The Macau government has released its long-awaited mid-term review of the city’s gaming industry and although the review didn’t provide any great insight into gaming concession renewals, it was generally positive in its appraisal of Macau’s concessionaires.
The 254-page report, compiled by The Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming of the University of Macau over the past 12 months, said that the six casino operators had “all fulfilled the capital commitment in their contracts” and had “obviously created positive impact on the economy and society of Macau.”
It referred to the fact that operators had invested MOP$262 billion (US$32.75 billion) in capital spending between 2002 and 2014 and also praised the opportunities the industry had afforded locals. In particular it noted that the proportion of local employees in Macau’s casinos was much higher than in other cities and that the number of local employees in managerial grade positions or above had risen from around 60 percent to 80 percent since 2008.
Negative impacts attributed to the gaming industry included pushing up inflation, housing prices and business operating costs as well as creating crowding out effects on SMEs and affecting social values.
The report also called for better regulation of the junket industry both to weed out rotten elements and to aid law-abiding junket operators in avoiding debt from poor credit.
In total, the review covered nine research topics in four categories including the contractual obligations of Macau’s concessionaires and sub-concessionaires, economic and social impact, junkets human resources, compliance and the relationship between gaming and non-gaming.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said the report was aimed at highlighting what areas operators can improve upon, particularly in regards to the promotion of nongaming attractions.
“We very much hope to have more tourist products suitable for the family,” Leong said. “In the past we only looked at gaming revenue.
“We cannot only depend on a small number of customers (VIP players) to generate most of the revenue. We need to have new clients.”
While Leong insisted the report was not about the license renewal process, analysts described it as highly encouraging. Macau’s six concessionaires and sub-concessionaires all have their licenses up for renewal at various times between 2020 and 2022.
