Category Archives: Macau

Macaus banking sectorhas reported growth in international business in the first quarter of 2023,according to the latest statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macau.

According to a report from the citys de facto central bank on Thursday, the share of international assets rose to 85.6 per cent from 85.4 per cent at the end of December last year, while that of international liabilities increased to 83.4 per cent from 81.9 per cent.

Foreign Currencies

Foreign currenciescontinued to dominate international banking transactions, with non-localcurrencies accounting for the majority of total international assets andliabilities.

At end-March 2023, theshares of the pataca in total international assets and in total internationalliabilities were 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

The Hong Kong dollar,the US dollar, the renminbi, and other foreign currencies accounted for themajority of total international assets, while their respective shares in totalinternational liabilities also appeared dominant.

Total international assets

Total international assets increased by 2.8 per cent from the previous quarter to MOP2,270.9 billion (US$281 billion). Within this total, external assets rose by 4.2 per cent from the previous quarter to MOP1,666.5 billion, while local assets in foreign currencies dropped by 1 per cent to MOP604.4 billion.

External non-bank loans, as a major component of international assets, decreased by 3.6 per cent to MOP676.4 billion.

Total international liabilities

Total internationalliabilities went up by 4.3 per cent to MOP2,212.8 billion (USD273.7 billion)over a three-month period.

Of this total, externalliabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew quarter-on-quarterby 5.7 per cent to MOP1,269.6 billion and 2.6 per cent to MOP943.2 billion,respectively.

Deposits taken from external banks were a major component of international liabilities, rising by 15.6 per cent to MOP712.0 billion at end-March 2023.

External assets and liabilities

The majority ofexternal assets and liabilities of the local banking sector were connected withAsia. Claims on mainland China and Hong Kong occupied 42.1 per cent and 25.2per cent of total external assets.

Meanwhile, claims onPortuguese-speaking countries and Belt and Road countries occupied respectiveshares of 0.7 per cent and 10.8 per cent.

When it came toexternal liabilities, mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 42 per centand 41 per cent respectively, while Portuguese-speaking countries and Belt andRoad countries represented 0.6 per centand 5.2 per cent, respectively.

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International business rises for Macau's banking sector in Q1 - Macau Business

Traditional home-cooked Macanese food is being added to the menu at a Nottingham takeaway - believed to be the first and only place in the city serving this style of Asian cookery. Asian Mama, aka Helena Ali, is being give the opportunity to showcase her dishes by established takeaway Rynos.

Her menu will launch alongside the usual pizza, burgers and chicken wings served by the outlet in Alfreton Road, near Canning Circus. Macanese food has a unique mix of Portuguese and Chinese influences.

Helena, 54, who came to Nottingham nearly ten years ago, said: "Macau is right next to Hong Kong. It used to be a Portuguese colony run by the Portuguese for 100 years. It's the same story as Hong Kong. Hong Kong went back to China and Macau as well. It became very crowded and too commercial. I have found Macau here now, quiet, friendly people."

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Her daughter came to the University of Nottingham to study microbiology and Helena followed soon afterwards and made the city her home even though she knew no one. "The first time I came to Nottingham I fell in love so I decided to move. I'm so excited," she said about her new business that will launch on Friday, May 19 with 50 per cent off.

Prawn cakes with a chilli dip, Portuguese chicken with olives, and beef in red wine sauce are some of Helena's homely dishes that will be on the menu. Another is African chicken, a popular Macanese dish made with peanut butter, coconut milk and chilli. If it takes off she will add soup and desserts.

"People used to travel to Macau for the food - it's different to other Asian food," added Helena, who has worked as a carer at a home for the elderly in Nottingham for the last seven years. "I used to run our family restaurant in Macau, which served mainly curry but Macanese food as well, a kind of fusion, Singaporean curry, Malaysian curry, all sorts. I learnt how to cook there. I helped out when I was a child. I have a great passion for cooking."

Rynos' owners Imran Haq and Alfie Pryor first met Helena when she came in as a customer and they started chatting. Imran, who took over the business last September, said: "Me and Alfie try to make it is a friendly place. We get a lot of young people here and sometimes they're away from home and they appreciate somewhere they can come and have a chat about things.

"Some places are very impersonal. When you go in they don't talk to you. Here we try and make it a little bit more of a community vibe and a welcoming atmosphere. We get some people just turning up for a chat.

"You get a lot of people talking about various things and it helps us pass the time and it builds community spirit. She said she was looking to set up her business. After listening to her story and the struggles she has faced with regards to moving to the UK alone and not knowing anyone in the town and still having the desire and drive to better herself, I decided to offer her a chance to launch her business from my premises

"She is keen to get back on her feet and to use her experience to bring authentic Macanese cuisine to Nottingham. You've got to have a lot of capital to set up a business and it's challenging times at the moment. It's tough for everybody and us guys are really small and we've got to work extra hard to compete with the bigger franchises down there and the more established businesses."

Alfie said he hoped the new venture will make Rynos stand out from all the other burger joints along Alfreton Road. "Things have become more strained as everybody is doing exactly the same thing. We inherited a model of gourmet burgers and we've had to expand and do other things. We were exploring new ideas and Helena turned up.

"We have to be open minded and expand our options as there is so much competition. To our knowledge there are no Macanese restaurants here. We have quite a loyal customer base. We get more people in because of our attitude to people and we make it very friendly for them. We talk to people about the things we might be doing and there was quite a buzz for Macanese amongst the Chinese students."

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Macau woman who 'fell in love' with Nottingham starts takeaway - Nottinghamshire Live

Over 3,000 members ofthe political, business, and academic circles from more than 60 countries andregions will show up for an international forum on infrastructure investment inMacau early next month.

The 14th edition of theInternational Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum scheduled totake place at The Venetian Macao from 1 June to 2 June aims to invigorate theglobal economic recovery with a focus on green and low-carbon developmenttrends.

Among the participantsare over 60 ministerial-level guests, enterprise representatives from 250 contractors,executives from international organisations and financial institutions, withthe number of registered attendees said to have doubled compared to theprevious year.

The forum consists of twomain themed forums, 10 parallel forums, and a number of special events, exploringtopics relevant to new energy, international cooperation, and smart railtransport.

In the meantime, anaccompanying exhibition will also take place, showcasing engineering machinery,energy equipment, and building materials.

Additionally, the eventis expected to feature the release of two reports on infrastructure developmentindexes for countries covered by the Belt and Road initiative and Portuguese-speakingcountries respectively.

The Ministry of Commercewill also organise the 9th China-LAC Infrastructure Cooperation Forum duringthe event to deepen cooperation between China and Latin America and promote infrastructureinterconnectivity between the two sides.

Since the InternationalInfrastructure Investment and Construction Forum was moved to Macau in 2012,the event has steadily gained momentum in terms of scale and internationalinfluence, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute said.

As many as 19 projectagreements were signed at last years edition, with 210 business talks andeight parallel forums held.

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Global leaders in infrastructure to gather for investment forum in ... - Macau Business

Local car rental companies are forecasting a growth of 10 per cent to 20 per cent in the business, thanks to the recognition agreement of driving licenses with mainland China, which came into force on Tuesday.

We are optimistic about this market and believe it will grow more than before. With the mutual recognition of driving licenses between mainland China and Macau, there should be more tourists from the [Chinese] mainland renting cars, said Rain Lin, manager of Burgeon Car Rental Service, in an interview with Lusa.

Mainland Chinese driving license holders have been able to drive in Macau since Tuesday. On the other hand, permanent residents of Macau, including those of foreign nationality, will also be able to drive across the border.

The recognition of driving licenses can directly benefit people traveling and visiting family members, stated the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in a statement on Monday.

The car rental business with drivers typically accounts for 20% of our business, and we expect it to grow by around the same percentage, added Lin.

Vang Iek Rent-A-Car Service, founded in 1935, expects an increase of up to 10%. Not many tourists from the Chinese mainland will arrive in Macau to drive, admitted Alan Peng, the company manager, to Lusa.

Despite understanding that the recognition of driving licenses can increase the customer base, both Burgeon Car and Vang Iek admit that they have not received any reservations to date.

However, if demand grows significantly, Burgeon has admitted the possibility of importing left-hand drive vehicles, similar to the interior of China where driving is done on the right. In Macau, you drive on the left.

According to data provided by the Public Security Police to Lusa, so far 67 people from the interior of China have received permission to drive in the special administrative region.

The neighboring city of Zhuhai offers 280 daily quotas, which, according to the online newspaper Guan Hai Rong, are sold out until Friday.

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Car rental businesses upbeat as driving licence recognition takes ... - Macau Business

Macaus primary four students demonstrated steady reading performance in spite of Covid challenges, according to a Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) test conducted in 2021.

According to the Education and Youth Development Bureau, over 5,000 pupils from 58 local schools in Macau joined the PIRLS test two years ago, which was organised by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

Of the 32 countries or regions that participated in the study for two consecutive times, almost 70 percent experienced a decrease in scores due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on students learning worldwide.

However, Macaus test takers maintained their performance, scoring an average of 536 a level similar to the one obtained in 2016.

The score was higher than thePIRLS centerpoint of 500, which placed Macau somewhere between the 9th and the 15th positions, said the bureau.

The results confirmed that local students reading ability had been developing steadily overall, and their performance was comparable to their international peers, the bureau added.

Moreover, the study showed that socioeconomic status had the least influence on the achievements of local students, highlighting the effectiveness of the local education system in terms of educational equity and quality overall.

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Macau pupils show resilience in reading performance amid Covid ... - Macau Business

Chinese auto makers have set their sights on the European electric car market, with one third of companies exhibiting at the Automobile Barcelona show this week coming from China.

Chinese brand BYD Auto, Chinas leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has a stand at the fair, as well as DFSK and SWM of the Invicta group, Maxus, Evo, DR, ICKX, and Aiways.

We have a lot of Chinese brands this year, which is a real success because it shows that they see Barcelona as gateway into Europe; into a new market for their cars, which are attractive, well-priced and all electric, Enrique Lacalle, president of Automobile Barcelona, told Xinhua.

At the next edition in two years time we hope to see even more Chinese brands here, he added.In 2022, Chinese electric carmakers doubled their market share in Europe to 9 percent, according to the Inovev consultancy.

Meanwhile, a recent study from PwC predicted that by 2025 up to 800,000 Chinese-built cars could be sold in Europe.

The market for Chinese electric cars has also been growing rapidly in Spain, with imports of Chinese-made electric cars multiplying by 20 in 2022, according to figures published in March by the Spanish association of automobile manufacturers.

The value of these imports rose to 1.39 billion euros (1.51 billion U.S. dollars), up from 68 million euros (73.86 million dollars) in 2021.

Occupying 100,000 square meters at the Montjuic convention venue, Automobile Barcelona is open from 13 to 21 May. Organizers say they are expecting over 300,000 visitors to the fair, which is focused on electric vehicles this year under the theme Electrizante (Electrifying).

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Chinese electric car brands set sights on Europe - Macau Business

The Judiciary Police (PJ) has received more cases of online shopping concert ticket fraud over the past five days, with the value amounting to over MOP260,000.

The cases involved seven local and mainland residents, with the highest loss of about MOP227,000.

Among them, a Macau man made a report to the police. He contacted the seller who had successfully traded online before, intending to buy tickets for a concert in Macau in May.

The seller claimed delivery could be made one to two weeks before the concert. Several friends of the buyer relayed the relevant concert tickets and transferred MOP227,000 to the seller.Later, the seller continued to delay the delivery, and finally claimed the tickets were sold out, and would arrange a refund from June to July.

The victim believed he was cheated and called the police.

In the other concert ticket fraud cases, most of the victims knew they had been cheated after they transferred the deposit to the seller online.

Previously, the PJ had been receiving reports of ticketing fraud as a renowned Korean girl group is set to perform in the SAR this weekend.

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MACAU DAILY TIMES PJ warns on ticket fraud ... - Macau Daily Times

Nine migrants from a larger group that was abducted while traveling through northeast Mexico have been found, local authorities said.

Thousands of migrants fleeing violence and poverty risk abduction and exploitation at the hands of criminal gangs while crossing Mexico on the way to the US border.

The rescued migrants managed to escape from their captors and were found in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, the states Security Minister Gerardo Palacios said on Tuesday.

Six men wandering in a rural area were heard calling for help, before three other people were also located.

The foreigners rescued are between 18 and 35 years old and come from Venezuela and Honduras, the ministers office said on Facebook.

They were part of a group of 50 migrants and two Mexican drivers traveling by bus when they were kidnapped, the National Confederation of Mexican Transporters told local media.

Ransom demands were made for $1,500 per person, it added.

More than 2,100 migrants were abducted in Mexico last year, according to the National Institute of Migration.

Last month, 35 people, including tourists and migrants, were abducted in northeast Mexico.

They were found aboard five vans guarded by armed men in a desert area.

Early this month, authorities also found 10 Colombian migrants who were allegedly kidnapped while trying to cross the border with the United States.

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Nine migrants found from group abducted in Mexico - Macau Business

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday vowed that the United States would hold accountable the perpetrators behind a deadly attack on a US convoy in Nigeria which he said had been involved in a flood response.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesdays attack in Nigerias southeast Anambra State, but an outlawed separatist group has been blamed for repeated raids on police and security services in the region.

We condemn in the strongest terms this attack. We will work closely with our Nigerian law enforcement colleagues in seeking to bring those responsible to justice, Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken, confirming Nigerian police accounts, said the incident left at least four people dead.

Nigerias national police said in a statement on Wednesday that seven people had been killed in the attack.

The two-vehicle convoy was carrying nine people, all Nigerians five working for the US government and four police officers.

Blinken said the convoy was traveling to prepare a visit to a US-funded flood response project.

We do not yet know the motive for the attack, but we have no indications at this time that it was targeted against the embassy specifically, he said.

Saluting the role of local staff, Blinken said: We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack, and pledge to do everything possible to safely recover those who remain missing.

The local Anambra State government in a statement earlier Wednesday also condemned what it called a heinous and unprovoked attack on the convoy.

But it suggested the US team had not properly informed local security officials of their movements.

It is evident from reports by the various security agencies in the state that the visiting team made their own security arrangements and totally bypassed the existing security architecture in the state, it said.

The state government was not aware of the humanitarian mission of the visiting team, it said.

The Anambra government said the states crackdown on criminal gangs there had created tensions that risked provoking revenge attacks on police in areas like where the convoy was hit.

Nigerian officials often blame attacks in the southeast on the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network.

IPOB, which agitates for a separate land for the local ethnic Igbo people, consistently denies it is responsible for any of the violence.

Separatism is a sensitive issue in Nigeria, especially the southeast.

More than one million people were killed in the country in a three-year civil war following the declaration of an independent Biafra Republic in the southeast by Igbo army officers in 1967.

Separatists still operate in Nigerias southeast, where they have escalated their attacks in recent years, usually targeting police or government buildings.

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Blinken condemns attack on US convoy in Nigeria - Macau Business

Although the government has implemented projects that managed to contain flooding in Inner Harbour, more should be done to completely eradicate the problem.

Flooding is still a phenomenon in the Inner Harbour district as storm surges caused by typhoons and heavy rains still occur every year. Countless residents and merchants in the district still regularly live in fear, Siu Chong Meng, president of District Development Promotion Association, told local media Macao Daily News.

He recalled that in 2021, his association invited several professionals and academics who were concerned with the Inner Harbour to a forum in Macau. Their conclusion was that building higher dams on the sea not far away from the shore would be a better solution to the storm surges caused by typhoons.

To implement the conclusion, it was suggested that land be reclaimed from the sea 15 to 20 meters off the shore to make a green leisure area. The dock should be retained and rejuvenated for value-adding purposes.

Multi-level embankments with water storage underneath should be built on the periphery of the leisure area. The ground level would be reserved for road traffic and the underground level for railway traffic. Any constructions built atop the area would be for leisure purposes.

The coast of the leisure area could be used as new docks for ships and ferries. It could also be refined as marine tourism facilities.

He considers this a key plan to improve flood management in the Inner Harbour.

He considers criticism about the elevated leisure areas potential risks to scenes and views at the Inner Harbour invalid. He does not appreciate the scene at the Inner Harbour and finds the air in the district revolting.

He describes the Inner Harbour scene as worthless in terms of appreciation and seldom sees people enjoying the views there.

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