The government is currently working hard to bring visitors back to Macau and thereby, assist recovery of the local economy, which has been severely damaged by the restrictions imposed on border entries as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. These sentiments were expressed by Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Sen, at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, in a session dedicated to Q&A with the lawmakers on the policy address of this year, as well as other pressing social issues.
In response to an inquiry from lawmaker Si Ka Lon, the CE said, “We were doing work on the economic recovery but a new outbreak [of Covid-19] came and we are back to square one. From August 3, we have reached the level of being considered a region of low risk for Covid-19 contagion and so the tourism, security, and economic services have resumed the hard work in this field, namely on how to attract more tourists to Macau. This is our first step [for economic recovery],” later adding, “We have not yet reached the goal of economic diversification so we will have to maintain our economy with what we have.”
For this work of economic recovery with the resumption of tourism activities, the CE also said the government is being helped by the Macau flag airline company Air Macau and the travel agency Trip.com.
For the CE, the reason behind the low number of tourists in the last few years has to do with fear of being caught in the middle of an outbreak and unable to return home.
“Recently due to the [Covid-19] outbreaks, people fear to travel and visit Macau because they are afraid of not being able to return home and of being put into isolation or quarantine. So, at this stage everyone is afraid of vising other cities,” the CE said noting that the government is working on advertising Macau as a stable and safe city to visit.
Ho’s response was to an inquiry from Song on the topic of the negotiations with first-tier cities on the Mainland for the issuing of the visas under the Individual Visit Scheme. The CE also stated that all visitors are welcomed in Macau regardless from whichever city, province or area they are coming, noting that, for the government, there is no difference between first and second-tier cities.
For the CE, what is the most important is to ensure that Macau can keep a stable Covid-19 situation without major outbreaks similar to the island of Hainan which, according to the CE, is forcing some 80,000 tourists to remain in lockdown on the island.
Study on allowing foreign visitors entries continues
Also addressing the topic of border restrictions that affect the entry of foreign visitors of all nationalities into Macau, the CE said that for the time being, Macau is only open to receiving visitors from Portugal, stating that a study is ongoing regarding the possibility of expanding this program to allow the entry of visitors from other countries.
Nonetheless, Ho remarked that this “opening” would not be a complete one as these visitors would still have to pass through a period of quarantine in medical observation as per the policies of China.
“If other countries are willing to reach Macau, even with quarantine, we might consider this. In fact, we were doing this study already before June 18 but due to the outbreak we had to suspend this task,” he said.
Advances are also being made by Macao Government Tourism Office, according to the CE, to bring more visitors from the Western part of China.
Omicron BA.5 is not a simple Covid-19
Addressing how to prevent a new outbreak taking place, Ho said that this is not possible since the virus is unpredictable.
The CE also said that the Omicron variant BA.5 strain “is not just a simple Covid-19 [but a strain] that can pass from one generation to another,” Ho said, adding that in all of China, Macau was the first place where this strain had been detected, but that it has now reached other places, including the island of Hainan.
Although admitting that the effects on people’s health are not as serious for the vast majority, Ho says, “We can’t afford to do nothing about it and just ignore it.”
Govít calls all unemployed to register at DSAL
Questioned by several lawmakers on policies and measures to confront a growing unemployment rate and a potential further reduction of staff by casino concessionaires after the licenses tender is over, the CE called on all unemployed residents to register their situation at the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL).
According to the CE, the number of unemployed people is estimated to be around 15,000 but, only around 8,000 of these are cases known by DSAL.
“I ask all those unemployed to register their situation with DSAL so that the government can understand the real needs and provide help,” the CE said, arguing that if local residents can take the job posts being currently occupied by non-resident workers, then the government will not have any problem in canceling all the existing blue cards.
