Tourism Office expects 3 pct fall in visitors this year

The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said yesterday it expects the number of visitor arrivals to drop by 3 percent this year, the first year-on-year dip since 2015.MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes noted that the downward trend started last November, irrespective of the Macau Grand Prix in that month.Senna Fernandes made the remarks during MGTO’s annual press conference, at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre.PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR PRINT EDITION.

January 16, 2020 | BY admin

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Man cheats 4 pawnshops out of HK$100,000 with bogus Rolexes: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) nabbed a mainlander on Sunday for cheating four pawnshops out of HK$100,000 by pawning four fake Rolex watches, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a regular press conference yesterday.According to Chan, the about 56-year-old suspect, surnamed Zhu, told police that he is unemployed.Chan said that the suspect swindled four pawn shops located in Nape and Zape last month.Chan told The Macau Post Daily that only the fourth pawn shop which had been defrauded by the

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Algerian found floating in Indonesian waters after trying to swim from East Timor to Australia

JAKARTA – An Algerian identified as Haminoumna Abdul Rahman has been rescued by fishermen in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, after he was found floating in the Timor Sea on Saturday, The Jakarta Post reported yesterday“The Algerian citizen became stranded as he was swimming towards Australia from Timor-Leste,” a police spokesman in the province’s Malaka Regency told reporters on Monday, the report said.Timor-Leste is East Timor’s official Portuguese name.PLEASE READ

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Cultural activities setting festive spirit for CNY

There will be dozens of activities happening around the city over the Chinese New Year (CNY) and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has a list of its own events promoting traditional customs that the public can enjoy by emerging themselves in the festival’s cultural and artistic atmosphere.The highlights of the events include puppet shows, folk music and dance performances presented by the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group and Guangxi Art Performance Group on the first three days of the CNY

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Mainland, Macau step up judicial assistance cooperation

The Chinese mainland and Macau yesterday signed a revised version of an arrangement on the mutual service of documents and obtaining evidence in handling civil and commercial cases.The revised document, which will come into effect on March 1, will allow courts of the two sides to serve judicial documents and obtain evidence via an online judicial assistance platform.Construction of the platform has basically been completed. Once put into use, the platform will help save time in judicial

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Smoke from Zhuhai petrochemical factory won’t affect Macau: govt

The local authorities predict that smoke from a fire and explosion which occurred at a petrochemical factory in Gaolan Port in the neighbouring city of Zhuhai yesterday afternoon would not affect Macau.A statement jointly released by the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) and the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) yesterday evening said that the weather in Macau is forecast to be constantly influenced by an easterly wind over the next two days. As Gaolan Port is located about 40

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Local airport expects 10.35 million passengers this year

The local airport expects 10.35 million passengers this year, which would be an increase of about 8 percent from last year, Macau International Airport Company Chairman Ma Iao Hang said yesterday.Ma pointed out that the airport received a record number of passengers at 9.6 million last year, a year-on-year growth of 16 percent. He also forecast 81,000 take-offs and touch-downs for this year, an increase of 5 percent from last year, as well as a cargo throughput of 43,500 tonnes, a year-on-year

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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UM completes 1st phase of Macau Economic Database

The University of Macau’s (UM) Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) and Department of Economics announced yesterday the completion of the first phase of their Macau Economic Database project.According to a UM statement released through the Government Information Bureau (GCS), the project aims to create a comprehensive database that includes all the major economic indicators of Macau.“It is expected to help researchers, students, and the public to better understand Macau’s economic and social

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Mongolian repeat thief steals booze again: police

A Mongolian man was nabbed by the police for stealing a bottle of spirits from a convenience store in Rua de Évora in Taipa on Saturday, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said during a regular press conference yesterday.The shop staff discovered a bottle of spirits had vanished from a shelf at about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The manager of the store reported the case to the police, Choi said. The manager told the police that the bottle was worth 700 patacas.Choi told The Macau

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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UM team forecasts 3.7 pct GDP drop for this year

The University of Macau (UM) forecast yesterday that Macau’s economy will shrink 3.7 percent this year.The forecast was jointly announced by the public university’s Department of Economics and UM Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) during a press conference on the university’s Hengqin campus.Yesterday’s press conference was co-hosted by Kwan Fung, assistant professor of the Department of Economics, Agnes Lam Iok Fong, director of the Centre for Macau Studies, and Chan Chi Shing,

January 15, 2020 | BY admin

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Govt aims for joint Hengqin checkpoint to start in Q1: Cheong

Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the newly appointed spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, announced yesterday that the government has finished drafting a bill enabling Macau’s Lotus Flower border checkpoint to be relocated to the new Hengqin border checkpoint building.The bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review and vote.If approved by lawmakers, the bill will apply local

January 14, 2020 | BY admin

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Govt to announce guidelines on public enterprises

Sónia Chan Soi Fan, who heads the newly-established Macau Special Administrative Region Public Assets Supervision and Planning Office, said yesterday that the government aims to complete formulating its guidelines on the method the city’s government-owned enterprises should announce their financial information and start implementing the guidelines next month.Chan, the policy secretary for administration and justice in the previous government, made the remarks while speaking to reporters

January 14, 2020 | BY admin

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Repeat burglar caught after 5th break-in: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a repeat burglar on Saturday after his 5th break-in, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a special press conference yesterday.PJ officers arrested the male suspect for burgling a flat in the Horta da Mitra neighbourhood, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a special press conference yesterday, adding that the suspect had a male accomplice who was still at large at the time of yesterday’s press conference.According to Chan, the 36-year-old suspect, a

January 14, 2020 | BY admin

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Health Bureau confirms 1st flu death of the season

The Health Bureau (SSM) announced yesterday the current flu season’s first fatality, a 71-year-old local woman suffering from cancer and with a history of chronic illnesses.According to an SSM statement last night, the patient had suffered from fever and cough since last Tuesday. She sought medical treatment at the private Kiang Wu Hospital on Sunday where she tested positive for the influenza A virus.Due to respiratory insufficiency and her poor health overall, the patient was transferred to

January 14, 2020 | BY admin

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