The number of new companies setting up to catch the economic boom in Macao is increasing sharply with a total of 713 companies newly incorporated in the first quarter of 2005.

Information released by the Macao Statistics and Census Service on Tuesday showed that the number of newly incorporated companies and their registered capital increased 51.7 percent and 29.5 percent, respectively, over the first quarter of 2004. New companies reported 108.28 million patacas (13.5 million US dollars) in registered capital.

These newly incorporated companies are mostly in wholesale and retail sector, followed by real estate, construction and business services.

Among the stockholders of the new companies, 60.8 percent are Macao residents. The capital of the companies mostly came from Macao, followed by Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands. Guangdong Province topped the list of capital coming from the provinces within the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region in South China.

Source: Xinhua