CY Leung takes charge in Hong Kong Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday swore in Leung Chun Ying as Hong Kong’s new leader. Mr Leung takes over the city of seven million people amid falling popularity ratings, a series of setbacks and protests over his leadership. Small groups of protesters have also tried to disrupt Mr Hu’s visit, as Hong Kong marked 15 years since the handover.
Year I - Number 66 Monday July 2, 2012 Editor-in-chief: Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief: José I. Duarte MOP 6.00
Pages 10, 16
www.macaubusinessdaily.com
Small businesses squeezed out S
mall- and medium-sized enterprises are finding it more difficult to survive as Macau develops into a leisure and entertainment centre, says the chairman of Macau’s SME Association. “Our biggest problem is we’re being squeezed out by the gaming industry,” Stanley Au Chong Kit says in an interview with Business Daily. Macau’s SMEs are illequipped to make the best use of assistance. “They [SMEs] don’t have accounting to present to lending agencies. They lack knowledge and lack the business structure to apply for these loans,” he says.
The solution would be to provide more training to Macau businessmen, for them to be able to cope with a new and more challenging environment. Mr Au, the chairman of Delta Asia Bank, also criticises the communication gap with the administration, saying more research is needed to find what the actual needs of SMEs are. “They don’t talk often to us … I think the government talks more with the real estate developers, because these are the people who can bring big money to the government,” he says. More on pages 4 & 5
Guangdong gunning for services sector
HANG SENG INDEX 19590
With Macau signing a ninth supplement to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with the mainland today, Guangdong province has announced it wants to liberalise trade in services with Macau by 2014, one year ahead of the rest of the mainland.
19490 19390
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19290 19190
Long plan needed for human resources
19090 18990
Labour disputes are down and so is unemployment, while wages are up, but Macau must think ahead to improve its labour market, namely through the experience and expertise of expatriate workers, the head of a think tank says. Page 3
June 29
HSI - Movers Name
%Day
SANDS CHINA LTD
5.60
Inflation driven by domestic demand, not imports
COSCO PAC LTD
5.32
WANT WANT CHINA
4.63
CHINA MERCHANT
4.22
I
CHINA COAL ENE-H
4.11
SWIRE PACIFIC-A
0.90
CHINA RES LAND
0.77
HSBC HLDGS PLC
0.59
HANG SENG BK
0.57
ESPRIT HLDGS
-1.00
ncreasing domestic demand and not imported inflation is keeping the city’s rate of inflation elevated, the director of Policy Research Office Lao Pun Lap said. Inflation stood at 6.67 percent at the end of May, half of which can be attributed to rising prices in food and non-alcoholic drinks, official data shows. Mr Lao says imported inflation was the main contributor towards inflation in the past, with high prices for consumer goods from the mainland. High inflation in the mainland and a strengthening currency meant higher prices in Macau. However, mainland inflation has been below 4 percent since
February and the yuan’s value has stabilised significantly, leading to relatively stable prices in imported products. The new driver for inflation is strengthening domestic demand, Mr Lao’s research indicates. Purchasing powers of residents continue to rise, driven by rising income. According to official data, private consumption grew 10.2 percent last year and rose to 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. Mr Lao said the government needs to pay special attention to underprivileged groups and provide subsidies to sooth the pressure from inflation. X.C.
Source: Bloomberg
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