NEWS ANALYSIS: Macao's Economy to Grow at Moderate Pace in 2002 (2)
A grand government plan calls for investment of 1.6 billion patacas (200 million U.S. dollars) in construction of basic facilities and other projects to generate 6,000 jobs this year. The Fisherman's Wharf, the largest tourism project for Macao since it returned to the motherland, is being built into a tourist Mecca highlighting recreation, sightseeing and catering.Still, the SAR government has mapped out a series of flexible fiscal and monetary policies to buoy property investment by individuals and enterprise expansion.
Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah has announced in his policy address for 2002 a tax cut portfolio covering a 25 percent decrease in occupation tax, five percent in tourism tax for catering businesses and 500 patacas (62.5 U.S.dollars) in housing tax, as part of a broader effort to spur local consumption.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Joao Manuel Antunes, director of the Government Tourist Office, said that the tourism industry will get another boost and play a bigger role in the economy if visitors stay longer and spend more in Macao. His office plans to carry on more promotions and try to present tourists a more welcoming environment.
The number of tourist arrivals in Macao hit a record of more than ten million in 2001. "The figure is already very big for the small city," Antunes said, but adding that it will be probably larger on anticipation of a better tourism image of Macao and increasing stopovers in the city of business travelers in the wake of China's entry into the WTO.
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