Lionel Leong says the gaming industry will be reevaluated

Lionel Leong during yesterday’s meeting with the local press

The Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong has declared that any eventual change to the gaming tax system can only occur after a reevaluation that will happen this year.
“The mid-term evaluation will take into consideration other elements beside gaming, like social responsibility and training workers for non-gaming related activities. We must see if they [the operators] fulfilled their commitments,” the secretary said yesterday, during a meeting with journalists at Macau’s World Trade Center. He said that the reevaluation “is one of the tasks [he faces] for this year.” The reevaluation, Lionel Leong said, will serve as a basis to “renegotiate gaming contracts.”
Lionel Leong denied that there are numerous cases of VIP rooms closing, but confirmed that one junket operator, that he didn’t name (see report on page 8) is closing some of its venues. He also attributed the drop in gaming revenue to “external factors.”
Still regarding gaming, the secretary said that the increase of gaming tables shouldn’t grow above 3 percent, keeping in line with current policy. The government didn’t receive any request by gaming operators to reassess the number of tables allowed.
Talking about the prospects facing the local economy, he said that a new mentality is needed to face the challenges ahead. Mr Leong declared that he expects that his experience as a businessman could be useful to the public administration and to achieve further economic diversification.
During a lunch with representatives from the English and Portuguese press, the secretaty stressed his desire to enhance communication with the public and journalists.