The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, speaks to reporters.
Work relating to the adoption in Macao of the Multilateral Convention on MutualAdministrativeAssistanceinTax Matters was in its final stage, said the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac.
Once the Convention – an initiative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – came to be applied in Macao, the Government would initiate procedures that allowed automatic exchange of financial account information with European Union (EU) members.
Such procedures were expected to be completed by year end, Mr Leong told reporters on Wednesday (24 January).
The Government welcomed the EU’s decision to remove Macao from its list of “non-cooperative” taxation jurisdictions. The Government would continue to maintain close contact with international organisations – including the EU and the OECD – in order to provide them with a better understanding of Macao’s processes regarding optimisation of its tax system.
Mr Leong also said that the Government had formed some cross-departmental groups, so as to monitor closely the city’s tax affairs – including the optimisation of local regulations regarding offshore activities – and in order to align more closely with international standards.
One of the cross-departmental groups comprised officials from, respectively, the Office of Secretary for Economy and Finance; the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute; and the Financial Services Bureau, added Mr Leong.
In other comments, Mr Leong said the Government had authorised MGM Cotai to operate a total of 125 new-to-market live-dealer gaming tables for the mass market and a total of 900 electronic gaming machines.
The new tables would be allocated in batches: a first batch of 100 gaming tables would be made available at the resort’s scheduled opening; the remaining 25 gaming tables would become available on 1 January 2019.
The Government noted the gaming operator would transfer some 70 gaming tables from its property on Macao peninsula to its new Cotai property.
The Secretary stated all new-to-market tables authorised by the fourth-term Government were for the mass market, with the aim of promoting further development in that segment.
Mr Leong reiterated the Government strictly upheld its principle of allowing a compound annual growth rate in new-to-market tables of no more than 3 percent for a 10-year period from January 2013.