Sands | China beckons to local suppliers in its support program

Ben Toh

Sands China revealed a new procurement program for burgeoning local enterprises, inviting them to be their long-term suppliers.
The gaming operator expressed its intention to partner local companies as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts. Roughly 200 items covering a broad range of categories were made available for tendering; namely operating supplies, food and beverage, furniture and lighting, facilities, gaming, marketing as well as external services and technology.
“This long-term program supports the Macau government’s initiative to ‘buy local,’ and it demonstrates Sands China’s commitment to supporting local business,” said Ben Toh, executive vice-president of the group.
The statistics provided by the group itself reveal 83 percent of its MOP 12.5 billion operational expenditure was devoted to local service suppliers last year, amounting to MOP 10.4 billion in total.
During Wednesday’s presentation, some participants from the garment-manufacturing sector suggested the group rely more on local producers, given that the region has grown over 50 years of experience in making apparel.
“They have hired executives from overseas, who have no passion for the Macau industry and who have their own vendor bases,” said Jose Tang, managing director of four local garment factories. “When they come to work here, they bring their own vendors.”
He was pleased to see the launch of a “double-win program”, which might facilitate the development of local small and medium-sized enterprises.  This is a practice seldom seen among the six gaming giants in the last decade because of their “business politics” that only favored “their people.”
“Evidently this is a very encouraging program, as a major gaming house tells us they’re going to buy from Macau’s middle and small management companies,” he continued.
“I believe there are still lots of local small and middle-sized enterprises not yet in a business partnership with us. However, with our development, I wish more procurements could be done in Macau,” said Toh.
Chui Yuk Lum, vice president at the Macao Chamber of Commerce, which assisted with the bidding, urged the eligible entrepreneurs to seize the opportunity, saying that the group was “indeed sincere” this time.
Interested parties must submit advance registration before August 14 and attend the open day on August 31 in order to meet the group’s procurement team. For more details, consult www.sandschina.com/procurement.html. Staff reporter