Jorge Godinho
The future public tender for new gaming concessions, to be held by 2022, should not establish any limitation on the number of concessions to be granted, according to gaming law specialist Jorge Godinho.
The visiting professor at the University of Macau was speaking on TDM Radio’s weekly Saturday interview program where he addressed several topics related to the new gaming concessions.
In the interview, he said, “it does not make any sense to launch a public tender to attribute only six gaming concessions,” adding, “this would be the same as saying that everything would remain exactly as it is now.”
In the opinion of the gaming laws and regulations specialist, the tender will be the opportunity that both the government and the concessionaires are waiting for to promote changes, in particular the opportunity to overhaul the current system of concessions and sub-concessions, thus placing all concessionaires on equal terms with the same commitments and rights.
Godinho said he does not expect the government to create any changes to taxation in the upcoming public tender, noting that the current taxation system is balanced and still up-to-date.
On the same day, the Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong said that the government is already doing preparatory work for the new public tender for gaming concessions so that all the work is done “prior to the 2022 expiry date [of the current concessions].”
Leong said that among the work being done, are legislative initiatives; amendments to the laws which should include, for example, the clarification of non-gaming elements to be introduced by the concessionaires, and the introduction of a social responsibility mechanism.
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