Macau may have a new chief executive but his maiden policy address said nothing new in defining the relationship between the casino operators and the government.
Fernando Chui made noises at a press conference following his speech to Macau’s Legislative Assembly, about not allowing more casinos in the territory. His predecessor Edmund Ho said something similar. But neither man has so far spelled out the details, and that’s where the devil is always to be found.
“Apart from those we have agreed in principle in the past, in construction and those already approved, we will regulate in the future,” Mr Chui told reporters when quizzed on the topic.
Even allowing for something being lost in translation that statement makes the oracle in the Ancient Greek city of Delphi sound like a straight talkin’ gal.
Some investors will probably interpret Mr Chui’s comments favourably and it will in likelihood lead to some gains today for those casino company shares listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. And just as likely, the executives who lead the industry in Macau will know in their hearts that they are absolutely none the wiser about the government’s future policy direction regarding expansion of the industry. But they will keep their mouths shut and take any market gains coming the way of their companies.
Mr Chui is of course damned in some quarters if he makes a grand pronouncement on an issue such as a cap on the number of tables or number of casinos and damned in others if he doesn’t. He appears to have learned from Edmund Ho’s experience and avoided boxing himself in. That way if he eventually gets the nod from head office in Beijing that it’s all getting a bit too hot in the Macau gaming market he can make a definitive announcement to show action is being taken. Until then there’s no point jumping the gun.
One item in his policy address that could have a positive impact on the local casino and tourism industry was the announcement of closer ties at official level between Macau and Taiwan. The ordinary citizens of Taiwan are already visiting Macau in some numbers (there were more than 115,000 of them in January, around 5.7% of all arrivals for that month) but closer formal links could help speed up cooperation on issues such as immigration, tourism marketing and scheduled air services. A lot more Taiwanese formerly used Macau as a transit point for air travel but that tie has diminished since Beijing allowed direct flights from Taiwan to the mainland in 2008.
Mr Chui’s initiative on Macau-Taiwan cooperation must clearly have the support of China’s central government. Technically Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. But under Taiwan’s current president, Ma Ying-jeou, ‘The Republic of China’ as it styles itself, has been on less frosty terms with the People’s Republic. China has even accepted Taiwan’s participation in the Olympics, but under the compromise diplomatic title ‘Chinese Taipei’.
Macau’s new chief executive copied one of his predecessor’s policies by announcing cash payments of 6,000 patacas (US$750) for Macau’s 500,000 or so permanent residents and 3,600 patacas (US$450) for non-permanent residents.
It would be churlish to call such payments hush money, but by happy coincidence since Edmund Ho started the practice of government handouts for all back in 2008 there has been no repeat of the May Day disturbances of 2006 and 2007. Those incidents involved demonstrations by long-term unemployed complaining, among other things, about migrant workers taking local jobs.
Mr Chui also said that 350 hectares (865 acres) of land reclaimed from the Pearl River Delta will be reserved for building public housing and other community uses, including education and cultural facilities.
