Category Archives: Macau

Macau's chief executive, Ho Iat-seng, on Tuesday announced that permanent residents will receive a cash handout of 10,000 patacas next year, while non-permanent residents will get 6,000.

The SAR has been handing out cash annually since 2008.

In his policy address, Ho said as Macau contains Covid-19 and more residents get vaccinated against the virus, the SAR hopes to be able to relax travel restrictions next year to boost the tourism industry and the wider economy.

The tourism industry is still an important pillar of Macaus economy. Facilitating the recovery of the tourism sector is key to boosting the economy, he said.

As we control the pandemic and ensure the situation is stable, we should resume normal travel as soon as possible with nearby regions, in particular the mainland and Hong Kong, and attract tourists to visit Macau.

He noted that various sectors had been hit hard by the pandemic in the past year, but said the SARs GDP is expected to see double-digit growth compared to 2020.

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Macau residents to get another cash handout - RTHK - RTHK

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has underlined effective macro policies focusing on market entities to advance reform and opening-up and maintain a smooth economic operation.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over a symposium on the economic situation attended by economists and entrepreneurs on Thursday.

China has encountered multiple challenges since the beginning of the year, including COVID-19, severe floods, rapidly rising commodity prices, and the tight supply of electricity and coal, Li said.

With the concerted efforts of all market entities, Chinas economy saw a steady recovery on the whole, and this years main targets including increasing jobs would be achieved, Li said.

The economists and entrepreneurs in attendance offered suggestions on measures to stabilize exports, promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), ease rising raw material costs pressure, and promote enterprise innovation.

The premier called for further tax and fee cuts to solve problems for manufacturing enterprises, SMEs, and self-employed people to solve problems, while supporting their innovation and upgrades.

Emphasizing policies to support coal-fired power enterprises to ensure stable power supply, Li also called for targeted measures to strengthen economic operation adjustments to alleviate the pressure transmitted to downstream SMEs by rising commodity prices.

It is necessary to advance reform and opening-up amid efforts to withstand difficulties and pressures by spurring market entities vitality, Li noted.

China will improve efforts to support new forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. China will also improve policies to support imports and exports and keep the RMB exchange rate stable at an appropriate and balanced level, he said.

Vice Premier Han Zheng attended the symposium.

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Chinese premier stresses effective macro policies, further opening-up - Macau Business

An extremely rare original copy of the US constitution was sold Thursday for $43 million a world record for a historical document at auction, Sothebys said.

It is one of only 11 known surviving copies of the US charter, signed on September 17, 1787 at Philadelphias Independence Hall by Americas founding fathers, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison and ratified the following year.

The winning bidder was not immediately identified.

A group of cryptocurrency investors had raised $40 million to buy the document but failed to secure the document, this consortium said.

A Sothebys spokesman said the sale for $43.2 million including commissions was a world record for a historical document offered at auction.

Selby Kiffer, a manuscripts and ancient books expert at Sothebys, said in September that this copy was probably part of an edition of 500 printed on the eve of the signing.

This one was the only one in private hands, Kiffer said.

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Rare original copy of US constitution auctioned for $43 mn - Macau Business

The Philippines will soon welcome back foreign tourists, the government said Friday, as it prepares a partial re-opening to vaccinated travellers 20 months after closing its borders to contain the coronavirus.

Tourism operators across the archipelago nation famed for its beaches and dive spots have been devastated by a plunge in international visitors and restrictions on domestic travel since the start of the pandemic.

The governments Covid-19 taskforce has approved in principle the tourism departments request to permit entry to vaccinated travellers from countries with a low infection rate, Tourism Secretary Berna Puyat said.

Borders will reopen soon, according to the statement, without providing a date.

Allowing tourists from green countries or territories that have the majority of its population vaccinated and with low infection rate, will greatly help in our recovery efforts, Puyat said.

This move will likewise aid in bolstering consumer confidence, which is a large contributor to our gross domestic product, she added.

More than 40 countries and territories are currently classified green low risk and exempt from quarantine requirements including China, Indonesia and Zimbabwe.

Tourism is a major driver of the Southeast Asian countrys economy, accounting for nearly 13 percent of gross domestic product in 2019, when it attracted more than eight million visitors, official data show.

That slumped to 5.4 percent last year as tourist arrivals plummeted 82 percent to 1.48 million.

The government has eased virus restrictions in recent weeks as the daily infection rate hovers at the lowest level since the beginning of the year and the nationwide vaccination rate increases.

Around one-third of the countrys 110 million people are fully vaccinated.

The Philippines has recorded more than 2.8 million infections since the start of the pandemic, including around 45,000 fatalities.

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Philippines says planning to re-open to vaccinated tourists - Macau Business

As global trade in red and processed meats has increased, so have chronic diseasesassociated with meat consumption, a study looking at data from 154 countries found on Thursday.

Researchers focused on illness and death rates from three diseases strongly linked to red and processed meat consumption: colorectal cancer, type-2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

They drew on meat import and export figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to find out where in the world red and processed meats had become more available.

They then checked these findings against health data from the Global Burden of Disease project.

The increased intake of red and processed meat products via trade caused the abrupt increase of diet-related non-communicable diseases, the study published in the British Medical Journal concluded.

The adverse effects of a diet high in red and processed meats is well known.

But the international trade of these products also has far-reaching impacts on the climate, through greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss, through shrinking habitat, the study noted.

Few international initiatives and national guidelines for sustainable diets explicitly address the spillover impacts of the meat trade across countries, they said.

They calculated a worldwide increase in related deaths of nearly 75 percent between 1993 and 2018, with major variations by geographical region.

While they estimated a 55 percent rise in related deaths in developed countries, the rate of increase in developing countries was more than double: 157 percent.

These higher rates are because many developing countries around the world exponentially relied on red and processed meat imports to meet their increased meat demands under rapid urbanisation and income growth, the study says.

Over the years covered by the study, developing countries expanded imports while rich onesexpanded exports, the findings showed.

The study suggests that to achieve healthier and more sustainable diets, international dialogue should involve both health and trade bodies, citing the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Regional trade agreements of the WTO accelerate red and processed meat flows among countries, it said, and suggested it could coordinate with UN health and food agencies to improve future trade policy.

Since it is observational, the study can suggest but not confirm the cause-effect relationship between meat trade and diet-related illnesses.

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Diet-related illness increases with availability of red meat: study - Macau Business

Leading Cuban protest leader Yunior Garcia acknowledged Thursday that his flight to Spain following pressure from the authorities on the island was a painful blow to the opposition movement.

Garcia, who arrived unexpectedly in Madrid on Wednesday with his activist wife on a tourist visa, added the has no intention to seek asylum in Spain, and had left Cuba because he faced a living death there.

The 39-year-old actor and playwright is the founder of online discussion group Archipelago which had called for protests on Monday in Cuba that were blocked by the Cuban government.

I understand that it was a painful blow, he told a news conference in Madrid when asked about the disappointment expressed by other Cuban dissidents over his abrupt departure.

I will eventually forgive myself, perhaps for not having had the courage to turn myself to stone or become a bronze statute, he added.

Maybe I ask forgiveness for being human, for thinking about my wife and my life, and for escaping what was surely going to be a living death, because that is what awaited me in Cuba.

Garcia has been the target of a relentless weeks-long campaign to discredit him in Cuban state media and pro-government blogs after Archipelago notified the authorities of the planned march.

He attempted to march alone on Sunday but was prevented from leaving his apartment after police and government supporters surrounded the building.

When he tried to communicate with journalists and others by displaying a white rose at his window, people standing on the roof unfurled a huge Cuban flag to cover the window.

Garcia told the Madrid news conference that his entire family had been harassed by the regime and his supporters, his wife told she would lose her teaching post and two decapitated pigeons were left outside his house.

It was something orchestrated by state security forces to scare us he said, adding he plans to return to Cuba with his wife once there lives there are no longer in danger.

Born in the eastern city of Holguin, Garcia was long known only in the arts world for his plays, as well as his television and movie scripts.

Cuban authorities have accused Garcia, without proof, of being paid by the United States as part of a plot to destabilise the country, a charge he denies.

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Cuban dissident says flight to Spain is 'blow' to opposition - Macau Business

Foreo and FAQ continue their Macau expansion as tourism recovers

CHINA (MACAU). Swedish beauty tech and wellbeing house Foreo and sister brand FAQ have opened a new backwall placement in the China Duty Free Group/King Power Group (HK) store at Macau International Airport.

The opening follows the brands successful online debut in CDF Macaus e-shop.

Foreo said that it is stepping up its expansion in the Special Administrative Region as the tourism industry continues to bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreo Global Travel Retail Director Gary Leong said: We are extremely proud to be expanding both of our brands so quickly in Macau. The placements at Macau International Airport are a significant success for us, and we are pleased to be in partnership with such professional and reputable names.

We look forward to further expansion in Macau as the tourism industry in the region continues to recover.

Latest figures from the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region Statistics and Census Service offer room for encouragement though the September figures are still well short of the equivalent month in pre-pandemic 2019 when total visitor arrivals reached 2,764,924 (same-day visitors 1,388,301; overnight visitors 1,376,623). Click to expand.

We are pleased to welcome such famous brands onto our roster of names at Macau International Airport, added King Power Group Hong Kong Group CEO Sunil Tuli. Having both Foreo and FAQ onboard will no doubt increase the reputation of duty free shopping at the airport, and we look forward to welcoming travellers back with a wide range of brands for them to browse.

The back wall placements in the China Duty Free Group/King Power Group (HK) store, are the latest in a series of key Macau openings for Foreo and FAQ

As reported, Foreo and FAQ recently opened new placements at Heinemann Macau, Heinemann Asia Pacifics first downtown location in Asia Pacific travel retail. The listing marked FAQs first physical point of sale in Macau.

In the first half of 2021, visitor arrivals increased by +20.2% year-on-year over the deeply troubled equivalent period in 2021; Source: Government of Macao Special Administrative Region Statistics and Census Service. Click to expand.

Airport traffic has been severely impacted by the pandemic but prospects for increased arrivals from the Mainland, particularly after the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing next February, look more encouraging. Click to expand.

Foreo and FAQ will continue their domestic and travel retail expansion in Macau, where the company plans to open new placements at the New Yaohan department store within the Grand Lisboa Palace Resort.

Foreo and FAQ products are also available in Macau travel retail with Duty Free Americas at the Venetian; Dufry (Shoppes at Venetian and Shoppes at Parisian); and T Galleria by DFS stores at Studio City, MGM Cotai, Shoppes at Four Seasons and City of Dreams.

The listing marks only the second physical point of sale for FAQ in Macau

Key stories from China and related to Chinese travellers are featured each week on The Moodie Davitt Reports WeChat Official Account. Please scan the QR code to follow us.

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Foreo and FAQ boost Macau presence with CDFG and King Power - The Moodie Davitt Report - The Moodie Davitt Report

A jury is to begin deliberations Tuesday in the high-profile case of the American teenager who shot dead two men and wounded another during anti-police protests and riots last year in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, who is charged with reckless homicide, testified during the two-week trial that he opened fire with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in self-defense.

Prosecutors dismissed the self-defense claim during closing arguments on Monday, saying it was Rittenhouse who had provoked the events on the night of August 25, 2020.

You cannot hide behind self-defense if you provoked the incident, Kenosha County assistant district attorney Thomas Binger said. The defendant provoked everything.

No reasonable person would have done what the defendant did, Binger told the jury. And that makes your decision easy. He is guilty of all counts.

The case has drawn national attention because it arose from the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations last year.

Protests and rioting in Kenosha erupted aftera white policeman shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, several times in his car during an arrest, leaving him paralyzed.

In right-wing and pro-gun circles, Rittenhouse, who claims he went to Kenosha to protect property from looters and act as a medic, has been painted as a heroic figure.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has put 500 members of the state National Guard on standby in the event of trouble following a verdict.

In his instructions to the jury after closing arguments, Judge Bruce Schroeder told the 12-member panel not to be swayed by sympathy, passion, prejudice or political beliefs.

You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone, even the president of the United States or the president before him, Schroeder said in a reference to Joe Bidens predecessor Donald Trump.

Testifying in court last week, Rittenhouse said he didnt do anything wrong.

I defended myself, he said. I did not intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.

But Binger, the prosecutor, said none of these people (shot by Rittenhouse) posed an imminent threat to the defendants life.

Rittenhouse, who lived in the neighboring state of Illinois, had come to Kenosha as a self-appointed junior policeman and made a series of reckless decisions, Binger said.

Nobody asked him to do that, he added. Nobody gave him the right. Nobody deputized him.

Defense attorney Mark Richards said the then 17-year-old Rittenhouse had come to Kenosha that night because he was trying to help.

He worked in Kenosha. His Dad lived in Kenosha. His grandmother lived in Kenosha, Richards said.

My client didnt shoot at anyone until he was chased and cornered, he said. Every person who was shot was attacking Kyle one with a skateboard, one with his hands, one with his feet, one with a gun.

There are no winners in this case, the defense attorney added. But putting Kyle Rittenhouse down for something he was privileged to do would serve no legitimate purpose.

James Kraus, another prosecutor, accused the defense team of trying to make the jury believe that these people got what was coming to them.

If people did bad things that night they could have been prosecuted, he said.Its not up to Mr. Rittenhouse to be the judge and the jury and eventually the executioner.

He was not acting in legal justified self-defense.

Rittenhouse is charged with five felony counts, including first-degree homicide and attempted homicide.

The judge on Monday dropped one charge: illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

by Charlotte Plantive and Chris Lefkow

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Jury set to begin deliberations in Wisconsin shooting trial - Macau Business

Players in China said Monday they could no longer access popular survival game Fortnite as its developer Epic Games pulled the plug on a Chinese version amid a crackdown by authorities on gaming and the tech sector.

Epic had announced two weeks ago that itwould shut down the Chinese version of the game on November 15, noting that Fortnite Chinas Beta test has reached an end and that servers would be closed.

On Monday, Chinese players said they could no longer access the game, posting goodbyes on social media platform Weibo. A hashtag on the game was viewed 470 million times.

Friends who have played with me, well meet again if fate decrees, one Weibo user wrote.

Another player surnamed Zheng, 24, told AFP he would first cry for a little over the game he had played for over two years while at university.

The move ends a long-running test of Fortnite created for the worlds biggest gaming market, where content is policed for excessive violence.

The action-packed shooter and world-building game is one of the most popular in the world, boasting more than 350 million users.

Its Chinese test version was released in 2018, but Fortnite never received the governments green light to be formally launched and monetised as approvals for new games slowed.

The Chinese government has pressed a broad crackdown on the technology sector over the past year, citing concerns that tech giants were getting too big and powerful.

Meanwhile, saying children were spending too much time playing online games, regulators also have targeted the huge gaming sector with new age and playing-time restrictions, while approval of new titles also has slowed.

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Fortnite inaccessible in China as developer pulls the plug - Macau Business

The Macao Orchestra has decided to cancel the concert titled Commemorating the 110th Anniversary of the premire of Mahlers work: The Song of the Earth Macao Orchestra and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert, originally scheduled for November 20, was canceled due to the Mainlands pandemic control measures, and the fact that some performers will not be able to visit Macau.The Macao Orchestra will instead present A Night of German and Austrian Serenades on the same day.

The Director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) Tai Kin Ip participated in the plenary meeting of the Kimberly Process 2021, representing Macau as part of the Chinese Delegation. The meeting took place both in person and via online Zoom video conferencing from November 8 to 12 in Moscow, Russia. During the meeting, the participants of the Kimberly Process listened as the working groups presented the works they developed over the last year, outlined guidelines for future work, and more.

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Macao Orchestra cancels The Song of the Earth concert - Macau Daily Times