Chief Executive said on Wednesday that he remained “cautiously optimistic” about the future of Macau’s gaming industry.
A Q&A plenary session was held in the legislative hemicycle on Wednesday, where the Chief Executive answered questions from 32 lawmakers about various issues affecting the city, ranging from labour laws and regulations, the city’s waste management, to Macau’s role in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
Responding to several legislators’ concerns about the gaming industry’s protracted revenue slump and its effect on citizens’ livelihoods, Chui said the gaming industry was merely “stabilising” itself after its decade-long boom, pointing to the fact that despite the decline, Macau’s gaming industry gross revenue was still one of the best compared to other casino regions and cities in the world.
Chui added that with the addition of non-gaming elements, he was confident that Macau’s tourism industry still has an edge in the global market, and he said that he remained “cautiously optimistic” about the gaming industry’s future.
The Chief Executive also said that even though the gross revenue from the gaming industry had dropped to an average of 20 billion patacas per month, it was still within the government’s expectations for the first half of the year, adding that the government would continue to keep a close eye on it.
He stressed the government will ensure that the decrease in gaming revenue won’t affect people’s livelihoods and the government’s push for diversification of the local economy. The government will also continue to push for the further development of the MICE industry in Macau, Chui added.
(macaunews/ macaupost)
