macauhere.com

[Macau SAR] Opening Ceremony of the Pan-Asian Seminar on “Security Documents”

Included in the Programme of Cooperation in the Area of Migration and Asylum between the Macao SAR and the European Union, the Secretary for Security will preside over the opening ceremony of the Pan-Asian Seminar on Security Documents, which will take place at 17H00, on 27 May 2007, at the Macao Grand Prix and Wine Museum, of the Tourism Activities Centre(CAT).

This Seminar is part of the MigraMacau Project, which is technically and financially assisted by the European Union, under the AENEAS Programme. With an overall budget of 626.131 Euros, the MigraMacau Project is supported in 80% by the European Union (500,904, 80 €) and the remaining 20% by the Macao SAR.

The training activity will start on 28 May in the Congress Hall of the Tourism Activities Centre (Rua Gonzaga Luis Gomes, N.º 431) and will run daily, from 09H00 to 17H00, until 8 June.

The Seminar will count on the participation of highly qualified trainers from Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Macao and Hong Kong SARs, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, as well as 30 trainees from the Macao, and Hong Kong SARs, PRC, ASEAN countries and 5 observers from the Asia-Pacific region.

The Seminar will last for 2 weeks and the main objective is to provide all the participants with up-to-date training on security documents as well as with the latest tools in verification and control of travel documents and fraud detection at border control points.

It includes a theoretical and a practical part and will offer the trainers and trainees, the opportunity to handle security documents and to use the technical tools to analyse genuine documents and detect possible frauds.

To achieve these goals, all the participants will have the chance to:

- Handle all types of document samples, substrates of paper and polymers used in the production of security documents;

- Familiarize themselves with the most recent trends of fraud in security documents.

- Handle the most recent technical equipment for document examination;

- Visit the Macao Identification Department (DSI), the Portuguese Consulate, where security documents are issued, and the Macao Government Printing Bureau.

- Exchange information so that they can adequately combat the use of fraudulent travel documents at their border control.

In this Seminar, participants will get the opportunity to see and handle the most modern equipment for security document analysis available in the market today. For this purpose, companies specialized in this field are invited to participate in the “workshops”, to demonstrate their latest Technical Equipment.

The Cabinet of the Secretary for Security is responsible for the coordination of the Seminar, which is being implemented by the Macao Immigration Department in partnership with the Portuguese Immigration Service (SEF), and being supported by other Macao SAR government departments and also the collaboration of the Portuguese Consulate General in Macao.

[Macau SAR] Government keens to increase parking spaces

The Government is taking a host of initiatives to increase the number of parking spaces, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, said today.

After a meeting at the Legislative Assembly, Mr Lau told the press that the Government had decided to allocate more spaces for motorcycles when a number of new parking lots open later this year.

Moreover, the Government was in discussions with private developers urging them to provide public car parking in new buildings.

Furthermore, more parking spaces will be come on stream when parking lots in public housing buildings start to operate.

On the issue of property disputes caused by the so-called ‘’silk paper contract”, Mr Lau said the Government had no intention to demolish buildings constructed on these contracts.

Renovation applications for homes in bad conditions on land on such contracts would be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Government, Mr Lau said.

However, he stressed that the Government would never allow for change of land use for undeveloped land on ‘’silk paper contract”.

[Macau SAR] Macao delegation at UNESCAP annual ministerial meeting

A delegation led by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, is in Kazakhstan to attend the annual ministerial meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), which opened yesterday in the city of Almaty.

The theme for the three-day conference was to enhance economic growth in the region to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out by UNESCAP.

At the meeting, Mr Tam said that the Macao SAR Government would continue to support UNESCAP and help push for regional development.

Members of Macao’s delegation included the Acting Director of the Macao Economic Services, Mr Sou Tim Peng; Acting Deputy Director of Statistics and Census Bureau, Ms Kong Pek Fong, and the Director of the Social Welfare Bureau, Mr Ip Peng Kin.

[Macau SAR] Results of the 1st Quarter 2007 Demographic Statistics

According to the information released by the Statistics and Census Service, the resident population of Macao was estimated at 520,000 as at 31 March 2007, an increase of about 29,000 persons compared with the same period of 2006.

In the first quarter of 2007, there were 992 live births, a decrease of 14.3% over the fourth quarter of 2006. Among the live births, 51.3% were male. The number of mortality cases reported was 419, and the major underlying causes of death were “Diseases of the circulatory system” and “Malignant neoplasms”. Meanwhile, 3 cases of fetal mortality were recorded.

The Health Bureau received 959 cases of Notifiable diseases in this quarter, including 719 cases of “Varicella (chickenpox)”, 93 cases of “Tuberculosis of lung” and 71 cases of “Acute Norovirus gastroenteropathy”.

In addition, 506 marriages were registered, down by 26.8% over the fourth quarter of 2006.

Regarding the migratory flow, the number of legal immigrants from Mainland China totalled 497 in the first quarter of 2007, up 258 persons over the fourth quarter of 2006; meanwhile, 366 illegal immigrants were repatriated. The quarter-end balance of persons that were authorized to reside in Macao totalled 37,808, up 1,410 persons over the fourth quarter of 2006.

The end-period balance of non-resident workers in Macao was 71,182, up 6,509 persons over the fourth quarter of 2006.

[Macau SAR] 二零零七年第一季人口統計

根據統計暨普查局資料顯示，今年3月31日本澳的居住人口估計為52.0萬人，較去年同期增加約2.9萬人。

在今年第1季，新生嬰兒共有992名，較去年第4季減少14.3%，新生嬰兒中男性佔51.3%。而死亡個案則有419宗，主要之根本死因分別為“循環系統疾病”和“惡性腫瘤”。此外，有3宗死胎登記。

在必須申報疾病方面，今年第1季衛生局共接獲959宗申報個案，主要是“水痘”、“肺結核”及“由諾沃克因子引起急性胃腸炎”，分別有719宗、93宗及71宗。

結婚登記有506宗，較去年第4季減少26.8%。

在人口遷移方面，今年第1季來自中國大陸的合法移民有497名，較去年第4季增加258名；另外，被遣返的非法移民共有366名。截至今年第1季末，獲准在澳門居留人士結餘為37,808名，較去年第4季增加1,410名。

至於外地僱員方面，截至今年第1季末，結餘人數為71,182名，較去年第4季增加6,509名。