The curse of the fat finger has struck one of China’s most secretive commercial dynasties as an e-mail between top executives of Shun Tak Corporation has erroneously revealed plans for developing one of the last pieces of the lucrative waterfront in Macau.
The property, in one of the world’s hottest gambling destinations, is worth about $500 million.
In the first quarter of 2008, performance of the gaming sector continued to stay vibrant, with gross gaming revenue (excluding gratuities) soaring substantially by 61.8% in nominal terms compared with the same quarter of 2007, while total visitor spending (excluding gaming expenses) rose slightly by 4.3%; gross fixed capital formation dropped by 17.6% upon successive completion of large-scale construction projects, and exports of goods fell by 11.2%. Taking all relevant data together, GDP for the first quarter of 2008 expanded by 31.6% in real terms, higher than the 22.1% growth in the fourth quarter of 2007.
In terms of major GDP components, private consumption expenditure in the first quarter of 2008 increased by 9.6%, lower than the 9.7% growth in the previous quarter. Household final consumption expenditure in the domestic market rose by 8.6%, while that abroad fell slightly by 1.7%, with the expenditure in Mainland China amounting to MOP 606 million.
In relation to the article released by the magazine “East Week” on 28th May stating that UNESCO has suspended all promotional activities on world heritage of Macau, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) denies any refusal of UNESCO in Paris to promote Macau’s world heritage.
MGTO has issued a clarification on 14th May stating that UNESCO in Paris has not refused to promote Macau’s world heritage and there is no reference at all by UNESCO about any change of status of Macau Heritage Sites, reports GCS.
Police in Macau today carried out a controlled explosion after finding a cache of weapons and explosives in a popular tourist street.
Two grenades, a revolver, a knife and bag of explosives along with a timer were found in a hotel in the territory’s so-called Souvenir Street in the heart of Macau’s tourist district.
Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Limited, a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities, announced today that its shareholders passed a resolution at its Annual General Meeting to change the name of the company to Melco Crown Entertainment Limited, effective immediately. The company’s ticker symbol, MPEL, remains unchanged.
The name change reflects a previously announced change in the ownership structure of one of its founding shareholders. On December 12, 2007, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (now known as Consolidated Media Holdings Limited) completed a demerger of its gaming and media businesses into two separate companies, both listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The demerger was achieved by two concurrent shareholder-approved and court-approved Schemes of Arrangement under Australian Corporations Law.
Wynn Macau announced that its dragon boat team will participate in the Macau International Dragon Boat Races for the second year in a row.
A team of 26 men will participate in the “Macau Dragon Boat Races (500m),” while a team of 13 female rowers will join the “Macau Small Dragon Boat Races (250m).” In order to get the best results, the 39 Dragon Boat players have had intensive group training since mid-April, in two-hour sessions three times a week.
Crown Macau has been elected as one of the awardees at the Prime Awards for Eco-Business 2008 recently held in Hong Kong. The Awards recognize the effort and accomplishments of promoting green environment and Crown Macau is the only hotel and casino in Macau that has been selected along with other large-scale corporations such as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, The Hong Kong Electric Co. Ltd. and MTR Corporation Ltd. etc.
The judging panel consisted of renowned representatives from major Hong Kong environmental protection organizations, commence and industry associations and academic scholars. Entries were judged on such criteria as strategy and measure, consciousness, and innovative idea on environmental protection.
Cotai Waterjets (Macau) Limited announced yesterday that it has received permission from the Macau and Hong Kong transportation departments to begin operating its Cotai Strip(R) CotaiJets(TM) with increased frequency and at night.
Cotai Waterjets said the expanded service, which runs between the Hong Kong-Macao Ferry Terminal at Shun Tak Centre and the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal, will serve the public interest by easing traffic and reducing the immigration border crossing time at the ferry terminal on the Macao peninsula.
