Over a year-and-a-half has passed since the inauguration of Macau’s new government, led by Sam Hou Fai, former President of the Court of Final Appeal. The new administration has unveiled a vision to build Macau into a city defined by “the rule of law, vitality, culture and happiness,” embedding this developmental direction into its five-year policy blueprint. While the vision is ambitious, the public questions how the government will translate these macro-level slogans into tangible policies. Faced with entrenched challenges including public administrative reform and a sluggish local community economy, what concrete strategies will the new government adopt to drive urban development?
Under the core policy framework of building a “rule-of-law Macau,” the government has prioritized public administrative reform as its key governance focus. Authorities have stressed that the legal system for safeguarding national security requires further optimization, and the enhancement of national security capabilities serves as a fundamental cornerstone of governance, as well as a core driver of improving governmental operational efficiency and inter-departmental coordination.
Accordingly, public administrative reform stands as a flagship policy of the new administration. The government has established a dedicated mechanism for “leading and coordinating public administrative reform,” advancing institutional restructuring, departmental mergers and procedural re-engineering under the principle of “streamlining and efficiency.”
The merger of the Legal Affairs Bureau and the Government Printing Bureau represents one of the most symbolic reform measures. Following the first phase of restructuring, the original administrative structure of “nine departments and 14 divisions” has been significantly streamlined into “five departments and four divisions,” with the leadership team downsized from six members to three. Beyond organizational restructuring, this administrative streamlining initiative aims to address long-standing public concerns over bureaucratic inefficiency.
Macau’s gaming industry and the “1+4” appropriate economic diversification strategy
Post-pandemic, Macau has consistently prioritized economic diversification, a strategic direction fully upheld by the current government. The administration continues to implement the “1+4” economic development model, which takes the integrated tourism and leisure industry as the core pillar while fostering the growth of four emerging sectors: traditional Chinese medicine and healthcare, modern finance, high-tech industries, as well as convention and exhibition, trade, culture and sports.
While inheriting the previous policy framework, the Sam Hou Fai administration has made it clear that its future goal is no longer merely pursuing superficial diversification but delivering substantial and breakthrough progress in economic restructuring.
The government has adopted a more pragmatic stance toward the gaming industry. It pledges to supervise gaming concessionaires to ensure they fully honor their contractual obligations and investment commitments for both gaming and non-gaming projects. Through cross-departmental regular reviews, the government will assess operators’ performance in driving economic diversification, attracting international tourists, securing local employment and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In parallel, the government continues to promote responsible gambling, targeting a 60% share of non-gaming added value in Macau’s overall economy by 2030.
To further consolidate Macau’s positioning as a world-class tourism and leisure center, authorities plan to upgrade the integrated tourism and leisure industry. Notably, the government has proposed launching a government-guided fund to attract social capital investment into the healthcare, niche finance, high-tech, exhibition and cultural sectors, leveraging market forces to accelerate diversified economic development.
Sluggish community economy
Despite macro-level progress in economic diversification, the sluggish grassroots community economy remains the most pressing livelihood challenge. Following Macau’s full border reopening, local consumption patterns have become increasingly integrated with mainland markets, resulting in diminished vitality in traditional community business districts. The former government attempted to revitalize old urban areas, yet the efforts yielded limited long-term results.
Sam Hou Fai’s administration acknowledges that one-off festive events and short-term stimulus measures are insufficient to resolve the structural weaknesses of the community economy. It has therefore introduced a tripartite revitalization model featuring “government supervision and coordination, corporate resource investment and civil community planning.” This collaborative framework prioritizes sustainable development and multi-stakeholder synergy, marking a shift from the previous event-based, short-term revitalization approach.
Concrete measures include promoting coordinated development of clustered commercial zones, building themed consumer districts and integrating cultural tourism innovation with a “big enterprises empowering small businesses” ecosystem. These multi-pronged initiatives aim to expand domestic demand, draw pedestrian traffic and enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of local SMEs.
International tourism as a core growth pillar
The government reiterates that international tourism remains a vital pillar for Macau’s future development. It has identified Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia as core source markets, while proactively expanding visitor inflows from Portuguese-speaking countries, Spanish-speaking regions, Europe, America and Muslim markets. The Chief Executive’s official visits to Portugal and Spain earlier this year exemplify this diplomatic and tourism promotion strategy.
Authorities will conduct targeted research on emerging markets such as Central Asia, develop competitive tourism products and optimize global promotion strategies. Further efforts will be made to expand air route networks, maximize air traffic rights, launch connecting flight services and enhance transit convenience to attract more international visitors.
The government targets a steady annual growth rate of 5% in international visitor arrivals to Macau between 2026 and 2030.
Moving forward, the current Macau government’s policy agenda spans administrative reform, economic diversification, community revitalization, Hengqin collaborative development and global market expansion, forming an interconnected and systematic governance roadmap. Nevertheless, the realization of these goals hinges on effective execution, institutional coordination and, most crucially, the ability to strike a sustainable balance between the prosperity of the gaming industry and the city’s long-term industrial transformation.
