The unemployment rate has remained at 3.8 per cent, which showed that a string of measures to stabilise the economy and employment are working well, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Tam Pak Yuen, said today.

Mr Tam, who is leading a business delegation to Guangxi to attend the fifth Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Co-operation and Development Forum and Economic and Trade Co-operation Fair, said Macao would step up communication and co-operation with the PPRD region.

He said some concrete joint projects with the PPRD region had been been introduced and he hoped all parties might seek for a wider co-operation.

When asked by reporters on the employment issue in Macao, Mr Tam said due to the impacts caused by the global financial crisis in the third and fourth quarters last year, the Government’s principle was to maintain a stable economy and employment.

Over the past three months, figure have shown that the unemployment rate remained at 3.8 per cent. Mr Tam said he believed the percentage to remain like this in the next few months.

He said the Government had speed up the launch of public constructions projects and introduced training courses that would certainly help to ease unemployment.

On Macao’s economy, Mr Tam said that the last two quarters recorded two digits negative growth, and he expected the same in the second quarter of this year.

The Government would strive to control the negative growth over the whole year to one digit, he said.

Information Department

Government Information Bureau

Macao Special Administrative Region