Rear Window | Idle cash

Severo Portela

Conventional wisdom tells us that Macau people are eager to brag about the standard of the services provided by its utilities, or at least admit a better than average level of customer satisfaction.  Blackouts, shortages and jams rarely run proportionately big enough to go beyond a transient inconvenience to the general public. On other hand, the big utilities have responded in a timely fashion to the pace of development the Macau Special Administrative Region went through these last years since the opening up of the gaming business. As a disclaimer we have to say that pricing is not exactly the most strongly weighted factor in the consumer satisfaction index. Actually, the Macau Government’s social policies soften the burden of the utilities bills for the pockets of the…general public.
However, we do have to recognize that recently there were some small incidents involving water and electricity, but nothing that cannot be fully rectified by the concessionaries. Although there is not sufficient data readily available, we should take the opportunity to reflect on the development path the MSAR is blindly following like there is no tomorrow.
Macau has to face the problems and consider development issues to avoid a bursting-at-the-seams situation. And if we are talking utilities, transportation, housing, we are far beyond that dispute about Macau having reached or not its capacity to receive tourists. Indeed the discussion’s a mere nuisance. We just have to recall the research study commissioned by the government that indicates, although acknowledging capacity constraints, Macau could handle more visitors. In 2014, the number of visitors amounted to an astonishing 31.5 million; the same study predicts that arrivals in 2015 will increase by 5%.
Perhaps it is the right time to order another study to attune tourism to the restructuring of the gambling sector – lingo for downsizing (gross gambling revenue is stabilizing at minus 40%) and with mainland policies – lingo for the nationwide corruption crackdown – that are keeping at bay both the so-called VIPs and retail gamblers. But such a study is not enough.
Probably, what is lacking to set the SAR on the right course is a comprehensive study combining diversification and integration, since Macau seems to exaggerate the importance of either diversification or integration, and one cannot understand one without the other. A good example of the reading of diversification and integration as a binomial came from Secretary Leong Vai Tak’s idea to transfer a slice of the MSAR’s financial reserves (10/20 billion) to the China Development Bank Fund and to investment opportunities with the Guangdong Provincial Government.
We believe that the funneling of funds to Guangdong answers to a very complex problem arising from the solution some people maintain as the best idea to manage Macau’s financial reserves, that is to say a sovereign wealth fund. This option could raise constitutional issues albeit there is an obvious quantitative rationale, since the overall profit coming from the financial reserves in 2014 was a modest 2%, while the Guangdong financial investments offer around 4-5%. Again, this is a reading of diversification and integration in the Pearl River Delta. Lawmaker and front democrat Au Kam San already stated his unease with this kind of financial exercise.
Post Scriptum:
Finally, the Transportation Infrastructure Office or GIT is ready to address the delays in the construction of the LRT depot in Cotai. The bad habit of pointing fingers at the ‘invisible hands’ seems to be coming to an end.
Perhaps we are stating the obvious, but as to hands, we give a hand to the dead-pan French comedian-cum-presidential candidate, Coluche: some look honest, but when they shake your hand you’d better count your fingers.