MGM China Holdings Limited Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Grant Bowie said yesterday that the company would keep working hard, do the best that it can and focus on the local community during the current China-US trade war.
“Keep working hard” and “do the best we can”, Bowie vowed.
Bowie made the remarks while speaking to reporters before officiating at the traditional “blessing ceremony” of the US gaming company’s dragon boat team at the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre yesterday.
Asked by a reporter whether the Sino-US trade war was having an adverse impact on the gaming company’s business, Bowie said that he was “always confident in Macau’s market” as he has lived in Macau for many years.
“The company is a very strong company and everybody in Macau should be very confident,” Bowie said, adding that the company would do its best to develop its mass market and attract more customers from all over the world.
Asked about the government’s requirement that Macau’s gaming operators join its non-mandatory central provident fund scheme if they wish to continue in the business after their current concessions or sub-concessions expire in 2022, Bowie said that existing staff who are currently members of the company’s provident fund scheme would be given the option to transfer to the new scheme or remain in the existing scheme, and that the company would review the staff’s decision at the end of this month.
For all the new staff at the company, they would directly join the non-mandatory fund scheme, Bowie said.
According to an announcement published in the Official Gazette (BO) on March 15, SJM and MGM Grand Paradise Limited signed an agreement with the government, which extended their gaming concession (SJM) and sub-concession (MGM) from March 31, 2020 to June 26, 2022. Consequently, the three concessions and three sub-concessions of Macau’s six gaming operators will expire at the same time.
The stock price of MGM China Holdings Limited dropped 4.34 percent to HK$13.68 yesterday. Some analysts attributed the decline to the deteriorating China-US trade war.
