Public consultation for new gaming tender to start in 2H

The retendering of gaming concessions is being prepared, with the public consultation period slated to begin in the second half of this year, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, has confirmed.
Local authorities stated earlier that the revision of the gaming law is an essential step prior to a public retender process.
The city’s six gaming licenses are all due to expire in June 2022. While several gaming experts have previously called on the government to extend the licenses of the current gaming concessionaires, the official said that process remains on schedule ahead of its 2022 deadline.
The call for the postponement of the retendering was due to the pandemic outbreak, which caused a revenue tumble among the gaming operators.
At the beginning of the second quarter of 2020, brokerage firm JP Morgan forecasted that it would not be a surprise to see the renewal bidding process postponed by a year or so from the current expiry date of June 2022.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng made it clear during the Policy Address, however, that none of the current concessions or sub-concessions would have their contracts automatically renewed in 2022, although under the current gaming law, the Chief Executive is able to extend the concessions for up to five years.
As also stated in the Policy Address for 2021, the government has vowed to begin revising the current gaming law by the first quarter of this year.
The city’s top official previously said that the public consultation process for the existing gaming law review, to be organized as part of the legislation, would entail a long process.
In the meantime, Secretary Lei believes that the availability of the vaccination scheme will pull Macau’s recovery up, sticking to the government’s gross gaming revenue estimate of MOP130 billion for this year.
Lei attributed the gradual increase in daily visitor arrivals to the resumption of the Individual Visit Scheme and holds hope for further improvements in the coming quarters with the growing number of vaccinated tourists.