.ipim.gov.mo.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the population of Macao was estimated at 544,600 as at 30 June 2010, up by 2,200 from end-March. In the second quarter of 2010, there were 1,122 live births, down by 5.7% quarter-to-quarter. Gender ratio of the newborn was 105.9, with 577 male babies. Number of mortality cases totalled 446 and the major underlying causes of death were Neoplasms and Diseases of the Circulatory System. Meanwhile, 1 case of fetal mortality was recorded. There were 1,115 cases of Notifiable diseases reported in this quarter, consisting mainly of Enterovirus Infection (356 cases), Influenza (297 cases) and Chickenpox (199 cases). In addition, 717 cases of marriage registration were recorded, down by 17.3% over the first quarter of 2010. In the second quarter of 2010, there were 2,009 Chinese immigrants with One-way Exit Permit moving to Macao, an increase of 1,251 quarter-to-quarter; meanwhile, 324 illegal immigrants were repatriated. Moreover, a total of 847 individuals were authorized to reside in Macao, down by 1,101 quarter-to-quarter. Total number of non-resident workers stood at 72,142 at the end of the second quarter, down by 701 quarter-to-quarter.
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A Macao university team would carry out research on the press and broadcasting laws of neighbouring jurisdictions as a reference for the Government in its review of the current regulations. This was announced today by the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, in his second meeting with members of Macao’s press over the revision of these two laws. The Bureau had met them in early June on the procedures of revisions of the two laws. On 2 July, it invited three universities in Macao with news or communication faculties to submit tenders over the study on press and broadcasting laws and regulations of neighbouring jurisdictions. They were the University of Macau, the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), and the University of Saint Joseph. By 23 July, the closing date of the tender, the Bureau had received only one tender, submitted by MUST. After studying the work plan and cost of the tender, the Bureau submitted a proposal to the Chief Executive and the tender was awarded to MUST. According to MUST’s work plan, the study will be led by the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Professor Pan Zhichang, and Assistant Professor Tam Chi Keung. Assistant Professor Sun Zhen of the Faculty of Humanities and Arts and Assistant Professor Shen Yunqiao of the Faculty of Law will be researchers on the team. The study will focus on the comparison of press and communication regulations between the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Portugal and Luxemburg, as well as a summary of related policies and legislative techniques in Common Law countries, and a review of the current practice of press and broadcasting laws in Macao. Mr Chan said by studying related laws in different jurisdictions, global trends, the regulations in practice and internet media regulations, the study could provide directional advice on the revision of the two laws. The research, costing 120,000 Patacas, is to be completed in 70 days. Mr Chan said the Government would keep on listening to opinions of the public and the press over the revision and would continue to uphold the principle of the freedom of the press. The revision of the Press Law and Broadcasting Law will be conducted in four phases: 1. Conduct research on press regulations in different jurisdictions by local academic institute and polls for directional advice;
2. Write a draft law based on the findings in phase one;
3. Conduct all-round public consultations on the draft law;
4. Begin the legislation procedure after revising the draft law based on the result of consultation.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, on a monthly basis, money supply M2 resumed its growth in June. As loans grew at a faster pace than deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio continued to rise. Money supply
Currency in circulation decreased slightly by 0.3% whereas demand deposits increased 3.0%. M1 thus rose 2.5% compared with the previous month. Meanwhile, quasi-monetary liabilities rose 2.9%. The sum of these two items, i.e. M2, increased 2.8% to MOP222.2 billion. On an annual basis, M1 and M2 rose 27.7% and 9.3% respectively. The share of Pataca (MOP) in M2 stood at 27.5%, down 0.2 percentage points over a month ago or 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier. Concurrently, the share of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) in M2 was 54.9%, up 0.7 percentage points month-to-month or 1.2 percentage points year-on-year. Deposits
Resident deposits grew 2.9% from the previous month to MOP217.1 billion. Of which, MOP deposits, HKD deposits and other foreign currency deposits increased at respective rates of 2.2%, 4.1% and 0.2%. Meanwhile, non-resident deposits dropped 0.7% to MOP70.8 billion and public sector deposits with the banking sector decreased 2.9% to MOP15.1 billion. As a result, total deposits with the banking sector grew 1.7% from the previous month to MOP303.0 billion. The shares of MOP and HKD in total deposits were 22.1% and 47.6% respectively. Loans
Domestic loans to the private sector grew 3.3% in June to MOP112.0 billion. Among which, MOP34.0 billion was MOP-denominated and MOP69.8 billion was denominated in HKD, representing 30.4% and 62.3% of the total respectively. Loans to “trade (wholesale and retail)”, “personal housing loans” and “manufacturing industries” increased quarter-to-quarter at respective rates of 16.5%, 11.4% and 10.8% whereas those to “gaming” and “restaurants, hotels and similar” dropped 12.5% and 12.4% respectively. Meanwhile, external loans increased 2.2% to MOP111.7 billion; of which, loans denominated in MOP and HKD accounted for 0.8% (MOP0.9 billion) and 40.5% (MOP45.3 billion) of the total respectively. Loan-to-deposit ratios
As domestic loans to the private sector rose at a faster pace than resident deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio for the resident sector at end-June 2010 rose slightly by 0.4 percentage points month-to-month to 48.2%. The ratio for both the resident and non-resident sectors stood at 73.8%, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month.
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