News

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, left for Beijing today to attend the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Speaking to the press before leaving for the capital, Mr Ho said that he felt very happy and excited to attend the ceremonies. About 100 people from Macao also left this morning for the celebrations in Beijing. They included the Chief Executive-designate, Mr Chui Sai On, principal officials, members of the Executive Council and Legislative Assembly, and representatives from the community. While Mr Ho is away, the Secretary for Security, Mr Cheong Kuoc Va, will be Acting Chief Executive.
…

Due to the relocation of the Macao SAR Resident Identity Card Production System from 19 October 2009 to 8 November 2009, the issuance of the Macao SAR Resident Identity Card will be suspended during the aforesaid period. For the Macao SAR Resident Identity Card applications received 10 working days before or during the relocation of the production system, the collection date will be postponed accordingly. Besides, the request for modifying marital status will also be unavailable during the relocation period. Furthermore, please be advised that the “Express Service” and the “Special Express Service” for identity card applications will not be available from 12 October 2009 to 27 October 2009 and from 15 October 2009 to 8 November 2009 respectively. For any inquiries, please contact us at 2837-0777 or 2837-0888. Thank you for your kind attention and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP582 million in August 2009, down by 55.7% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports falling by 70.0% to MOP224 million and that of re-exports dropping by 37.0% to MOP358 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP3.09 billion, down by 13.9% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.50 billion was recorded for August 2009. From January to August 2009, total value of merchandise exports fell by 55.3% year-on-year to MOP5.11 billion, of which the value of domestic exports and re-exports declined by 69.5% and 32.1% respectively; meanwhile, total value of merchandise imports slid by 20.9% to MOP23.10 billion. The trade deficit for the first eight months of 2009 widened by 1.4% year-on-year to MOP17.98 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down markedly by 17.1 percentage points to 22.1%. Analyzed by destination of Macao’s exports, in the first eight months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 79.2%, 60.1% and 45.7% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 72.4% year-on-year to account for 36.8% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 30.3%. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, value of merchandise imports from Mainland China dropped by 40.0% year-on-year, but that from the EU rose by 3.8%. The value of imports by Broad Economic Category registered year-on-year decrease, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Fuels & lubricants fell by 41.6% and 26.8% respectively; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a mild decrease of 8.2%, with that of Food & beverages rising by 16.5%.
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of operating travel agencies totalled 155 in 2008, a decrease of 2 establishments over 2007. Sales & Other Receipts totalled MOP3.58 billion, up by 6.6% year-on-year and Gross Fixed Capital Formation increased by 20.0% to MOP70.18 million. However, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy dropped by 5.5% to MOP473 million on account of rising cost of Purchase of Goods & Services and higher Operating Expenses. At the end of 2008, a total of 2,806 persons were engaged in the travel agencies, up by 23.0% year-on-year. Expenditure of the travel agencies amounted to MOP3.43 billion, an increase of 11.2% over 2007. In terms of expenditure items, Purchase of Goods & Services for Sale (including tickets, package tours and room reservation) reached MOP2.87 billion (83.6% of the total), up by 8.7% year-on-year; Operating Expenses rose by 6.8% to MOP238 million. In addition, Compensation of Employees soared by 45.6% from 2007 to MOP321 million on account of a notable increase of 552 paid employees in 2008.
…

The Government have full respects to the ruling by the Court of Final Appeal yesterday over void ballots of the Legislative Assembly Election, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking to the press after attending the National Day reception, Mr Ho said that apart from the disputes over the definition of void ballots, the entire election process was smooth. We had to draw a lesson from the election, especially from the aspects of election guidelines and promotion, as some voters were not familiar with marking ballot papers with a stamp, he said. The Government will review on the entire procedures, study the necessity of revising the Legislative Assembly Election Law and give precise guidelines to the staff of polling stations. As for the seven appointed legislators, Mr Ho said the Government would announce their names early next week. He had exchanged ideas with the Chief Executive-designate Mr Chui Sai On over these members. Mr Ho is to visit Beijing tomorrow to attend the National Day celebrations. He said that he would be very proud to attend the celebrations as the Chief Executive of the Macao SAR.
…

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, will lead a delegation comprising Macao celebrities to Beijing tomorrow to attend the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). On the National Day, the delegation will join the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC celebrations and attend a cultural performance at night. On 2nd October, Mr Ho will visit the exhibition showcasing the achievements of China since its founding in 1949 at the Beijing Exhibition Centre. Members of the delegation are from different sectors, including business, education, labour and academy. They will will return to Macao on in the afternoon of 2nd ctober
The Secretary for Security will be the acting Chief Executive during Mr Ho’s absence.
…

The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP141.1 billion (USD17.68 billion) at the end of August 2009. The reserves rose by 0.3% from the revised value of MOP140.8 billion (USD17.63 billion) for the previous month. When compared with the same period last year, the reserves increased by MOP18.8 billion or 15.3%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-August 2009 represented 30 times the currency in circulation or 243.9% of Pataca M2 at end-July 2009. 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, fell by 0.38 points month-to-month but rose by 2.15 points year-on-year to 90.06 in August 2009.
…

As a continuous support to the Industry Partners of its Industry Partner Program (IPP) that are actively pursuing the international MICE business opportunities for Macau, the Macau Business Tourism Centre (MBTC) of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosted the “Industry Partner Networking Dinner” at the Grand Ballroom of MGM Grand today on the occasion of the “Meeting and Incentive Forum Asia 2009” that is currently taking place in Macau between September 27 and 29. The networking dinner served as a platform for the Industry Partners to meet and exchange business contacts with a unique group of about sixty international MICE buyers and suppliers who are attending the Forum. Held at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, the “Meeting and Incentive Forum Asia 2009” is the first ever M&I Forum to take place in Asia, with the previous editions in Palm Beach, Florida (USA), Prague (Czech Republic), Geneva (Switzerland) and Tenerife (Spain). This event was designed to allow travel professionals to source and research new venues for future events, build new and lasting business relationships with suppliers and prominent MICE agencies and corporate companies, whilst seeing Macau as a destination in its fullest. The Industry Partner Program (IPP) is a cooperative platform set up by MBTC in which local suppliers can work together with the government to develop the local MICE industry, as well as to promote and compete in the international market under the “Macau” destination banner. Since the launching of the program in October 2008, MBTC has been providing great support to the Industry Partners in building their competitiveness and exposures through a series of educational programs and participation in leading MICE trade shows. Upcoming they will be joining MBTC again to participate in the Incentive Travel & Meeting Executives Show (IT&ME) in Chicago on September29-October1, Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) in Bangkok on October 6-8, European Incentive & Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM) in Barcelona on 1-3 December, and the 19th International Meetings Exhibition (IME) in Tokyo on 8-9 December.
…

The Statistics and Census Service released results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Sector for the second quarter of 2009. Survey coverage excluded junket promoters and junket associates. At the end of the second quarter of 2009, the Gaming Sector had 43,975 employees, down by 3.6% year-on-year. Analyzed by occupations that are directly related to betting services, 18,084 were dealers, down by 5.7% year-on-year, 12,209 were hard & soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc., up by 5.2% year-on-year. Meanwhile, 5,087 were casino & slot machine attendants, security guards, surveillance room operators, etc., down by 4.9% from a year earlier. In June 2009, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees dropped by 2.0% year-on-year to MOP 15,260. Average earnings for dealers fell by 4.8% over June 2008 to MOP 13,120, and that of hard & soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc. stood at MOP 18,600, down by 1.1%. The average earnings for casino & slot machine attendants, security guards, surveillance room operators, etc. registered a year-on-year increase of 7.5% to MOP 10,060. At the end of June 2009, number of vacancies of the Gaming Sector decreased drastically by 52.7% year-on-year to 361, with 50 for dealers, 39 for hard & soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, betting service operators, etc. and 72 casino & slot machine attendants, security guards, surveillance room operators, etc. As regards recruitment prerequisites, 63.7% of the vacancies required working experience; 50.7% required senior secondary education or higher. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (64.5%) and English (57.6%).
…

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the unemployment rate for June-August 2009 was 3.8%, up by 0.1 percentage point over the previous period (May-July), while the underemployment rate held stable at 1.9%. Total labour force was 331,400 in June-August 2009, with the employed population decreased by 1,700 from the previous period to 318,800. Analyzed by industry, employment of Retail Trade and Construction saw decrease, while employment of Restaurants & Similar Activities registered an increase. In June-August 2009, number of the unemployed increased by 400 over the preceding period to 12,600, with 13.8% (1,700) being fresh labour force entrants searching for the first job, up by 2.4 percentage points from May-July 2009. In comparison with June-August 2008, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate went up by 0.8 and 0.3 percentage point respectively. In addition, the labour force participation rate (72.6%) fell by 0.2 percentage point from the previous period and 0.6 percentage point year-on-year.
…