Leong: Hengqin key to diversification

Lionel Leong features in Macau Inc. April’s issue.
For the full report read it online at www.macauinc.com.
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The Secretary for Finance and Economy has said the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Industrial Park is an important driver of Macau’s future growth away from its dependence on gaming.
Lionel Leong, Secretary for Finance and the Economy, sees a clear path to the diversification of Macau’s economy, and it is inextricably linked to the integration with the SAR’s neighbors, especially Hengqin Island.
In a wide-ranging interview with Macau Inc., Leong stated that he sees the new Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Industrial Park, which was inaugurated recently in Hengqin, as an important milestone in Macau’s efforts to diversify the economy by attracting investment in non-gaming industries.
He expressed his pleasure with the efforts the concessionaires are making with investments in non-gaming activities and facilities, and that more can be done to encourage wider participation by investors in the new industrial park.
Viewing the current slowdown in gaming revenues as a challenge for Macau to find new avenues of growth, Leong declared that he remains confident about the future.
“All in all, Macau’s fiscal standing remains sound – in addition to running a budget surplus, the Macau government continues to have a fiscal reserve of approximately MOP400 billion at its disposal,” he revealed in the interview.
“A dominant gaming sector not only makes it difficult for Macau to manage economic risks,” Leong explained, “it also undermines the long-term stability and prosperity of Macau. The urgent task currently facing Macau is how to accelerate economic development and we must handle it well regardless of the level of difficulty.”
“We need to be prepared for the testing and thrifty times that lie ahead,” he emphasized, “and we should also take the initiative to change.”
Leong says the Macau government will continue to oversee gaming administration to promote healthy and orderly growth, and it will persist in promoting tourism and non-gaming development. By encouraging the gaming, non-gaming and leisure sectors to interact with small- and medium-sized enterprises, the MICE and financial sectors will gradually develop into economic pillars.
Situated in Hengqin New Area and covering some 5 square kilometers, the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Industrial Park is focused on developing tourism, MICE, traditional Chinese medicine, creative industries and financial services. Macanese enterprises are being encouraged to invest in and enter Hengqin with a market-oriented approach.
The MICE and financial-services industries are particularly important, Leong says. The MICE industry is already being developed, of course, and Leong sees it as a priority for the government to encourage Mainland Chinese e-commerce enterprises, third-party payment processors and other financial enterprises to invest in Macau.