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Information from Statistics and Census Service showed that Composite CPI for February 2005 was 96.80, up 0.84% over the previous month. Owing to rising prices in hairdressing services before Lunar New Year, as well as price increases in outbound package tours, air tickets, fresh fruit and vegetables during Lunar New Year period, the indices of Other goods and services, Transport and communications, and Foodstuffs and beverages went up 3.91%, 1.36% and 1.23% respectively. On the other hand, Clothing and footwear was the only section whose index fell 3.02% as a result of promotional sales in winter clothing and footwear. Composite CPI in February 2005 showed a significant year-on-year increase of 3.42%. For the 12 months ended February 2005, the average Composite CPI rose 1.59% over the previous period. Average Composite CPI for January to February 2005 went up 3.00% over the same period of 2004. In comparison with January 2005, CPI(A) and CPI(B) increased 0.78% and 0.77% respectively. CPI(A) relates to 54% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP3,000 - MOP9,999. CPI(B) relates to 26% of households, which had an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 - MOP19,999.
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Information from Statistics and Census Service showed that the number of visitor arrivals totalled 1,522,590 in February 2005, which represented a year-on-year increase of 37.1%. Visitors from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China increased 26.2%, 48.7% and 64.5% respectively compared with February last year, due to the fact that the Chinese New Year holiday was in February in 2005. Meanwhile, same-day visitors accounted for 52.4% of the total arrivals, at 797,143. Visitors came mainly from Mainland China (54.7% of the total), Hong Kong (32.5%) and Taiwan, China (8.0%). Among those from Mainland China, 463,550 (55.7%) arrived in Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In the first two months of 2005, visitor arrivals totalled 2,924,029, up 19.6% over the same period of last year. Arrivals from Mainland China increased 18.6% to 1,657,748, which accounted for 56.7% of the total; Hong Kong and Taiwan, China shared 29.8% and 7.7% respectively. Furthermore, same-day visitors made up 52.4% of the total, at 1,532,009. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitors arrived by sea went up 11.1% to 1,047,896 in the first two months of 2005, with 1,017,292 arriving at the Outer Harbour (+10.7%) and the majority of these visitors were from Hong Kong (59.0%) and Mainland China (30.2%). Visitor arrivals at the Inner Harbour rose 27.9% to 30,604 while 70.5% were from Mainland China. At the same time, arrivals by land soared 23.3% to 1,715,556, with 1,588,003 arriving through the Border Gate. The majority of the visitors came from Mainland China (77.5%) and Hong Kong (16.2%). Meanwhile, there were 127,553 visitors arriving through the Checkpoint of CoTai. In addition, arrivals by air were 160,577, up 45.9% compared with the same period of last year, with 158,982 arrived at the Macao International Airport (+47.4%). Visitors from Taiwan, China (68.4%) and Mainland China (16.7%) were the major users of this access.
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Integrated in the celebrations of the "World Meteorological Day" the "WMO International Workshop on Tropical Cyclone Landfall Processes" will be taken place in the period of 21 to 25 March 2005, where it congregates scientists and meteorologists of the world-wide reputation in the study of tropical cyclones. This International Workshop is one of the activities in the Tropical International Cyclone Landfall Programme of World Weather Research Program (WWRP) in set with the Tropical Meteorological Research Program (TMRP) of the Commission for Atmospheric Sciences of World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The responsibility of the TMRP is for promoting and coordinating the activities of research of the Members giving priority for the areas of tropical meteorology. The main objectives is to improve the socio-economics conditions through research to better understand the behavior of the tropical atmospheric systems and improving still more the forecasts helping to minimize the loss of lives and to disturb the normal life of the society in consequence of the severe weather, such as the impact of tropical cyclones. The Commission for Atmospheric Sciences of the WMO is responsible for the development of the Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme (AREP) and being the responsible AREP for Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), Tropical Meteorology Research Programme (TMRP), the Physics of Clouds and Weather Modification Research Programme (PCWMRP) and the THORPEX. Macao, China since the becoming of the Member of the World Meteorological Organization in 24 January of 1996, has collaborated and actively participated in the activities and meetings of cooperation technique of the WMO, on the regional and international level. The regional level, Macao hosted, in November of 1997, a Conference of Regional Association II (Asia) where had participated about 34 Members of Asia, in a total of about 65 participants, this included the then Secretary General of the WMO, Prof. G.O.P. Obasi. Much before that, Macao regularly organizes and participates to the meeting of the WMO and the Typhoon Committee and on rotational basis hoisting, with the Hong Kong Observatory and Guangdong Meteorological Bureau, the Seminar on Technical and Scientific of Meteorology and Meeting on Operational Cooperation in Meteorology, thus to enhance the exchange of technician, data and development of techniques and its application. It will be a prestige for Macao to receive and to organize against with the WMO this International Workshop, where the produced results are unquestionably beneficial for the technician of the SMG.
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The survey coverage for the fourth quarter of 2004 includes Wholesale & Retail Trade and Transport, Storage & Communications, but excludes all own-account workers in these two industries. Information on the number of employees, earnings and number of vacancies was extrapolated based on the results from 793 statistical units successfully interviewed. The results are as follows. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2004, a total of 18.080 paid employees were employed in Wholesale & Retail Trade, of which 9 859 were working in Retail Trade. Compared with the same period of 2003, the number of paid employees in Wholesale & Retail Trade increased 14.0%. In December 2004, average earnings (excluding year-end bonuses, holiday allowances, profit-sharing bonuses and other similar bonuses) for full-time employee in Wholesale & Retail Trade was MOP 5.972, of which the average for Retail Trade was MOP 5.711. Compared with the same period of 2003, average earnings for Wholesale & Retail Trade increased 6.4%. Transport, Storage & Communications took on 8.667 employees of whom 2.464 were employed in Post & Telecommunications, followed by 2.257 in Supporting and Auxiliary Transport Activities and 1.425 in Land Transport. Compared with the same period of 2003, the number of paid employees in Transport, Storage & Communications increased 7.5%. As regards Transport, Storage & Communication, the monthly average earnings was MOP 9.820, of which the highest average was in Air Transport (MOP 20.673). Compared with the same period of 2003, average earnings for Transport, Storage & Communications grew 1.1%. On 31 December 2004, Wholesale & Retail Trade reported to have 1.603 vacancies, of which 947 vacancies were in Retail Trade. In addition, Transport, Storage & Communications had 660 vacancies, of which 350 posts were in Land Transport. As regards recruitment prerequisites, nearly 60% of the vacant posts in Wholesale & Retail Trade required “Professional experience” while in Transport, Storage & Communications, about 35% required the same. About 52.9% of the vacant posts in Wholesale & Retail Trade required Junior secondary education in the level of “Academic achievement”, while 39.7% of the vacant posts in Transport, Storage & Communications opted toward Senior secondary or higher. Besides Cantonese, the most opted “Language skills” in both industries was Mandarin, at 59.9% and 36.6% respectively, followed by English, with 24.7% and 28.8% respectively.
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The SAR Government today announced the granting of a licence to China Unicom to operate a CDMA telecommunication network in the MSAR and to provide roaming services. The licence is the result of a public tender exercise launched by the Government last September in which five telecommunication service providers -- Companhia de China Unicom (Macau) Limitada, Vodatel Holdings Limited, Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau, S.A.R.L., SmarTone-Comunicações Móveis, S.A., and Sociedade de Prestação de Serviços Kong Seng Paging, Limitada – submitted proposals. According China Unicom’s bid, its network would be operational in October in time for the 4th East Asian Game to be held in Macao. The SAR Government decided to introduce CDMA telecommunication to Macao as it believe the service would be in demand as new development in gaming, tourism and the convention and exhibition industry, as well as a series of scheduled sports and cultural events, attract even more visitors to Macao.
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The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) was informed by the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong that, the holders of the Macao SAR Passport would be able to enter Japan without a visa. The stay will be of maximum 90 days. The above-mentioned arrangement will be effective from 25 March 2005. Presently, holders of valid Japanese Passport have been able to enter the Macao SAR without a visa for a stay of maximum 30 days. From 25 March 2005, the maximum stay will be changed to 90 days. There are now 63 countries and territories granting the visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to the holders of the Macao SAR passport, 50 are the countries with mutual visa exemption, 12 are territories with visa exemption and 1 is the country with visa-on-arrival.
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The Chief Executive of Macao SAR, Mr Edmund Ho, today congratulate Mr Tung Chee-hwa on his election to vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Mr Ho said during Mr Tung’s tenure as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, he had carried many innovative tasks to ensure the successful implementation of “One Country Two System” in Hong Kong, which has been recognised by the Central Government and the international community. Mr Ho also said Mr Tung had contributed much to strengthening relations and co-operation between Hong Kong and Macao as well as Pan-Pearl River Delta Co-operation. He said that the governments and the people of the two SARs were promoting bilateral relations with a pragmatic approach. Mr Ho also Expected that the friendly relationship between Hong Kong and Macao would continue to consolidate and develop under the leadership of the Central Government, the direction of “One Country Two Systems” “Hong Kong People governing Hong Kong”, “Macao People governing Macao” policies.
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As part of the Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao and beginning tomorrow Monday, March 17, at 18:30, in the Auditorium of the Public Administration Building (basement) is the Seminar on Electronic and Internet Crimes: Focus on Money Laundering. This training activity will take place until Friday, March 11, having as speakers two European experts: Marco Gercke, Lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Ansbach, Germany, and Expert for the Council of Europe in the field of International Criminal Law in Cyberspace, and Simon David Goddard, Team Leader of the Project MOLI-RU, the Project against Money Laundering in the Russian Federation, funded by the European Commission through the Council of Europe. Organized by the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, this seminar will be conducted in English and primarily targets holders of a law degree. Around seventy local participants have enrolled. Throughout the five days of this training activity five subjects will be fundamentally approached: “Introduction: The phenomenon of cybercrime”; “Criminal Procedural Law and international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime”; “Money Laundering: The problem and the international response; defining the risk, national impact, international standard setting”; “Money Laundering: The opportunities and threat of the internet; criminal advantages and impact on law enforcement of E-cash” and “Money Laundering: The strategies for prevention and control; effective anti-money laundering measures, national framework”. The Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao, which incorporates this seminar, has as its main objective the “Consolidation of the Macao Legal System” and is already in its fourth and last year, taking place until February 2006. The total budget for the programme is of 1.980.000 euros, shared in equal parts by the European Union and Macao. The co-ordination of the Co-operation Programme is at the responsibility of the International Law Office, being the organization of the pertaining actions ensured by several other entities of the MSAR’s Government, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services and the Institute of European Studies, other than the International Law Office itself.
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HONG KONG (24 February 2005): Director of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Eng. João Manuel Costa Antunes and Deputy Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes led the MGTO delegation to welcome 140 representatives from Hong Kong travel trade and media partners at a Spring Luncheon held at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel today. Eng. Costa Antunes expresses his gratitude towards the support of the participants throughout the year. Last year, the tourism industry of Macau recorded a significant growth, with over 16.67 million visitor arrivals to Macau, an increase of 40% over 2003. Hong Kong remains the second largest source market for Macau. Hong Kong residents’ arrival at 5,051,100 represents 9.26% growth over year 2003. With the opportunities presented by the growing Mainland tourism market and the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation, MGTO will continue to collaborate with the tourism authorities, travel trade and media entities of Guangdong and Hong Kong to promote tourism of the whole region. MGTO will make its best effort to develop Macau into a tourism and gaming, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and leisure hub, in accordance with Macau SAR’s development direction. Meanwhile, a series of new tourism and entertainment facilities are ready or on their way to welcome visitors. In addition, MGTO is promoting a series of important events in 2005. Macau has the pride to host the 54th PATA Annual Conference from 17-21 April and the 4th East Asian Games from 29 October- 6 November. For the 52nd Macau Grand Prix to be held from 17th to 20th November, Macau’s prestigious Guia Race has been confirmed as the final round of the inaugural Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) to be launched this year. The inclusion of the final round of the FIA WTCC in Macau Grand Prix’s race programme confirms Macau’s unique status on the international motorsport calendar. In terms of product development, MGTO will continue its efforts in enhancing the unique culture and heritage tourism of Macau. With the great support of the Central Government, Macau SAR has submitted application with 12 historical monuments for the World Heritage Listing of UNESCO. Outcome of the application is expected within this year. Besides, various tourism products such as health and beauty tours, sports and games tours and nature appreciation tours will be developed to promote Macau in some fresh perspectives, in order to attract different interest groups to Macau. While Macau is committed to providing visitors with quality service, MGTO is always prepared to seek collaborative efforts with the travel trade and the media to promote Macau tourism.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today Macao's current economic environment has provided many unprecedented and excellent business opportunities. The policies of the government had taken into account changing market forces and the degree of prosperity is associated with the endurance of the society, he said. Speaking at a spring reception hosted by a local chamber of commerce, Mr Ho said the trend for development had combined with planning and, meanwhile, regional co-operation and internal development had co-ordinated well. The four factors he outlined above formed a new keystone for Macao to achieve sustainable development, he said. Mr Ho said after years of restructuring and recovery, the economy of Macao had turned a new page last year, and was the beginning of a very promising period. ''We should prepare well to get ready for the upcoming challenges,'' he said. The opening of the market had intensified competition and stimulated innovation. Facing a new phase for development, Mr Ho said, the government would endeavour to continue to provide a friendly environment for businesses.
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