The Macau Metro Monitor, February 22, 2011
CASINO OPERATORS WANT MEETING WITH LEGISLATORS ABOUT NON-SMOKING BILL macaubusiness.com
A group of Macau casinos, excluding Sands China, have sent a fax to the Legislative Assembly requesting a meeting with the standing committee discussing the government’s law proposal on a ban on smoking. The operators are "deeply concerned" with the “contradictory” statements made by the government after the second draft law was released and believe one year is too short to create a non-smoking zone for up to 50% of the total area.
Sands China was left out of the discussion because it was still discussing the issue internally and had not been informed the fax would be sent to the Legislative Assembly.
FOREIGN WORKER LEVIES HIT CONSTRUCTION HARDEST Strait Times
According to the S'pore Ministry of Manpower (MOM), building firms can expect to pay an average of $320 more a month for every Work Permit holder between now and July 2013. Companies in service sector will pay an average increase of $260 monthly for each Work Permit holder, while those in manufacturing will fork out $130 more. However, all employers of S-Pass holders can expect to pay an average of $240 more per month for each of these workers over the same period.
Firms in services and construction where 'the scope for productivity improvements is greatest' will see higher levy rate hikes and tighter levy tiers, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had noted in his Budget speech.
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR JANUARY 2011 DSEC
Jan CPI rose by 4.92% YoY and 0.93% MoM. Among the different sections, notable increase was observed in the price index of Miscellaneous Goods & Services (+9.21%), Clothing & Footwear (+6.86%), Transport (+6.71%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.13%) and Health (+5.75%), which was caused by higher charges for meals bought away from home, hairdressing and grooming services, and outbound package tours, dearer prices of clothing and footwear, airfare and general food items near the Lunar New year, as well as rising prices of gasoline and LP-gas.
EMPLOYMENT SURVEY FOR THE 4TH QUARTER 2010 DSEC
Total labor force was 331,000 in 4Q, comprising 322,000 employed and 8,900 unemployed. Compared with 3Q, total labor force and number of the employed increased by 1,300 and 1,700 respectively, while number of the unemployed decreased by 500. The majority of the employed were engaging in Recreational, Cultural, Gaming & Other Services (24.1%)
MASSIVE HOTEL PLAN IN ZHUHAI Xinhua News
A real estate company has purchased a 100,000 square meter land parcel in Henguin's new area, the city’s biggest land parcel designated exclusively for a $3 billion yuan, 5‐start hotel apart from Ocean Spring Resort.
