News

To celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Communications Museum, Macao Post announces that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at our Philately Shops located at Macao Post Headquarters and Communications Museum on 1st March 2010 to provide the commemorative postmark cancellation service for the “4th Anniversary of Communications Museum”. Opening hours are as follows: Philately Shop of Macao Post Headquarters: 9:00a.m. to 17:30p.m. Philately Shop of Communications Museum: 9:30a.m. to 17:30p.m. Various philatelic products are available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps!
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To celebrate the Year of Tiger, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosted a spring luncheon today (26 Feb) to thank the Hong Kong’s travel trade, business partners and media for their support in the development of Macau tourism over the years. The luncheon was held at Conrad Hong Kong Hotel. Over 200 representatives from the local travel trade, tourism partners and media participated in this luncheon, including Mr. Philip Yung, Commissioner for Tourism of Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Mr. Lin Shan, Director of Asia Tourism Exchange Centre, Mr. Anthony Lau, Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Mr. Ngai Wing Chit and Mr. Michael Wu, Chairman of Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. In his welcome remarks, Director of MGTO, Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes expressed his New Year blessings and gratitude for the efforts of the tourism partners in Hong Kong for bring millions of visitors to Macau every year. Hong Kong continued to be the second largest source market of Macau, generating over 6.7 million visitor arrivals to Macau in 2009. Entering the new era of administration, MGTO will continue to promote Macau as a “world of difference” destination where tourists could experience diversified tourism elements, in particular, the lately developed world-class tourism and entertainment facilities and the Historic Centre of Macau. The government will strive to promote regional tourism of the Pearl River Delta, to develop potential source markets, and further to build up the local MICE industry. The MGTO Hong Kong Representative Office (MGTO-HK) would initiate an array of marketing activities, including the product presentations, luncheons, thematic familiarization tours, seminars, roadshows, trade visits, etc…, in accordance to MGTO’s promotional theme of “Experience Macau” with the five senses “See”, “Hear”, “Touch”, “Taste” and “Feel”. The brand new consumer campaign “Experience Macau In Style” would be introduced to position Macau as an exciting and stylish destination with world-class standard offerings. As for the business tourism and MICE industry, MGTO-HK will continue to enhance cooperative networking among the Macau trade vendors, event organizers and potential clients in Hong Kong. MGTO-HK will also publish MICE guides, participating in major trade shows, provide supports to MICE companies, in order to strengthen Macau as a unique MICE destination.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total merchandise import for January 2010 registered an increase for the third consecutive month, up by 22.4% year-on-year to MOP3.52 billion. However, value of merchandise export decreased further by 19.0% year-on-year to MOP620 million, with the value of domestic exports falling by 51.4% to MOP213 million, but that of re-exports rising by 24.3% to MOP407 million. The trade deficit for January 2010 widened by 37.4% year-on-year to MOP2.90 billion. Analyzed by destination of exports, value of merchandise export to Hong Kong increased by 28.4% year-on-year to MOP270 million in January 2010, while that to the USA (MOP83 million) and the EU (MOP43 million) decreased by 65.9% and 54.1% respectively. Exports of Textile & garment amounted to MOP151 million, down substantially by 61.2% year-on-year to account for 24.3% of the total merchandise export; however, value of Non-textile exports (MOP469 million) grew by 24.6%, with that of Jewellery and Articles for casino rising notably by 140.0% and 195.4% respectively. Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, value of merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP1.02 billion) and the EU (MOP799 million) expanded by 20.7% and 13.1% respectively year-on-year in January 2010. In terms of Broad Economic Categories, the value of imports of Consumer goods rose by 45.8% year-on-year, with that of Motor cars & motorcycles growing significantly by 87.8%; nevertheless, the value of imports of Capital goods and Raw materials & semi-manufactures fell by 13.2% and 0.5% respectively. Total value of merchandise import and export amounted to MOP4.14 billion in January 2010, up by 13.7% year-on-year.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that employment situation showed continuous improvement. The unemployment rate for November 2009 - January 2010 was 3.0%, down by 0.1 percentage point from October-December 2009; the underemployment rate was 1.7%, down by 0.2 percentage point. Total labour force was 321,400 in November 2009 - January 2010 and the labour force participation rate stood at 70.8%, with the employed population decreasing slightly by 500 over the previous period to 311,900. Analyzed by industry, employment of the Manufacturing Sector and Restaurants & Similar Activities increased from the previous period, while that of Wholesale & Retail Trade registered a decrease. In November 2009 - January 2010, number of the unemployed decreased by about 400 from the previous period to 9,500, with 10.0% (960) being fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job, down by 0.7 percentage point. In comparison with November 2008 - January 2009, the labour force participation rate dropped by 2.1 percentage points; meanwhile, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate fell by 0.4 and 0.1 percentage point respectively.
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Under the requirement of the Administrative Regulation No. 3/2005 on Investors, Managerial Personnel, Technical and Professional Qualification Holders Residency Scheme, a total of 784 new applications for investment residency were received by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) in 2009. Among which were 753 cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders and 31 cases for major investment and major investment plan. In 2009, 3,173 applications for investment residency were approved, including 2,607 cases for fixed assets purchase, 549 cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders and 17 cases for major investment and major investment plan. Breakdown of investment residency applications and approved cases in 2009 are as follows: Statistics of Investment Residency Applications and the Cases and Number of People Approved in 2009
(* Please find the attached file.)
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The Government today announced the establishment of Government Spokesperson Office to further enhance its communication with the media and the public. The Chief of Office of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Alexis Tam Chon Weng, has been appointed head of the Office and Government Spokesperson. Mr Tam and the Deputy Spokesperson -- Director of Government Information Bureau Mr Victor Chan Chi Ping -- met the press this afternoon to give more information on the new set-up. The Government Spokesperson Office, which is under the supervision of the Chief Executive, is responsible for the co-ordinated and coherent communication of the Government with media organisations and the public, Mr Tam said. The Office is also responsible for co-ordinating the continued establishment and operation of the spokesperson mechanism of the entire government. Mr Tam said the objective of the establishment of this mechanism is to strengthen the communication of the Government with media organisations and the public, and to provide accurate and timely information to reporters. All public bureaux and entities are obliged to co-ordinate with the Office and provide the necessary information and support. The Government Spokesperson may speak on behalf of the Government and hold press conferences. He said all Principal Officials have also appointed their news and public relations co-ordinators to be in charge of the release and promotion of information, while co-ordinators of bureaux are responsible for liaising with reporters, receiving their inquiries and getting replies from their superiors. The Government Information Bureau will provide all necessary support to the establishment and operation of the spokesperson mechanism. Mr Tam said the Office would hold press conferences in due course: he gave an assurance that officials at all levels would retain their contact with media organisations. The Spokesperson Office would issue guidelines to all co-ordinators to further delineate and streamline their duties, he added.
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Since the Public Security Authority in Mainland announced the “Guidance Notes on Application for Adult Children of Macao Residents in Mainland to Enter Macao for Residence” (hereinafter called “Guidance Notes”) in 2009, the public in Macao from different areas have been showing welcome and appreciation. Nevertheless, different requests were made by some of the Macao residents regarding reunion with their Mainland relatives. They mainly request the SAR Government to recognize their Macao resident status during the time of possessing “Temporary Stay Permit” before obtaining their Macao Resident Card, and to issue a certificate to have their children in Mainland included under the scope of “Adult Children”. In pursuant to the stipulation of Article 22 of the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, Mainland residents entering Macao for residence is governed by the Central Government. The Central Government has clearly defined the principle and the scope to settle the issue of “Adult Children” of Macao residents. “Adult Children” refers to the Mainland-born children of Macao residents, who was qualified at the time of applying for family reunion but had become overage during the application process and whose application was declined due to such reason. The abovementioned “Guidance Notes” is framed in accordance with this definition. The SAR Government should enforce and cooperate in line with relevant policy measures of the Central Government. It should be noted that, in accordance with Article 4 (2) of Decree No.29/90/M which governs “Temporary Stay Permit”, the holders of “Temporary Stay Permit” are not recognized as residents. In pursuant to Article 4 (2) of Law No.8/1999 (“Law of Macao SAR Permanent Residents and Right of Abode”), persons who are only allowed to stay are not considered as residing in Macao and hence, their period of stay cannot be counted as ordinarily resident period. Therefore, the Mainland children of Macao residents who possessed “Temporary Stay Permit” and have made the abovementioned request were originally unable to fulfill the requirements for applying to reside in Macao and was not allowed to made such application in those years. As a result, they are not under the scope of “Adult Children” specified in the aforesaid “Guidance Notes”. The SAR Government believes that the issue of “Adult Children” has reached a reasonable and complete settlement. Any Mainland relatives of Macao residents who are not within the scope of “Adult Children” specified in the said “Guidance Notes” must make the application to reside in Macao according to the existing requirements of the Public Security Authority in Mainland.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Composite CPI (102.14) for January 2010 increased by 0.12% year-on-year. Price indices of Clothing & Footwear; Transport; Miscellaneous Goods & Services; and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 9.95%, 6.99%, 4.51%, and 3.60% respectively, attributable to higher prices of clothing in spite of the seasonal sales, and rising prices of gasoline, gold jewellery, meals bought away from home, fresh fish and vegetables. On the contrary, apart from the 18.95% decrease of the price index of Education, reduced charges for mobile phone services and lower rentals for housing drove the price indices of Communication; and Housing & Fuels down by 3.28% and 2.75% respectively. The CPI-A (101.66) for January 2010 decreased by 0.84% year-on-year, while the CPI-B (102.20) increased by 0.35%. The Composite CPI for January 2010 decreased slightly by 0.03% month-to-month, of which the price indices of Communication and Clothing & Footwear dropped by 3.26% and 2.84% respectively on account of reduced charges for mobile phone services as well as seasonal sales of clothing. However, price indices of Transport and Health increased by 1.25% and 0.69% respectively due to rising prices of gasoline and higher charges for medical consultation. Meanwhile, the CPI-A rose marginally by 0.02% month-to-month, while the CPI-B decreased by 0.06%. For the 12 months ended January 2010, the average Composite CPI rose by 0.71% over the preceding period. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general population. The 2008/2009 based CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP6,000 to MOP18,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP19,000 to MOP34,999.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the number of visitor and non-resident arrivals was 2,533,068 in January 2010; visitor arrivals totalled 2,046,556, up by 6.8% year-on-year. Same-day visitors (1,040,977) accounted for 50.9% of the total visitor arrivals, with 565,212 coming from Mainland China. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China increased by 18.9% year-on-year to 1,131,660 (55.3% of total visitor arrivals), with 447,681 travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, down by 21.7% from January 2009 (571,930). Visitors from Taiwan, China (115,673), Japan (35,641), Republic of Korea (30,302) and Malaysia (26,718) rose by 11.8%, 11.9%, 63.9% and 31.2% respectively; however, those from Hong Kong (544,603) registered a decrease of 15.7%. Analysed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 799,594 in January 2010, down slightly by 0.2% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour decreased by 8.7% to 511,155 whereas those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa increased by 27.4% to 262,655. Visitor arrivals by land was 1,098,588, up by 9.9% year-on-year, those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 1,017,313 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (80.9%) and Hong Kong (11.9%). Visitor arrivals by air rose by 30.2% year-on-year to 148,374. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport increased by 31.8% to 146,214, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (36.9%), Mainland China (30.1%) and Malaysia (7.0%).
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, had expressed his condolences to the Portuguese people over the tragedy caused by floods on Madeira island. In a letter to the Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr José Sócrates, on Monday, Mr Chui expressed his heartfelt compassion to the people in the time of sadness. He wished them speedy and smooth rescue operations in the affected areas.
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