“Everything we have invested in Macau to date and everything we will invest in the future is predicated on delivering our promise to help Macau in its economic diversification,” Sheldon Adelson said ahead of his trip to meet the new government next week, as he put it. And it sure was a happy Adelson that spoke yesterday on a conference call in NYC: Despite the fact that LVS revenue fell 6.6 percent to USD3.42 billion for the quarter, he and fellow investors have more money in their pockets since the overall company profit margin was up 25 percent at USD 721.3 million y-o-y. Sure Macau gambling, especially the VIP sector, was hit by the general decline due to the slowdown of China’s economy and strict money-laundering and anti-graft measures. But the Singapore operation did very well and Sands China non-gaming revenue was higher than the five other gaming operators combined. “I don’t believe any of these unique competitive advantages can be matched by our competition,” always-defiant Adelson said. The next Sands CEO stressed also that “the important point is that our strategy remains unchanged.”
Now on the way to Canton, Chui Sai On came from Beijing with full support from the top for the 13th 5-year plan. Macau, as well as becoming a platform for services for trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, would increase its work to fulfill the aim of becoming an international tourism and leisure center. In the context of regional cooperation, along with Nansha in Guangdong and Hengqin, Chui said Macau had already delivered an official request to the central government to create, with Zhongshan’s help, a pilot area of general cooperation between Guangdong and Macau. Add to that the cooperation over the development of Traditional Medicine and an end to trade barriers through CEPA, mix well, and there you have it: diversification. Something that some notable economists say is, well, impossible. Can Chui, Lionel and company prove them wrong?
A few weeks ago, Fong Chi Keong motivated hundreds to take to the streets shouting against the appointed legislators, thus creating a political issue with his weird opinions on sex in marriage. Now comes another AL veteran, Kwan Tsui Hang, with another outrageous comment. Unfortunately Ms Kwan’s comments won’t bring people to the streets because she attacked the weakest link in our society, the blue card holders, advocating an increase in health fees for non-resident workers! She said they occupy a lot of resources in the public hospital, providing numbers which are at least questionable. But worse than manipulating data, is this xenophobic mindset. Outdated as Fong’s.
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