Lionel Leong | Gov’t expects better gaming performance in October

Lionel Leong at the MIF yesterday

Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac, said that “so far in October, monthly gaming revenue performance judged year-on-year has been better than in the prior few months.”
GGR recorded a 20 percent year-on-year decline this month, compared to a near-40 percent aggregate decline year-on-year in the first half of 2015, Secretary Leong told reporters this week.
Mr Leong said better gaming performance in October was due to the Golden Week, a week-long holiday on the mainland to mark National Day.
He further noted that the economy of a city driven by its tourism and gaming industries, “was influenced by what happened in neighbouring areas. To limit any negative impact, the government had stepped up its efforts in promoting diversification of the city’s economy.
Mr Leong noted that the benefits brought by new industries would be felt long-term rather than necessarily in the short term. The administration would work closely with the community to grasp fresh economic opportunities during the period of adjustment in the gaming industry, he said.
The Secretary had stated on the sidelines of a public event on 20 October that the government had decided, after comprehensive analysis, to allocate respectively 250 and 100 new-to-market mass-market gaming tables to two of the city’s operators. The table allocations aim to encourage the gaming industry to strengthen its efforts in promoting non-gaming attractions, thus aiding the territory’s economic diversification, Mr Leong had then said.
Secretary Leong stressed that “the government wants to see any additional tables utilised for mass-market play rather than for VIP play.” For this “could help encourage the development of further non-gaming elements in Macau’s tourism sector, such as food and beverage retailing, and the hotel industry.
The Secretary reiterated that the government would “strictly follow the principle of allowing a compound annual growth rate in new-to-market tables of no more than 3 percent for a 10-year period from 1 January 2013.”
Major considerations for table allocation on new projects include each development’s non-gaming elements; each project’s contribution to help transform Macau to a world centre of tourism and leisure; the scale of the non-gaming elements; and whether such elements could drive development of local small- and medium-sized enterprises, said Mr Leong. MDT