Macau’s only candidate for the upcoming Chief Executive election, Sam Hou Fai, has said he will regulate the development of Macau’s gaming industry in accordance with the law after being elected and emphasised that the industry “will not shrink or be shut down”.
The sixth election of Macau’s Chief Executive will be held on 13 October with the Electoral Affairs Commission holding a Candidates’ Platform Presentation and Question and Answer Session on the weekend, during which Sam read out his platform and mentioned the development of the local gaming industry.
However, unlike a previous press conference in which he referenced the “barbaric expansion” of the industry, his attitude in this speech was relatively mild as he stated the industry “will not shrink or be shut down”.
“The gaming industry is Macau’s primary industry, and if it does not develop healthily, it will have far-reaching consequences. The new government will strictly enforce the new gaming law to protect and supervise the healthy and orderly development of the six concessionaires.
“The new government will require and supervise the concessionaires to monitor their non-gaming investments of MOP$130 billion in accordance with the contractual requirements, so as to promote the diversified development of the Macau economy.”
Asked if there would be any change to rules around the employment of locals only as dealers, Sam responded, “No consideration will be given to the importation of foreign employees for dealers.
“There are about 23,000 dealers employed in Macau, involving thousands of local families, and their employment is part of the protection of Macau’s social stability.”
Sam also mentioned that he had “five major policy ideas” and “four visions” for the governance of Macau.
The five policy ideas are: Enhancing public governance capabilities and standards, accelerating the development of an appropriately diversified economy, better integrating into and serving the overall development of the country, Improving the institutional mechanism for education, science and technology talents, and enhancing the protection and improvement of peoples’ livelihoods.
The four visions are to develop Macau into a “Rule of Law Macau”, “Vibrant Macau”, “Cultural Macau” and “Happy Macau” in the next five years.
