Briefs | Suspicious fire in industrial building

A fire that occurred yesterday at the Edifice Industrial Fat Lei was found to have been deliberately lit, according to the Fire Service Bureau (CB).The fire took place on the first floor of the building yesterday morning and triggered the fire alarm. People working at the scene extinguished the fire before the CB arrived. The CB found an area of about one square meter of paper and plastic boxes still on fire. A few cigarette butts were also found at the scene. CB has already forwarded the case to the Judiciary Police.

5pct of Chinese-Portuguese translators are non-local

Kou Peng Kuan, director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), said that non-local Chinese-Portuguese translators represent 5 percent of the total number of translators working in Macau. This disclosure follows allegations that a mainland student, who graduated from the Macau Polytechnic Institute, was hired by the MSAR government as a translator through a “special recruitment channel.” Following this, the public have expressed their doubt concerning whether the MSAR government is providing enough opportunities for those who were locally trained to apply to become translators at public departments. Kou believes that all local graduates are capable of scoring favorably in the government’s open exams. However, he pointed out that fresh Chinese-Portuguese translation graduates usually cannot meet the requirements imposed by governmental departments due to their lack of experience.

First Macau bank to operate in Shanghai

Tai Fung Bank has recently established a branch in Shanghai, thus becoming the first Macau bank to operate in the province. The launching took place during the ceremony of Tai Fung Bank’s 75-year anniversary. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, said in his speech at the ceremony that the bank will certainly enhance the financial and economic cooperation between Shanghai and Macau. After opening its representative office in Hengqin and its branch in Guangzhou, Macau Luso International Banking Limited became the first Macau-based bank to operate in both Hengqin and Guangzhou.

Unemployment rate remains stable at 2pct

The unemployment rate from March to May this year stood stable at 2 percent, the same as that of the previous period (February-April). The unemployment rate of MSAR residents was 2.6 percent, a similar rate to the previous period. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate was 0.4 percent, down by 0.1 percentage points, the Statistics and Census Service indicated.  The region’s total labor force reached 389,400 and the labor force participation rate stood at 71.1 percent. The total employment was 381,800 and employed residents totaled 280,400, up by 300 and 400 respectively from the previous period.  Looking at industry by industry analysis, employment in Hotels and Gaming & Junket Activities registered an increase, while employment in Construction and Restaurants & Similar Activities saw a decrease. The number of unemployed locals was 7,600, down by 100 from the previous period. Individuals waiting to enter the labor force for the first time accounted for 8.5 percent of total unemployment.

IC considers extending libraries’ open hours

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is currently considering whether they will slightly extend the operation schedule of more libraries. This was announced by the Chief of the Department of Management of Public Libraries, Tang Mei Li, during a TDM talk show that took place yesterday. Last year, the Red Market Library extended its opening hours to 24-hour operation.  It is said that the library started receiving more visitors per month after the operation hours were extended. According to Tang, the IC may not extend the operation of other libraries to 24-hours. She also believes that the planned New Central Library will run for more than eight hours per day because it will be big and will provide many different services.

Shenyang hosts China-PSC exchange event

A large business-matching conference for entrepreneurs from China and Portuguese-speaking countries began yesterday in Shenyang, the capital of China’s northeast Liaoning Province. Many of the attendees from Portuguese-speaking countries (PSC) were reportedly looking for Chinese businessmen to help bring their products and services to the mainland market. The week-long event is supported by Macau’s Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), which is involved in cultivating the MSAR as a platform for bilateral exchange between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. The executive director of IPIM, Gloria Batalha Ung, who was in attendance at the conference yesterday, told TDM that Macau could help small companies on both sides of the exchange. “Due to language barriers and cultural differences, unlike the state-owned enterprises that are more financially powerful and have greater manpower, most SMEs [small- and medium-sized business] find it difficult to get involved [in the economic exchange],” she said. “Therefore Macau is a desired platform for them.”

Securities investment grows

The investment of Macau residents  (including individuals, the government and other legal entities, but excluding Macau’s foreign exchange reserves) in securities issued by unrelated non-residents reached MOP484.7 billion at current market value by year end, an increase of 9.4 percent from June 30, 2016, and 10.5 percent year-on-year. According to the statistics released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau, among various instruments of portfolio investment, equity securities (including mutual funds and investment trust units), long-term debt securities, and short-term debt securities, were valued at MOP183.9 billion, MOP285.9 billion and    MOP 14.9b respectively. As compared with end-2015, equity securities and long-term debt securities rose by 8.2 percent and 15.6 percent respectively, while short-term debt securities dropped by 30.4 percent.