Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2022年9月 亞博匯 58 COLUMNISTS M ore than two years ago, when I was advocating for an extended delay in the re-tender of Macau’s gaming concessions, I wrote the following: While it remains unknown what the SAR government’s expectations are for the outcomes of the second tender process, as recently as April last the Secretary for Economy and Finance was implying that the government would expect more from the second round than it achieved from the 2002 process: “Gaming liberalization in 2003 (sic) and the re-tendering in 2022 are two different discussions at different levels,” he said. “In 2003, Macau did not have enough conditions to make a choice, today we have more spaces and conditions to decide the direction of the gaming industry.” The recent opening of the tender and subsequent release of the tender requirements has confirmed that the government’s expectations of bidders likely far outweigh those bidders’ appetite for, and capacity to meet them. In 2001/2002, the expect- ations of the government 兩 年多前，當我主張 延長澳門博彩專營 批給的時間時曾寫 道： 儘管目前尚不清楚特區政府對第二 輪招標的結果有何期望，但就在去年4 月，經濟財政司司長曾暗示，政府對第 二輪招標的要求將高於2002年招標的結 果。 「2003年的賭權開放（原文如此） 和2022年的重新招標是兩個不同層面的 不同討論。」他當時表示：「2003年， 澳門還沒有足夠的條件做出選擇，但今 天我們有更多的空間和條件來決定博彩 業的方向。」 最近開始賭牌重投程序和隨後發佈 的招標要求皆證實，政府對投標人的期