The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, speaks to reporters.
The Government was pleased to see the growth in Macao’s casino gross gaming revenue had entered positive territory in August; following a narrowing in year-on-year monthly declines – a trend that began in the first quarter of 2016 – noted the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac. August casino gaming revenue totalled 18.836 billion patacas, representing a 1.1 percent year-on-year growth for that month. Mr Leong note that data from previous years had shown September casino gaming revenue was typically lower in aggregate terms than that for August: historically the contraction amount had been in the range of 1.5 billion patacas to 3.5 billion patacas. The Government would closely monitor September casino gaming revenue, in order to make a scientific analysis of the sector, Mr Leong told reporters in comments on Saturday (3 September). In addition, the Secretary said the Government had authorised the Parisian Macao integrated resort on Cotai to operate a total of 150 new-to-market live-dealer gaming tables and a total of 1,600 electronic gaming machines. The new tables – all for the mass market – would be allocated in batches: a first batch of 100 gaming tables would be made available to the resort for its scheduled opening in mid-September. The remaining 50 new-to-market gaming tables would become available in two separate phases: 25 tables on 1 January 2017; and the remaining 25 tables on 1 January 2018, said Mr Leong. The Government would take into consideration the following criteria when reviewing applications for new-to-market gaming tables: whether a new project would contribute to the transformation of Macao to a world centre of tourism and leisure; and whether the project would help Macao enhance its overall competitiveness internationally. Mr Leong stated that – when assessing applications for gaming tables – the Government would strictly follow the principle of allowing a compound annual growth rate in new-to-market tables of no more than 3 percent over a 10-year period, from 1 January 2013.