Macao continues to inject vigor into local economy

MACAO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- To boost consumption and secure employment, the government of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) has continued to inject vigor into local economy amid fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the latest move, Macao residents from Wednesday are entitled to a start-up fund of 5,000 patacas (about 621 U.S. dollars) and a discount grant of 3,000 patacas in their electronic payment as part of a government-sponsored plan to boost consumption.

As of Tuesday, some 562,000 people had registered to claim the benefits, showed official data. This year, in addition to shopping, the benefits also cover water and electricity bills as well as TV service charges.

Shops and local residents agree that the plan will stimulate consumption. Coco, a sales woman at an outlet store located in the center of Macao Peninsula, said that an obviously higher number of customers have shown up on Wednesday, mostly paying with the government-offered benefits.

Analysts expect the plan to expand local demand, stabilize business operations and ensure employment.

Besides the consumption benefits, the Macao SAR government is still committed to an annual wealth partaking scheme. Starting in April, Macao's permanent residents can receive 10,000 patacas under the scheme, and non-permanent residents get 6,000 patacas per person.

Since the end of January, 86,000 residents have registered for package tours and hotel experiences within the city at prices subsidized by the SAR government.

According to the government's Tourism Office, in the first quarter of 2022, visitor arrivals to Macao rose 8.0 percent year on year. During the five-day mainland holiday period for Labor Day, Macao received 137,000 visitors, with the average hotel occupancy rate reaching 59.5 percent.

The office said that it has been working to promote Macao as a safe and tourist-friendly destination via online and offline platforms, in order to add new elements to tourism projects while encouraging industry players to innovate continuously.

The Labor Affairs Bureau has organized specialized recruitment sessions to help locals get employed in the hotel, retailing, and security and cleaning services industries.

Lei Lai Keng, head of the bureau's employment department, said that over 3,000 residents had found jobs during the special sessions in the first five months of this year, while vowing to regularly host such events in future.

Since September 2020, pandemic-affected Macao residents can apply for free training courses and obtain financial assistance given they get successfully employed in the trained field. So far, over 12,000 people have taken the training courses.

Government subsidies have also been offered to businesses that employ residents who have been unemployed for over 60 days.

Vong Kok Seng, vice president of Directors Board of the Macao Chamber of Commerce, said he believes that these measures will help relieve public distress and provide targeted assistance, while calling for the business circle and the public to stay confident in Macao's economic prospect. (1 pataca equals 0.1242 U.S. dollar)