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Chief Executive of Macao Special Administration Region (SAR) Ho Hau Wah on Tuesday delivered his policy address for the fiscal year 2009, which highlighted the SAR government’s bid to secure the stable development of local economy amid global finance crisis.

Ho said in the address that due to the impact of the financial crisis, the SAR will unavoidably be affected, since Macao’s service-oriented economy is highly depended on the external economic environment, and the gaming industry, the pillar of its economy, is undergoing changes that affect the casino revenues.

To boost the sustainable development of local economy, Ho said the SAR government will increase public investment, including the construction of light rail transit system, building more public residential houses, launching the landscape works of the city’s World Heritage sites.

He also said that a total of 10.2 billion patacas (1.28 billion U.S. dollars) will be invested in these infrastructure projects.

Figures released from the SAR’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Macao’s GDP for the first half of this year grew by 26.1 percent year-on-year, and the city’s inflation rate stood at 9.07 percent, an increase of 3.13 percentage points over the same period of last year.

Although various sectors of the SAR will be influenced by the downturn, the economy will remain relatively stable and as further implementation of CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement), an agreement signed between Macao and the mainland authorities on opening the market for the SAR products and services, still provides new opportunities to Macao’s enterprises, Ho said.

Ho also stressed the importance of local SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in maintaining the economic stability, and the SAR government has planned to allocate some 1.5 billion patacas (188 dollars) to the city’s commercial and industrial development fund, allowing it to help, with sufficient resources, local SMEs overcome the difficulties caused by the slowing down economic development.

Meanwhile, the government will proposed to the SAR’s Legislative Assembly that the government’s guarantee of bank loans to the SMEs be increased to 3.5 billion patacas (438 million dollars), in a bid to help the SMEs maintain their regular operations.

As for the welfares of the local residents, the SAR government will introduce a package of measures with the aim to ease the locals’ pressures from the financial crisis. These measures include, tax breaks in various fields, transitional housing subsidies, income subsidies and textbook allowances, and medical subsidies.

In addition, Ho also announced that the government will continue its cash handout program targeting local permanent and non-permanent residents next year, so that the people can “share the benefits of the SAR’s economic development”. The SAR government has granted 5,000 patacas (625 dollars)and 3,000 (375 dollars)patacas respectively to each of the city’s permanent residents and non-permanent residents this year.

The cash handout and other subsidizing measures is not just “giving out money”, but also a move by the government to stimulate local consumption, which will prevent the further shrinkage of the small scale market Macao has, as a result, soothing the pressures on the operations of local SMEs, Ho explained at a press conference ensuing his policy address at the Assembly.

With a total population of over 530,000, the SAR logged a relatively low unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in September 2008,according to the figures from the DSEC. However, worries of mass lay-off triggered by the economic downturn still exist.

The chief executive promised that the government will further slash the number of imported workers next year, which will mostly concern the large gaming companies that operate casinos in Macao.

As for the SAR’s gaming industry which is at the core of its economy, Ho said that he expect the average monthly casino revenue for next year will stand at 7 billion patacas (875 million dollars). The figure is lower than the 8 billion patacas (1 billion dollars) recorded in this year.

He noted that the gaming operators are set to face operational difficulties, due to the market shrinkage and the government demand of guaranteeing local employment that renders their running costs high. He said the government will discuss the issue with the operators and figure out a reasonable solution to the issues, but “we believe the revision of gaming taxes are the only thing that is not being considered at present, which is a matter of principle.”

Under the SAR’s relevant laws, the six licensed gaming operators in Macao is obliged to pay 35 percent of its income as direct gaming taxes to the SAR government. Earlier this year, some of the operators have called for the reduction of these taxes.

Ho said that the downturn will not sweepingly affect the SAR’s gaming industry. “People will come to play (in the casinos), be it in a good or bad economic environment, which is a trend, and…the same situation exists in the world’s other gaming hubs.”

Malaysia Monday announced to lower its Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 0.25 percentage points to3.25 percent as it foresaw a deteriorated outlook for global growth.

The ceiling and floor rates of the country’s prime bank rate also were lowered correspondingly to 3.50 percent and 3.00 percent respectively, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the country’s central bank, announced after its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met here on Monday.

“…the outlook for global growth has deteriorated further. Several major advanced economies are now in recession amid severe stress in their respective financial systems,” said the bank in a statement.

“The sharp slowdown in global demand, the significant fall in commodity prices and the substantial decline in equity prices have exerted greater downward pressure on the growth prospects of regional economies,” the bank said.

Global inflation also had begun to recede and this trend is expected to continue, it added.

These global developments had prompted authorities to provide significant liquidity support to the financial system and adopt fiscal stimulus and monetary easing to support economic growth, BNM said.

The adverse global developments had already affected the Malaysian economy, reflected in the slowdown in the country’s export performance and lower equity prices, it noted.

However, the bank said, the country’s domestic demand remained resilient and the sustaining domestic demand was key to ensuring a continued positive growth in the country next year.

“Given the heightened downside risks to growth and the diminishing inflationary pressures, the reduction in the OPR is a pre-emptive measure aimed at providing a more accommodative monetary environment,” BNM said.

To further reduce the cost of intermediation, the bank also decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Requirement (SRR) from 4 percent to 3.5 percent, with effect from Dec. 1 this year.

Zimbabwe’s request for assistance to fight the cholera epidemic has paid off with the World Health Organization responding at the highest level by dispatching a five-member team of health experts from Geneva, according to local media.

The team is expected to give technical and logistical support to the Zimbabwean government using existing structures at a time some Western countries were gearing to politicize the outbreak to abet aggression by claiming structures of assistance in Zimbabwe had collapsed, the state media The Herald reported on Tuesday.

The WHO team, comprising head of delegation Eric Laroche, director of operational platform Dominique Legros, communication officer Paul Garwood, logistician Fred Urlep, water epidemiologist Francesco Checchi, is expected to complement the existing WHO staff already in the country.

Dr Laroche said the WHO team is in Zimbabwe to assist the government through case investigation data management, surveillance and implementation of world guidelines in treating the disease.

“Our team will be in Zimbabwe, as long as it is required, to support the local WHO team control and stick to the guidelines of treating and registering patients among others. We are purely a technical team that will offer technical, logistical and financial support,” he said.

He said the team will help the government source funds required to fight the epidemic. WHO has already set up a National Command Center in Harare.

Zimbabwe Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa welcomed the teams, saying Zimbabwe is looking forward to sustainable measures to control cholera and other communicable diseases.

He said the government expects the experts to characterize the types of cholera in different areas in line with regional trends and offer assistance in improving water and sanitation in the country.

“The team is in the country to buttress what WHO is (already) doing and strengthening my team that is working on the disease. This is a team that is sent anywhere in the world where there is an outbreak and we hope it will deal decisively with the problem of cholera in the country,” he said.

“We hope the information that will be produced will be properly documented and available for the benefit of the country and the region because to me this is a unique outbreak,” he said.

The team, he said, should help in coming up with a proper way of arriving at statistics since it is difficult for stakeholders to agree on figures.

Dr Parirenyatwa said there is need to come up with a point person within the ministry to work with the WHO personnel in coordinating the response to the epidemic.

The WHO team will be on the ground until Zimbabwe has successfully managed to deal with cholera outbreak that has claimed hundreds of lives since August.

Austrian elementary school students are at least one year behind schedule in math and natural sciences compared to students in top countries, a study published on Tuesday said.

The annual Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed Austrian students in the fourth grade rank No. 17 in math with 505 points, 101 points less than No. 1 Chinese Hong Kong.

The TIMSS is carried out in 36 countries.

Dr. Claudia Schmied, Austria’s education secretary, considered the study a reconfirmation of the need to invest more in the country’s education system.

Meanwhile, some educators suggest introducing obligatory preschool education.

Helga Thomann, the federal state elementary school supervisor of Austria’s Steiermark state, said elementary schools and kindergartens have to become interconnected to make the country remain competitive internationally.

The world’s economies limped toward Christmas on Tuesday, with a U.S. contraction confirmed, Britain shrinking more sharply than thought and Spain and New Zealand languishing in recession.

The U.S. economy shrank an unrevised 0.5 percent in the third quarter, official data showed. Consumer spending plunged 3.8 percent, the biggest drop since 1980.

“I think the fourth quarter contraction will be more severe … and the first quarter of next year will even be worse,” said Roy Williams, CEO of Prestige Wealth Management Group in Pennington, New Jersey.

Britain, Spain and New Zealand added to evidence that global stimulus measures, bank bail outs and interest rates heading for zero may not prevent the worst downturn in decades.

The British economy shrank by 0.6 percent in the third quarter, the worst quarterly decline since 1990 and worse also than the earlier 0.5 percent estimate.

“It really does paint an exceptionally gloomy picture about the speed with which the UK economy has lapsed into recession,” said Matthew Sharratt, economist at Bank of America.

The Hong Kong economy may see a negative growth in the first half of this year with a rebound likely in the second half, according to Donald Tsang, chief executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Addressing the Asian Financial Forum Monday, Tsang admitted that the local economy has been sliding into a negative growth from the fourth quarter of last year and said the trend would continue in the first half also.

Hong Kong GDP growth slowed from 4.2 percent in the second quarter to 1.7 percent in the third quarter last year.

Tsang said the anticipated recovery in the second half hinges largely on the external economy and the effectiveness of the Hong Kong government’s stimulus package.

In spite of the gloomy global economy, Tsang remained optimistic on the region’s outlook. He added that the economic fundamentals have in no way been diminished by the financial turmoil.

The region’s strong human resources would provide the key to a quick recovery, he said. At the same time he also urged Hong Kong to expand its cooperation with Macao and Guangdong province, as laid out in the recently approved Pearl River Delta region development plan.

Tsang also said Hong Kong could utilize its strength and its status as the world’s freest economy to deepen its renminbi yuan settlement business and also explore new avenues like Islamic finance in the future.

To cope with the climbing unemployment rate, Tsang pledged that the government would take the lead to create more jobs to alleviate the impact of the economic downturn.

“I am confident that the government can create over 60,000 jobs this year,” he said adding that most of the jobs would be in infrastructure and construction.

Tsang had earlier expressed concerns that the labor market may significantly deteriorate in the fourth quarter.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury KC Chan said he remains satisfied with the performance of Hong Kong’s financial monitoring system during the financial tsunami. But he said the system still has room to improve, in particular in the supervision on retail sales of banks.

Speaking about Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Securities Futures Commission’s (SFC) report, Chan said he would take into consideration the suggestions regarding an extension of the blackout period and issuance of quarterly reports before drafting relevant policies.

He added investigations conducted by the HK Monetary Authority and SFC on the minibond sale of Lehman Brothers have made good progress.

A top UN official on Wednesday called on governments to take proper steps to ensure that economic progress contributes to social progress and inclusion.

Addressing the 47th session of the UN Commission for Social Development, Sha Zukang, UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, said that markets on their own can not deliver economic prosperity, social inclusiveness and justice for all.

Governments have a very important role to play in creating an enabling environment for markets and the private sector, he said.

Governments must also ensure that economic progress contribute to social progress and inclusion, he said.

Social exclusion persisted because of entrenched prejudice, including gender-based discrimination, racism and discrimination in terms of access to employment and education, he said.

The international community must bring the gap between legal provisions and enforcements, he said. “There is an urgent need to implement effective anti-discrimination policies in order to ensure protection for all vulnerable social groups.”

Social integration creates the enabling political and social environment that enables societies to achieve national development and meet the internationally agreed international development goals, he said.

However, social integration still does not receive the attention it deserves on the development agenda, he said.

The challenges ahead are all the more urgent due to the negative impact of the current global crises on social development and social integration, he said, adding that many people, especially in the poorest and most vulnerable communities, are struggling to survive.

Many lost their jobs and were unable to pay for food, shelter, health care and school for their children, he noted, adding that such harsh circumstances have created fertile ground for conflict and instability, as seen in the recent food crisis which has brought violence and food riots to many developing countries.

“Tough economic times have reduced the ability of people to help others, as well as their support for inclusive social policies,” he said. “Such trends can have an adverse impact on social integration.”

The UN Commission for Social Development on Wednesday open a 10-day meeting to discuss the social impact of the global crises, including the economic meltdown and the food crisis.

The meeting, known as the 47th session of the commission, is also expected to consider new ways to further advance social integration, the goal of building an equitable and dynamic society, where all individuals can fully exercise their rights and responsibilities, UN officials said here.

The global economic crisis has not reached its climax and Russia must rebuild its economy in order to deal with future crises, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

“We’re now in quite a difficult situation. The crisis continues and it has not reached its peak yet,” Medvedev told a meeting of the State Council Presidium in the eastern Siberian city of Irkutsk.

Russia cannot “afford to keep the old economic structure, which does not meet the modern requirements,” Medvedev said.

“We must now diversify the economy, develop infrastructure and strengthen the financial system,” he was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The Russian president also criticized some government officials for their slow response to the ongoing financial turmoil.

“This is a moment of truth for the governors. I hope you understand this,” he said.

Speaking to the same gathering, Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said the country’s gross domestic product decreased 2.4 percent in January and the downward trend would continue for this quarter.

Earlier this week, Andrei Klepach, deputy economic development minister, forecast that the Russian economy would contract 2.2 percent this year.

Grain futures in Chicago Board of Trade were mixed on Tuesday as the outside markets kept stable.

Corn future for May delivery gained 0.25 cents to 3.505 U.S. dollars a bushel. May soybean rose 9.5 cents to 8.535 dollars per bushel and May wheat was down 4.25 cents, settled on 5.0175 dollars per bushel.

The U.S. stock and crude oil market did not see big fluctuations on Tuesday, which kept corn and wheat consolidating for most time of the session. Lacking of fundamental news recently, the grain futures are inclined to track outside markets to find out their own trends.

The traders continued to keep an eye on Argentine government’s plan of semi-nationalizing its grains trade, which is considered to be benefit to U.S. grain futures, since Argentina is the world’s second largest corn exporter and third largest soy exporter.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture declared that the drought emergency in North China Plain winter wheat belt is over, adding some pressure on wheat.

A computer application development contest will be held in Myanmar’s former capital of Yangon in late this month, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.

Sponsored by the Myanmar Computer Professionals Association (MCPA), the contest will take place at the e-learning center of the Myanmar Computer Federation on March 27, the report said.

Teams with two members each are prescribed to take part in the contest to develop a part of software application, using any programming language on any platform through window application orweb.

The first winner will be awarded 500,000 Kyats (500 U.S. dollars), while the second 300,000 kyats (300 dollars) and the third 200,000 Kyats (200 dollars), the report added.

Myanmar education authorities have stressed the importance of computer literacy for younger generation to keep up with the rapid changes in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

“While the education system is trying to move forward, students must keep in touch with the latest trends by using private ICT training centers which are vital knowledge providers,” said education officials.

Myanmar introduced e-education system in early 2001.

In December 2007, the country’s largest ICT park, also known as the Yadanabon Cyber City was established in Pyin Oo Lwin.

Besides, Myanmar has also planned full coverage of public access centers (PAC) in every township in the country to facilitate communication links.

The authorities are calling on youths in the country, who take interest in IT, to apply advanced IT technology extensively in their striving for the national economic development.