News

On 3 February 2012, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Mr. Cheong U visited the University of Macau (UM), to stay abreast of UM's latest developments. Mr. Cheong also attended UM's Chinese New Year Gathering for Staff 2012 later in the evening. In his speech at the gathering, Mr. Cheong noted that in recent years UM has achieved pleasing results in numerous areas, and with the SAR government's support UM has established a relatively sound teaching, research and governance system, and has produced a large number of outstanding graduates for society. He encouraged all UM members to make a united effort to help UM scale new heights in the future. Mr. Cheong and his colleagues, including advisors Ms. Iao Man Leng, Mr. Wai Cheng Iong, and Mr. Ung Chi Keong, were warmly received by UM's University Council Chair Dr. Tse Chi Wai, UM Rector Wei Zhao, and Vice Rectors Prof. Simon Ho, Prof. Rui Martins and Dr. Alex Lai. During the meeting, Mr. Cheong highly recognized UM's impressive achievements in recent years, which he attributed to government support and the joint efforts of all UM members. He made special mention of the new "4-in-1" pedagogical model, the trial implementation of the residential colleges, the approval of the two state key laboratories, and the founding of Macao's first Honours College, saying that these strategies are not only pioneering endeavours in Macao, but also have taken UM one more step closer towards realizing whole-person education. He remarked that developing UM into a world-class institution is no mean feat that would probably take ten years, twenty years or even longer. He also expressed admiration for the solidarity among all UM members in their preparation for future relocation to the new campus, which is expected to be completed within a short time frame of three years . He encouraged all UM members to continue to work hard and make a united effort to help UM scale new heights in the future. Mr. Cheong paid special visits to the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, the State Key Laboratory for Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, the East Asia College and the University Library, during which he was updated on UM's latest developments in cutting-edge research and the effectiveness of the implementation of whole-person education. Later in the evening, he attended UM's Chinese New Year Gathering for Staff 2012 and proposed a toast to over six hundred people. In his speech at the gathering, Mr. Cheong said that the Macao SAR government has always provided full policy- and resource-wise support for higher education development in Macao, and at the moment the UM Charter Revision Task Force is revising UM's Charter, in order to better support the university's future development upon relocation to the new campus and create more favorable conditions for the university to realize the goal of becoming a world-class institution. UM staff and students were very encouraged by Mr. Cheong's visit and his pledge of support. In his speech Rector Wei Zhao thanked the Macao SAR government and the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture on behalf of all UM members for their longstanding support and guidance.
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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 are subject to delay until further notice.
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A total of 6,850 cases were received by Consumer Council in 2011, 1,689 were complaints, 4,987 were inquiries and the rest of 147 cases were suggestions from consumers. Telecommunication services marked the top category among the almost 1,700 complaints received by the Council, and over half of the 261 complaints under this category involved mobile phone services. Among those complaints, 60% involved price issues such as roaming charges and data fees, as consumers were not aware of new charges levied by telecommunication service operators after the discounted price offered in their contracts expired. Telecommunication service operators have been informed regarding this phenomenon and requested to state clearly their service plans details as well as their terms and conditions, reminders about contract expiration are also needed to be sent to consumers. Telecommunication equipment and supplies marked the second top category with 158 complaints, 98 cases of which involved quality, price, and after-sales service of mobile phones; the number of cases had increased by 7% compared to last year's statistics. Number of complaints regarding photographic equipment supplies had also increased by 7% in 2011. Another category with the most complaints was food and beverage. In comparison with last year's figures, the number of complaints received (149 cases) in 2011 has increased by 45% due to the salt incident and insufficient supply of infant formula happened in 2011. Other categories with notable increase in the number of complaints were tourism, personal hygienic services and products, entertainment, medicine and Chinese herbal medicine, and food and beverage. The number of complaints of all the above categories have increased by 70% to 100% compared to last year's figures. For group buying, the Council only received 9 complaint cases in 2011 and all were about the cessation of business of Macao Dragon. Consumer Council indicated that the number of complaints in public transport category boomed to around 1,400 cases in 2010 due to Viva Macau's shut down, and Viva Macau alone accounted for almost 1,200 cases in 2010. Aside from Viva Macau, the number of complaints and inquiries during these two years has changed just lightly. Tourist cases accounted for around 22% of total complaints. Among the 380 cases received from tourists, 206 involved telecommunication equipment and supplies, watches and clocks, food and beverage, photographic equipment and clothing and apparel.
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To celebrate the Year of the Dragon with Hong Kong travel trade, business partners and media friends, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosted a spring luncheon in Conrad Hong Kong Hotel today (3 Feb) to thank them for their continuous support to the tourism industry of Macau. João Manuel Costa Antunes, Director of MGTO, led the delegation to join the Spring Luncheon. Over 200 guests from local travel trade, business partners and media were present, including Commissioner for Tourism of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Philip Yung, Director of Asia Tourism Exchange Centre, Xu Hui Fang, Deputy Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Daisy Lam and Chairman of Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, Michael Wu. In his welcome remarks, Director Costa Antunes expressed his New Year blessings and gratitude to local trade partners and media for their efforts in making 2011 a satisfying year for the tourism industry of Macau. The number of visitor arrivals to Macau in 2011 reached 28 million, representing an increase of 12.2% over 2010. Hong Kong constituted the second largest visitor generating market of Macau. Over 7.5 million Hong Kong visitors traveled to Macau last year. In the Year of the Dragon, MGTO aims to build Macau the World Center of Tourism and Leisure with efforts in various areas: promotion of the diversified tourism products in Macau under the theme "Touching Moments Experience Macau", improvement on tourism legislation and industry management to establish a quality tourism image, and consolidation of tourism product mix to create the atmosphere for leisure tourism. In line with the promotion strategies of MGTO, the Representative in Hong Kong will carry out promotional activities targeting different market segments, in addition to product presentations, luncheons, thematic familiarization tours, seminars, roadshows and trade visits etc, to enhance the communication and collaboration with trade partners and the media.
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Consumer Council released its January's specific price survey on cooking oil. In comparison with data from the previous survey conducted two months earlier, most surveyed products recorded different levels of increase or slight decrease in price, only 5 of the surveyed items recorded no change in price. In the current survey, 'Vecorn 100% Pure Corn Oil (3.5L)' recorded the most significant price rise while 'Lion & Globe Pure Olive Oil (500ml)' had a drastic price discrepancy. The Council conducted the latest survey on 31st January, surveying 23 samples of cooking oil from 22 local retail outlets. Over half of the surveyed items recorded increase in price, significant price increase was observed in 'Vecorn 100% Pure Corn Oil (3.5L)', which showed a price increase of 6% to over 45% in 4 retail outlets. Price of 'Mazola Corn Oil (3.5L)' had also increased by around 10% in 5 outlets while all 3 products of 'Lion & Globe' brand recorded a price increase of around 1% to 10%. For those which had decreased in price, the percentage ranged from 1% to 15%. In the current survey, a general price difference of 10% to 30 % was observed for the same product sold in different outlets. The highest difference recorded this time was found in 'Lion & Globe Pure Olive Oil (500ml)' in which the lowest and highest selling price differed for over 100%; 'Tripod Brand Top Quality Corn Oil (2L)', however, recorded only a price gap of less than 5%, 3 other items also had a price gap of less than 10%. Consumers are advised to check with the price survey prior to making consumption. The specific price survey on cooking oil is now available online on the Council's official website (www.consumer.gov.mo).
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the average daily wage of construction workers increased by 2.5% quarter-to-quarter to MOP583 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The average daily wage of skilled & semi-skilled workers (MOP593) rose by 2.1%, and that of unskilled workers (MOP366) went up by 0.8%. Analyzed by occupations, average daily wages of electricians & electrical workers (MOP627) and carpenters (MOP526) increased by 11.4% and 2.1% respectively over the previous quarter; however, wage of structural iron erectors (MOP617) decreased by 8.0%. After discounting the effect of inflation, wage index of construction workers was 90.5 in real terms, down by 1.6% quarter-to-quarter. For the whole year of 2011, the average wage index of construction workers (92.6) decreased by 4.0% over 2010 in real terms. As regards construction materials, price increase tapered off in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increment of the average price of concrete dropped from 16.1% in the third quarter to 0.5% in the fourth quarter, at MOP406 per cubic metre; that of spiral & round reinforcing steel bars also fell from 3.8% to 1.5%, at MOP6,141 per tonne. The price index of construction materials for residential buildings rose slightly by 0.3% quarter-to-quarter to 119.6 in the fourth quarter of 2011; in particular, price indices of steel and ceramic paving & wall tiles both increased by 1.6%, while price indice of electric wire went down by 3.0%. Compared with the same quarter of 2010, price index of construction materials for residential buildings registered an increase of 15.3%. In 2011, the average price index of construction materials for residential buildings (116.0) increased by 16.0% year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for December 2011 amounted to MOP734 million, up by 35.9% year-on-year; value of re-exports (MOP509 million) and domestic exports (MOP225 million) increased by 50.7% and 11.1% respectively. Total merchandise import amounted to MOP6.44 billion, up by 41.6% year-on-year, of which imports of Mobile phones and Gold jewellery soared by 109.1% and 106.0% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP5.70 billion in December 2011. In the fourth quarter of 2011, total value of merchandise export (MOP1.92 billion) increased by 14.6% year-on-year, and that of merchandise import (MOP17.88 billion) rose by 44.7%, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP15.97 billion. For the whole year of 2011, total value of merchandise export increased slightly by 0.2% year-on-year to MOP6.97 billion, the first rebound since 2006; meanwhile, total value of merchandise import grew by 41.2% to MOP62.29 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened by 48.9% year-on-year to MOP55.32 billion in 2011; the exports/imports ratio dropped by 4.6 percentage points year-on-year to 11.2%. Merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP3.11 billion) in 2011 increased by 3.5%, but that to Mainland China (MOP1.10 billion) and the USA (MOP556 million) decreased by 0.4% and 28.9% respectively year-on-year. Exports of Textile & garment declined by 17.7% to MOP1.34 billion; exports of Non-textile (MOP5.63 billion) increased by 5.6%, of which exports of Tobacco & wine (MOP670 million) and Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof (MOP628 million) grew by 42.4% and 39.8% respectively. In 2011, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP19.12 billion) and the EU (MOP15.51 billion) expanded by 39.4% and 55.7% respectively year-on-year. Imports of Consumer goods rose by 46.6% to MOP38.48 billion, with imports of Food & beverages (MOP8.58 billion), Gold jewellery (MOP6.66 billion) and Handbags & wallets (MOP3.50 billion) increasing by 33.7%, 99.7% and 114.8% respectively. Moreover, imports of Capital goods (MOP10.92 billion) registered year-on-year increase of 57.1%. For the whole year of 2011, total value of external merchandise trade amounted to MOP69.26 billion, up by 35.6% compared with MOP51.08 billion in 2010.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the total number of licensed motor vehicles reached 206,349 at the end of 2011, a year-on-year increase of 5%, of which motorcycles (111,198) and light private cars (81,014) accounted for 54% and 39% of the total respectively. New registration of motor vehicles went up by 11% year-on-year to 17,702 in 2011, with motorcycles and light private cars sharing 53% and 40% respectively. For the whole year of 2011, number of traffic accidents rose by 7% year-on-year to 14,102 cases, resulting in 5,517 victims and 12 of them were killed. Cross-border vehicle traffic by land between Macao and Mainland China increased by 8% year-on-year to 4,135,910 vehicle trips in 2011, of which vehicle traffic through the Border Gate accounted for 82%. Commercial flight movements at the Macao International Airport increased by 2% year-on-year to 35,404 in 2011, with Mainland China (34% of total); Taiwan, China (32%) and Thailand (9%) being the major routes. Helicopter flights between Macao and Hong Kong (16,299) and between Macao and Mainland China (3,671) recorded increases of 7% and 6% respectively. Passenger transport by sea between Macao and Hong Kong totalled 120,854 ferry trips in 2011, down by 445 year-on-year. Concurrently, ferry trips between Macao and Mainland China decreased by 3% year-on-year to 25,206. For the whole year of 2011, seaborne container throughput totalled 101,989 TEU or 75,129 containers handled, up by 12% and 14% respectively year-on-year. Gross weight of seaborne containerized cargo increased by 3% year-on-year to 182,959 tonnes, with 4,667 tonnes of transshipment goods. Gross weight of containerized cargo by land decreased by 23% to 35,093 tonnes, including 10,534 tonnes of transit goods. In 2011, outward air cargo (24,950 tonnes) and inward air cargo (9,826 tonnes) fell by 23% and 28% respectively, with that to and from Taiwan, China sharing 78% each. Meanwhile, transit air cargo decreased by 24% year-on-year to 4,748 tonnes. At the end of 2011, number of mobile telephone users increased by 21% from a year earlier to 1,353,194, whereas fixed-line telephone users decreased by 1% to 166,310. As regards internet services, number of subscribers reached 209,223 and the cumulative duration of usage totalled 528 million hours in 2011, up by 23% and 25% respectively.
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Owing to the strike action taken by the air transport workers in Italy, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet and Parcel) from Macao to Italy are subject to delay until further notice. Thank you for your kind attention.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for October-December 2011 was 2.1%, down by 0.2 percentage point over the previous period (September-November 2011); the underemployment rate also decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 0.9%. Total labour force was 347,000 in October-December 2011 and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.9%, up by 0.4 percentage point from the previous period. Total employment was 340,000, up notably by 3,300 over the previous period. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Gaming Sector and the Hotel Sector saw increase, while that of Restaurants & Similar Activities and Retail Trade registered decrease. Number of the unemployed decreased by 600 from the previous period to 7,400, with 12.4% being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 2.9 percentage points over the previous period. In the fourth quarter of 2011, total labour force increased by 2,900 quarter-to-quarter, with total employment registering an increase of 4,400; meanwhile, number of the underemployed and the unemployed decreased by 600 and 1,500 respectively quarter-to-quarter. The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2011 dropped by 0.5 percentage point from 2.6% in the third quarter, and the unemployment rate of local residents decreased by 0.6 percentage point to 2.7%. Median monthly employment earnings of the employed held stable as the third quarter, at MOP10,000; median earnings of local residents amounted to MOP12,000 in the fourth quarter, up by MOP1,000 quarter-to-quarter. For the whole year of 2011, the unemployment rate was 2.5% and the unemployment rate of local residents was 3.2%, both down by 0.3 percentage point over 2010.
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