Briefs | CAEAL meets with lawmakers to collect opinions

The Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) held a meeting yesterday with the members of the Legislative Assembly (AL) with the purpose of collecting opinions on the guidelines issued by the commission as a part of the preparatory works regarding the upcoming AL elections. At the meeting, several lawmakers express their concerns over the need for a mechanism that protects the candidates from the potential  defamation threats. Commission head Tong Hio Fong, said the issues raised by the lawmakers that “such opinions would be taken in good note, contributing to define the future guidebook.” The meeting addressed mostly on topics related with the concepts of election propaganda as well as election spending and the uses of the Internet for advertising and campaign actions.

Number of MICE events increases

A total of 371 MICE events were held in the fourth quarter of 2016, consisting of 352 meetings & conferences, 16 exhibitions and 3 incentive events. The  Statistics and Census Service revealed yesterday that the number of participants and attendees was 490,000. For the whole year of 2016, a total of 1,276 MICE events were held, comprising 1,195 meetings & conferences, 55 exhibitions and 26 incentive events. The total number of participants and attendees was 1,722,000. For the whole year, the number of meetings and conferences increased by 32 year-on-year, and total number of participants rose by 49.2 percent to 176,000.

CE to attend NPC opening in Beijing 

The Chief Executive,  Chui Sai On, will attend the opening of the 5th Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5 in Beijing. During his visit to the capital, from March 3 to 6, Chui will also meet with officials of the Ministry of Education and of the General Administration of Sport of China, to exchange views on further cooperation between the Macau and the mainland China.

Construction materials imports drop 40 percent

Total merchandise import in January dropped by 2.9 percent year-on-year to MOP6.56 billion, according to information from the Statistics and Census Service. Imports of clothes (including footwear) and construction materials declined by 7.1 percent and 39.6 percent respectively. Total merchandise export for January  amounted to MOP971 million, down slightly by 0.4 percent year-on-year.