News

To gradually implement the policy objectives of improving administrative procedures and facilitating the general public, Macau Government Tourist Office actively studies the feasibilities of introducing various kinds of online application services. Recently, MGTO has launched an on-line application service for tour guide card, in line with the development of e-government. Among the application services under the auspices of MGTO, renewal of tour guide card and change of contact information top the list. As such, MGTO has launched the related online application services, with which tour guide card holders can complete the procedures online. Currently, there are 1,479 people with valid tour guide cards, which need to be renewed every three years. MGTO will introduce more online application services and in the next phase, the service will be extended to all tour guide cards applications, including applications for first-time issue of a tour guide card and replacement of a lost card. Applicants can visit MGTO’s industry website http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/en/index.php to learn more about the online application services for tour guide card.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today the credit card statistics for the third quarter of 2010. The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 402,715 at the end of September 2010, up 5.08% from three months ago. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 321,331, 58,518 and 22,866 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective increases of 4.46%, 2.45% and 23.54% quarter-to-quarter. When compared with the same period last year, RMB cards jumped 60.54% while MOP cards and HKD cards grew 14.10% and 5.32% respectively. As at the end of September 2010, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao amounted to MOP7.31 billion, up 6.19% from end-June 2010. Credit card receivables totalled MOP1.15 billion while the rollover amount reached MOP0.43 billion, accounting for 37.36% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, was 1.26%.
In the third quarter of 2010, the credit card turnover increased by 12.50% quarter-to-quarter to MOP2.0 billion. The cash advance turnover amounted to MOP0.12 billion, accounting for 6.04% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, went up 17.30% from the previous quarter to MOP2.03 billion.
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The result of The 16th International Postage Stamp Design Contest, which is organized by Korea Post, has been announced on 22nd October 2010. Mr. Lei Sai Kun, Macao resident, has won the Award of Excellence of the General Category. His winning design, under the subject - Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers, will be issued as a special stamp by Korea Post. In addition, he will be awarded KRW2,000,000, a certificate of merit and prize awarded by Universal Postal Union. By supporting the Contest organized by Korea Post, the Communications Museum hopes to promote stamp collection and international cultural exchange, as well as to encourage those who are interested in arts to participate in stamp design. From 27th August to 15th September 2010, the Communications Museum provided collection and mailing service for the competing works. A total of 227 design works were received and submitted. We would like to extend our congratulations to Mr. Lei Sai Kun – a Macao resident who has submitted his work through the Communications Museum and won the Award of Excellence of the General Category. He will also be awarded one Macao-Korea round-trip air ticket courtesy of the Macao Post to attend the awards presentation ceremony in Korea on 2 nd December.
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Happiness is all around you at Christmas and New Year time. Starting 1st December 2010, Communications Museum will organize a series of special activities and fill the Museum with Christmas decorations. This year the special activities include those for the public and those that require advanced booking. The Large Stamp Projector projects Christmas and Year of the Rabbit stamps from all over the world. New background images of Christmas and New Year themes have been added to the Personal Picture Postcard and Greenscreen Studio. You can act as Santa Claus and take photo at our Make a Pose picture panel. Don’t miss interactive game - Labyrinth of Electric Circuits that requires your concentration and flexibility. For family workshops, parents can create Bunny X’mas Card or X’mas Postal Car together with their children. For booked tour, students from Kindergarten 2 to Primary 3 can join the Bunny X’mas Card workshop and students from Primary 4 to 6 can join the X’mas Postal Car workshop. For thematic guided visits, the Word-Fishing Fun game will be added to Perfect Decoding Detective that is suitable for students from Primary 1 to 3 and Ultimate Decoding Detective that is suitable for students from Primary 4 to 6. For details of the activities, please refer to our website or promotion posters.
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Communications Museum is going to bring new surprises to all visitors again starting 1st December 2010. A new “download” function is added to the Personal Picture Postcard interactive exhibit in the Postal/Philately Gallery on the 1st floor. Now you can extend the joy of your visit at the Museum. In addition to choosing your favorite photo from the three photos taken and printing the postcard with your selected background image, you can now also download your picture postcard from the Museum website and email it to your friends to share the joy of your visit! A unique random code is printed on the top right-hand corner of each Personal Picture Postcard. Visitors can download or email the postcard by inputting the code at the Communications Museum website (http://macao.communications.museum) within 15 days after taking the photo.
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The Decade of Achievements Exhibition of the Macao SAR, which showcased Macao’s development with the support of the motherland, opened at Macau Forum today. Chief Executive Mr Chui Sai On presided over the opening ceremony of the exhibition which showcased the development of Macao since the establishment of the Macao SAR a decade ago, by multimedia and various means. The exhibition, which had been toured to Beijing and other major Mainland cities since December last year, was organised by the Macao SAR Government and co-ordinated by the Government Information Bureau. In an address, the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, said the exhibition displayed the close relation between Macao and its motherland. Visitors may experience the love and support of the motherland and our countrymen towards Macao in the exhibition, he said. The exhibition opens to public from 10 am to 8pm daily until 15 December.
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The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) has been monitoring the tense situation between North and South Korea and maintaining close contact with the tourism associations and travel industry, as well as the overseas representative of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) in South Korea in order to follow up the situation in South Korea. According to the information provided by the travel industry, no tours to South Korea have been cancelled and they will continue according to schedule. Despite the situation has stabilized, the Office will continue to monitor the situation and its effects on tourists. Until now, GGCT has not received any request for assistance regarding this case. Macao residents in Korea may call the 24 hour Tourism Hotline (853)2833 3000 for assistance.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of visitor and non-resident arrivals totalled 2,764,508 in October 2010. Total visitor arrivals rose by 7.5% year-on-year to 2,092,343. Same-day visitors (1,143,513) accounted for 54.7% of the total visitor arrivals, with 627,649 coming from Mainland China. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China increased by 6.7% year-on-year to 1,124,061 (53.7% of total), with 479,516 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, up by 3.9% from October 2009. Visitors from Hong Kong (629,233), Malaysia (27,454) and Republic of Korea (21,931) grew by 14.0%, 5.9% and 59.8% respectively, while visitor arrivals from Japan (29,637) held stable as October 2009; however, those from Taiwan, China (98,674) decreased by 6.8%. Total visitor arrivals reached 20,680,922 in the first ten months of 2010, up by 16.0% year-on-year. The majority of visitors were from Mainland China (10,931,869); Hong Kong (6,237,149); Taiwan, China (1,090,555); Japan (341,558); Republic of Korea (271,161) and Malaysia (261,947). Same-day visitors accounted for 52.3% of the total visitor arrivals, at 10,810,551 in the first ten months of 2010. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 8,474,021 from January to October 2010, an increase of 20.0% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour increased by 7.5% to 5,268,282, with the majority coming from Hong Kong (52.8%) and Mainland China (22.9%); meanwhile, those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa increased by 51.7% to 2,913,060. Visitor arrivals by land reached 10,846,794 in the first ten months of 2010, up by 14.6% year-on-year; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 9,935,593 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (78.9%) and Hong Kong (14.0%). Visitor arrivals by air increased by 4.2% year-on-year to 1,360,107. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport went up by 5.1% to 1,342,074, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (37.7%); Mainland China (31.2%); and Malaysia (7.2%).
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government will organize an Academic Research Lecture in the Cultural Affairs Bureau Auditorium (Edifício do Instituto Cultural, Tap Seac Square, Macao) at 6:30pm on Friday 26 November. Huang Hongzhao, professor of Department of History at Nanjing University, will give a lecture on “The Development of Macao's Ocean Culture". The lecture will be given in Mandarin with Cantonese, Portuguese and English simultaneous interpretation. Entrance is free.
Relics from the Stone Age site at Hac Sa, Coloane of Macao show that Macao people lived on fishing and hunting 5000 years ago, just like their counterparts in southern Zhuhai. Macao is therefore considered typical of southern China ocean culture, characterized by its external-oriented, open and commodity features. The settlement of Portuguese in Macao in 1557 spurred the development of Macao's ocean culture. Over centuries, this culture has gradually transformed and become outward-looking and pluralistic with a combination of leisure and recreation. On the other hand, Macao's ocean culture has a practical significance. Since opening up to foreign trade, Macao has reached out to the world via the ocean; at the same time, it embraces cultures from all continents. Macao has played a significant role in Sino-western cultural exchange in modern China as a gateway of western culture into China.
The lecture will introduce the characteristics and development of Macao's ocean culture, as well as how Macao could make use of its ocean culture advantage to remain a bridge in promoting international exchange and cooperation.
Huang Hongzhao is a professor at the History Department of Nanjing University; former deputy head of the History Department, deputy secretary-general of the standing committee of the China Association of Modern World History Studies, vice-president of Jiangsu Research Institute for Education of History and member of the history department of the 8th five-year plan review team of the State Education Committee. Huang is engaged in studies of Hong Kong and Macao history, world history and history of international relations. His major works include "Collection of Huang Hongzhao's papers on history studies", “Collection on Macao”, “Modern History of Hong Kong”, “Advantages in Culture and Dominant Culture of Macao”,“Macao Officials in Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Modern Macao”. In 2008, Professor Huang was awarded a Cultural Affairs Bureau academic research grant to study the development of Macao's ocean culture.
For further details, please contact Ms. Chu of the Macao Historical Archives of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at 85986537.
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For three consecutive years, the international community of government leaders, businesses, professionals, financial institutions, investors and a host of non-government organizations has converged in Macao to actively participate in the collective effort to address environmental issues of common global concern. The Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF), an initiative by the Macao government, is contributing to China’s efforts to achieve specific objectives for a low carbon society, as well as to raise public awareness and improve conditions for humanity. From its launch in 2008 through to 2010, MIECF has grown from strength to strength and regarded as a success by delegates, exhibitors and the international community. Now, MIECF returns for its fourth edition in 2011 from March 31 to April 02, at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. As the 2011 MIECF Event Manager, Koelnmesse Pte Ltd is inviting interested service providers to participate in this Call for Tender, for appointment of service contracts. The range of services being tendered for are: § Stand Contractor
§ Freight Forwarder
§ Travel Services
§ Accounting Service
§ Public Relation Services
§ Registration Services § Shuttle Bus & Limousine Services Interested parties are welcome to submit their tenders. Submission deadline is 3 December, 2010. Full information on the tender procedures and specifications can be obtained form the website at www.macaomiecf.com.
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