Ng Kuok Cheong calls on gov’t to postpone gaming concessions tender for two years

Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong has again called on the government to postpone the public tender for the new gaming licenses that are due to expire in June 2022.
In a spoken inquiry delivered yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL), Ng reaffirmed the need for the government to postpone the licensing tender until the economic situation in Macau improves. The lawmaker, who has raised several questions on this topic in the past, urged the government to postpone the date for at least two more years. This request was made on the second day of a plenary session dedicated to questions answered by the government on a range of topics.
A response from the government was made by the director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Adriano Ho, who did not definitively confirm whether the government would consider such a possibility. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, was noted as absent.
Instead, Ho said that the government was focusing on improvements to the legal framework that regulates the gaming industry, aiming to “strengthen supervision, promote the development of gaming and non-gaming elements, and create favorable conditions for the continuous and healthy development of the gaming industry.”
The DICJ director also remarked that the government is currently carrying out preliminary work for the new licenses bid, namely preparing amendments to the gaming industry legal regime.
Ho reaffirmed that the government will consider perspectives from lawmakers and industry in establishing the new regime, which he said will require the gaming concessionaires “to perform a role with greater social responsibility.”
In response, Ng said, “It seems that the government has not yet made any decision on this matter,” adding, “I hope that, at least, these works can be well organized and planned and that the government does not insist on opening the tender in a time of economic recession.”
In the same inquiry, Ng also urged the government to pay special attention to the ratio of resident workers who are working within the gaming concessionaires, urging the government to ensure that the rules that prescribe a ratio of 85% of residents are followed and, calling this ceiling to be raised up to 90%.
For Ng, it is essential to call for a higher percentage by default, “so we don’t see a regression in the future,” he said.
According to figures quoted by the director of the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), until June this year, there were 105,000 local workers within the gaming concessionaires, accounting for 77% of the total.
Lawmaker Leong Sun Iok noted that the 85% ratio is very far from being fulfilled across several positions.
“We need to find ways to ensure that this proportion is achieved in all areas and not just in croupiers and directors’ posts,” he added.
Ella Lei provided an example from the Food and Beverage sector, where she noted, “It is very important for the concessionaires but there are no opportunities for these workers to have a career promotion [in this sector]. We know that there are a lot of managers and supervisors who are non-resident workers and, in most cases, this makes no sense.” She called on the DSAL to be more attentive and provide clearer information, rather than reporting generalized statistics that may not reflect the human realities of individual situations.
Like Ng and Au Kam San before her, Lei also called for a larger allocation of the profits of the casinos towards “socially relevant projects.”
Lawmaker Davis Fong dissented, presenting a viewpoint in favor of the gaming concessionaires by calling for less pressure on the casinos.
“What is on the line here is size. The DSAL director mentioned that there are already over 100,000 workers in the concessionaires. What happens now is that we can’t predict what will happen. We can’t know the size [of the gaming industry] in the future. Not having this prospective data, we can’t predict how many workers this sector can take,” he said.
He also expressed that it is not possible to know whether the gaming industry in Macau will ever recover to historical highs.
The DICJ reaffirmed that the government will present the draft for public consultation this year.