Real Estate Matters | The Challenges Facing Macau: What is it going to take to restore confidence?

Juliet Risdon is a Director of JML Property and a property investor.
Having established the company in 1994, JML Property offers Investment Property & Homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

Macau is facing some serious challenges, and these challenges will almost certainly affect property prices either directly or indirectly.
If Macau is going to prosper in the long term and would like a healthy property market, hard questions have to be asked and hopefully answered. It’s easy to criticize, so there are also suggestions for potential solutions. Whether they are liked or not will be largely a matter of opinion.
Last week we examined transportation and the infrastructure. This week we look at education.

Education
If they can afford it, Macau residents send their children overseas for education. It’s big business globally.
If Macau truly does want to diversify, now is the time to address the issue of education.
Losing the youth to an overseas system is neither healthy nor sustainable for Macau. Whilst moving overseas in itself is a life changing, eye-opening experience, it should be a choice and not a necessity.
An ever-shrinking world means that Macau needs some globally recognized educational brands to add to its portfolio. Space may be an issue, but as the new university campus has proved, where there’s a will there’s also a way.
You could be forgiven for reading this article in English and assume that it refers only to the popular western schools, but this is really about choice more than anything. A mixture of schools from diverse backgrounds would serve Macau well, being the melting pot that it is.
Some possible solutions?
1. Expand the plan for Hengqin to include dedicated education areas, and encourage schools to submit proposals.
2. Investigate partnerships between existing Macau schools and recognized schools and systems based overseas.
3. Encourage more joint ventures and programs between overseas universities and Macau university.

If Macau is going to retain its talented people, a hard look at the education system is essential.
Schooling in Macau is one of the main reasons why families with kids of a certain age are not based here, and until Macau can offer attractive solutions to this problem, it will continue to miss out on the most talented people as they leave Macau to seek education elsewhere.
To be continued…

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