Scholar | Macau could become ‘a regional financial center’

A public lecture entitled ‘The Financial Markets in China and Hong Kong,’ hosted by the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Saint Joseph, was held yesterday at the institution, attracting nearly 30 Master of Business Administration students from Portugal.
The talk highlighted a few aspects that are needed in order to improve the market in China and to make the stock market functional in allocating resources.
Wayne Wu, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong, claimed that Hong Kong is the seventh-largest stock exchange in the world, and the third-largest in Asia, with a market capitalization of over USD3 trillion with over 1,800 listed firms.
“Hong Kong has done really well. Although it’s a very small territory, the financial market is well developed. [Hong Kong] helps the Chinese economy substantially too, especially in the region’s early years. […] Hong Kong was a major source of capital for many major companies,” Prof Wu revealed to the Times.
Conversely, he emphasized that Macau needs to diversify its economy, as it is “vital” to the continuous growth of the city, especially after the recent gaming downturn.
“Having a functional capital market is also vital to Macau’s future, so I think there’s a lot of room to improve. It’s not easy to imagine Macau being something like Hong Kong, but at least we can be a regional financial center for the Pearl River Delta.”
Meanwhile, Alexander Kocsis, a lawyer from Hylands Law Firm, discussed challenges that businesses face in mainland China. He stated that the overall business climate in China offers various opportunities. However, it’s a platform where businesses have to be “quick on their feet,” especially foreign companies.
“There are a lot of challenges in terms of language, but there are certainly a lot of opportunities as well. But it does require people who can act fast,” says Kocsis, adding that Beijing’s policy is “to encourage business and domestic consumption in the mainland.”
Moreover the lawyer believes that Macau also provides a variety of opportunities to business start-ups and that the SAR should expand business opportunities and its offerings.
“Macau was heavily reliant on casino gaming business. But even though there has been a drop, it’s still quite strong. […] The issue with Macau is that [the region] is accustomed to the gaming industry and I think it really needs to start looking a little bit further afield,” adds Kocsis. Staff reporter