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The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its report covering the period ending May 2007 in response to the 2006 direct request.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Active labour market policy measures. The Committee notes that the gross domestic product for 2006 grew by 24 per cent over the previous year mostly due to the gaming and tourism industry. The Government intends to take measures to promote a more diversified economy to ensure that it does not rely entirely on one or a few industries which can make the economy quite vulnerable to economic crises and limit sustainable development. Business tourism is being promoted by the creation of sophisticated exhibition and conference facilities. The Government will endeavour to promote the development of industries such as recreation, tourism and purchasing, transit, trade and services. The Committee understands that the Macao-Zhuhai Transborder Industrial Park will provide 27 industrial units allocated to manufacturers. Measures have also been taken by the Macao Business Support Centre (MBSC) to attract investment, promote sustainable development of national small and medium-sized enterprises and to expand business opportunities. It further notes the strengthening of the role of the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs on the matters covered by the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue to supply information on the active employment policies pursued, and results thereof, to ensure the achievement of the aims of the Convention.

2. The Committee notes that according to the statistics provided by the Government, the labour force during the first quarter of 2007 stood at 293,000, among whom 284,000 were employed, which implies an increase of about 30,000 new jobs over the same period a year ago. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.2 per cent, a drop of 0.8 points since 2006. The unemployment situation of the vulnerable groups, typified by being middle-aged and possessing low levels of education, has seen some improvement, with a reduction of both male and female unemployed persons of these categories. The Committee notes the efforts made in order to alleviate the problem of structural unemployment of middle-aged people with lower education levels by upgrading their employment capacity. It notes the incentive measures to encourage these residents to take part in the training programmes, which includes the provision of transport subsidies, ensuring there is no threshold for entry to the programmes, short course durations and flexible class hour scheduling. The Committee asks the Government to continue to inform on the results achieved in promoting productive employment in particular for the vulnerable categories of workers. It also asks for information regarding the revision of the labour relations law that better meets the changes in the labour market and the pace of economic development. Please also inform in the next report on the measures taken to ensure that the risks of atypical forms of employment are minimized and that they are socially and economically sustainable.

3. The Committee also notes the increased demand of some industries, particularly construction and casinos, for recruiting non-resident workers to make up for the shortages or lack of local human resources. The total number of non-resident workers increased from 27,736 in 2004 to 62,045 in November 2006. More than half of these come from Mainland China, while the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong and the Philippines are the other major sources. The Committee notes the measures taken by the Government in order to ensure a standardized system among them, the revision of law and regulations, the creation of the Human Resources Office, improvement of current mechanisms and procedures for the incoming immigration of non-resident workers. Please continue to inform on the advancement of these measures taken.

4. Training policies. The Committee notes the efforts of the Vocational Training Department to provide workers with the kind of training that meets the market’s needs. The Committee also notes that due to the rapid growth of the Macau economy, job opportunities were increased and therefore there was a reduction in demand for retraining courses during this period. The Committee notes that productivity is being raised by the promotion of the concept of lifelong learning through vocational training and retraining within the community. The Committee invites the Government to report on the results of the implementation of the 2006 and 2007 guidelines, specifically on the improvement of vocational training, training curricula, upgrading the professional qualification of teaching staff, and in its efforts to encourage industries to gradually establish mechanisms for professional qualification identification, and increase the overall quality of local human resources.