News

The 9th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF), which is co-organized by the Permanent Secretary to the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), is opening today. In the Opening Ceremony, the President of IPIM, Lee Peng Hong, declared that as they keep improving MIF’s quality, MIF will continue to be the economic and trading platform for enterprises. The Opening Ceremony, hosted by the Acting Chief Executive of MSAR Ms. Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan, Vice Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR Mr. Wang Jinxiang, Mayor of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government Mr. Wang Hong Ju, Commissioner of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the MSAR of PRC Mr. Wan Yongxiang, Secretary for Economy and Finance of MSAR Mr. Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary General of Permanent Secretary to the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries Mr. Wang Liaoping, President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr. Lee Peng Hong, Director of the 9th MIF, Macao Convention and Exhibition Association, Miss Pansy Ho and President of Board of Directors of Macau Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Hoi Sai Un, was held on the 3rd Floor of the Macau Tower Convention & Enterntainment Centre. More than a thousand government officials, merchants and celebrities attended the ceremony. During his opening speech, Lee Peng Hong stated that this year, more traders from various business sectors, coming from different countries and regions, participated in this MIF. As the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and the development of the “Pan Pearl River Delta Cooperation,” Macao’s role as a regional service platform is now recognised internationally as being of great importance. Lee Peng Hong once again showed great gratitude to the support of the MIF participants and hope that all exhibitors would have a fruitful result from the Fair. The Acting Chief Executive and the Secretary for Economy and Finance of MSAR, together with government officials and representatives from local business associations visited the Fair before the Opening Ceremony.
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The 9th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) will be held between Thursday 21 October and Sunday 24 October, at the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre. This Year’s MIF is organised by the Secretariat of China and Portuguese Speaking Countries Economic Cooperation Forum and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM). President of the IPIM, Mr. Lee Peng Hong, said a series of features have been introduced into this year’s fair, for example, information counter will be set up to handle CEPA-related inquiries as one of the Fair’s theme is “Seizing Unprecedented Business Opportunities with CEPA”. Another main event of this year’s MIF is the “China – Portuguese-speaking Countries Product Fair”. Mr. Lee said the product fair, as a follow up to last year’s “Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao)”, is aimed at enhancing economic and trade developments between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Conferences and forums will be held during the Fair, namely the “International Trade and Investment forum”, the “Business Opportunities Brought by CEPA” briefing, and the "Business Establishment for Youth Entrepreneur Forum 2004". This year’s fair boasts more than 300 exhibition booths, with many pavilion showcasing different products such as the “Macao Trade and Industry Pavilion”, “The World of Digital & Photography Equipment”, and the “Small and Medium Enterprises’ World”. More than 1,300 participants representing some 70 organisations from local and overseas will attend the fair. The 9th MIF is co-organised by the Macao Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Association of Macau, Macao Importers and Exporters Association, Association of Knitting & Spinning Industry of Macau, Macau Shipper’s Association, Macau Association of Banks, Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers, Macau Small and Medium Enterprises Association, Macau Chinese Enterprises Association, Chongqing Foreign Trade & Economic Relations Commission and Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, and coordinated by the Macao Convention & Exhibition Association.
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As one of the founding members of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, the Macao Government will fulfill its pledge of promoting social and public health, the Secretary Chui for Social Affairs and Cultire, Mr Chui Sai-on said today (18 Oct). Mr Chui was speaking to reporters before attending a seminar entitled “Enhancing Regional Follow-up to the Shanghai Implementation Strategy, for the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing,” organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNSCAP). He said the Macao Government would soon improve by all possible means and educate the public on the importance of healthy living and diseases prevention. Mr Chui had earlier attended the Alliance’s conference and inaugural general assembly held in Kuching, Malaysia, during which Macao was named as one of the founding members of the Alliance for Healthy Cities. He revealed that Macao had submitted three reports on the social status, the process of promoting “Health City” in Macao and what it would do in the future. Meanwhile, speaking at the seminar, Mr Chui said that Macao was being transformed to an aging society, and as such, the Government would establish a substantial system to take care of elderly as one of its top priorities in the next five years.
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Senior Health Officials from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao have agreed to speed up the exchange of information on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and pathogenic avian flu. This was disclosed in a report released after the closing ceremony of the third Joint Meeting of Senior Health Officials held in Hong Kong on XX October. In addition to agreeing to speed up exchange of information on the diseases, the officials had constructive discussions on several agendas, namely public health, prevention of contagious disease and the supervision of food and hygiene. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai-on, led a 16-member delegation of Macao SAR health officials to the meeting in Hong Kong. The fourth Joint Meeting will be held in the Mainland in 2005, to further discuss and review co-operation based on past experience.
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Macao SAR has been named as one of the founding members of the Alliance for Healthy Cities. In addition, Macao has selected to chair the International Promotion Committee for Healthy Cities. This was decided at the Alliance’s conference and inaugural general assembly held earlier this week in Kuching, Malaysia, attended by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai-on, who led a 21-member delegation to the conference from 12 to 14 October. World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Director, Dr. Shigeru Omi had suggested Macao apply for the "Healthy City" appraisal during his two-day visit to Macao on last July. In the ensuing months, Macao followed the direction of the WHO in preparation for the bid. The Health City Project of Macao will enter its implementation phase next year following completion of urban diagnosis. The Macao Healthy City Committee emphasised that the project is an on-going one that would require the support and co-operation of all involved organisations and members of the public.
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The Secretary for Public Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan said today (12 October) that the performance evaluation system for civil servants is an important step for civil service legislation reform. In line with the introduction of the new system next year, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau has organised a campaign, including a series of seminars and workshops, to promote the new system among civil servants and heads of government departments. Ms Chan said the new system was the result of broad consultation during the drafting process when experiences from abroad were considered, in line with local situation, to make evaluation more systemised, more objective, more transparent and fair. She said that the new system was expected to better reflect the performance of civil servants and thus encourage better services for the public. Ms Chan emphasised that the new system required the support and participation of all civil servants, as the civil service reform should be carried out with the co-operation of the entire government.
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More than 1.6 million crossed border over Golden Week holidays Immigration authorities recorded a total of 1,673,121 crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the National Day Golden Week holidays (1 October to 7 October), Total number of arrivals stood at 836,880, with Border-gate: 645,608,
Lotus Bridge: 25,225,
Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal: 140,838,
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 6,333, and Macao International Airport: 18,876. Total of departures stood at 836,241, with Border-gate: 675,414,
Lotus Bridge: 28,928,
Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal: 111,213, Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 5512, and
Macao International Airport: 15,174.
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The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Mr. Chui Sai On, led an official delegation to Thailand and Cambodia from 21-27 September, aimed at strengthening bilateral co-operation in tourism and other sectors. During the visit to Thailand, Mr. Chui officiated at the opening ceremony of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) held in Bangkok. He met with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptanpanlop, and Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Sontaya Kunplome, and exchanged views on closer co-operation. Mr. Chui also met with the President of PATA, Mr. Peter de Jong, and discussed proposal for the 2005 PATA conference to be held in Macao. From Bangkok, the Macao delegation went on to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, at the invitation of the country’s Minister of Tourism, Mr. Veng Sereyvuth. During the four-day visit, Mr. Chui met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Sok An, and the Minister of Tourism, Mr Veng Sereyvuth. The Secretary briefed his counterparts on the latest development of Macao SAR. Mr. Veng Sereyvuth expressed the wish of more co-operation in tourism and the launch of charter flight.
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At present, if private entities (e.g. banks, companies, factories, etc) have to verify the identity cards of their staff or customers, they can send the photocopies of the relevant identity cards to the Identification Department (hereinafter referred as “DSI”) and request for verification. If they need to verify personal data such as marital status, they can send their request to DSI along with the authorization letters signed by the cardholders. In emergency, private entities approved by DSI in advance can send their request through fax. The above process requires a certain amount of time to complete. This time, we introduce the service of “Online Verification of Identity Card and Retrieval of Personal Data” with the purpose of providing private entities with a fast and convenient way for verification. When using this service, there is no need to send photocopies of identity cards or authorization letters to DSI. Verification or retrieval can be done instantly through DSI’s particular website. The device required is simply a personal computer with internet access and a card reader with a built-in keypad. Private entities have to first register at DSI to obtain a user ID and password for logging into the particular website (URL: webportal.dsi.gov.mo). Moreover, prior to first time use, fundamental setup performed by DSI staff is required. For those private entities that have already registered, DSI will issue a certificate for them to display at eye-catching area. Furthermore, DSI will publish a list of registered private entities on its website (URL: www.dsi.gov.mo) for the public’s information. Private entities have to enter their user IDs and passwords to login. Once verified, they can start to use the service. To verify the authenticity of the identity card, one can insert the electronic identity card (hereinafter referred as “electronic ID”) into the card reader and request the cardholder to enter the Confirmation PIN through the built-in keypad. To verify client’s personal data such as marital status or parents’ names, cardholder is requested to enter the Ordinary PIN to retrieve the data. Before entering the Ordinary PIN, cardholder should ensure that the private entity has already registered at DSI by referring to the certificate issued by DSI or the published list of registered entities as mentioned above. Personal data will be read from the chip and display on the webpage directly; it will not be recorded during the whole process. In addition, PIN entered through the built-in keypad on the card reader is sent directly to the electronic ID for verification without passing through the computer, hence it will not be copied down. Nevertheless, SSL certificate is installed at the website to assure users that the website is authentic. Moreover, all transactions are secured by SSL encryption to prevent data transmitted between the website and the personal computer from sniffing by third party. During verification, private entities can select to print the result for record keeping. All verification records are logged in DSI. Log information includes date, time, user ID, unique reference number, electronic ID’s chip serial number, and type of verification. These logs, kept as records and serving as proof of verification, are confidential. The PIN letter obtained together with the identity card contains the Ordinary PIN and the Confirmation PIN. Residents can change their PINs through the self-service kiosks located at DSI. If residents forget their PINs, they can seek assistance at DSI’s service desk. Private entities interested in using the “Online Verification of Identity Card and Retrieval of Personal Data” service can submit a written application to DSI together with photocopies of legally registered identity documents. Lastly, as a reminder, according to Article 14 of Law No. 8/2002 (), it is an offense: to counterfeit or modify programs or program interfaces prepared by DSI for access to chip data without permission; to analyze password of the certification system used by DSI for verifying the authenticity of resident identity card and cardholder’s identity electronically without permission, in order to obtain protected data; to counterfeit or damage the component of certification in DSI’s official website for verifying the authenticity of resident identity card and cardholder’s identity electronically, or interfere with its operation; to damage the certification system used by DSI for verifying the authenticity of resident identity card and cardholder’s identity electronically, or interfere with its operation; to counterfeit or modify without permission the certification system used by DSI for verifying the authenticity of resident identity card and cardholder’s identity electronically.
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Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florida Chan said today (3 October) that the issue of mainlanders joining their families in Macao was a matter for the Central Government. But the MSAR Government would continue to follow up through the official channels, she said. Ms Chan was speaking in response to reports that a group has started to collect data of Macao residents whose family members on the mainland would like to join them in Macao. Ms Chan stressed this is an issue that should be worked out by official channels and not by private associations or groups.
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