Newly elected legislator Angela Leong plans to propose that the Macau government create a gambling policy working group with representatives from each of the SAR's casino operators. According to Ambrose So, who ran on the Macau Development Alliance ticket with Leong but missed re-election by 517 votes, the committee would be modeled on similar forums, such as the Environmental Council and the Energy Policy Working Group. Both So and Leong, Stanley Ho's wife, are top executives of dominant casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau or its sister companies. So said: ""This will create a platform among industry leaders to discuss the healthy development and future direction of the gaming industry." The idea is that the working group would be more than a consultative body and actually shape legislation.

Manpower supply is a major concern of Macau's five authorized casino operators. A recent government survey counted 13,046 gaming-sector vacancies as of June 30, which is 84% higher than at the beginning of the year. Casino operators are hoping to gain more leeway to recruit staff from outside Macau and may back expansion of government-backed training programs. Proposals to loosen labor-importation rules are likely to encounter opposition in the legislature, especially from union-linked members, as many candidates campaigned on anti-import platforms. Unionist legislators are also drafting their own proposals.

Another area of interest is money- laundering controls. Macau Government Chief Executive Edmund Ho has affirmed that the administration will submit a new anti-money laundering bill to the new Legislative Assembly by the end of the year after the US Treasury Department labeled Macau a "region that needs significant improvement in its money-laundering controls" as it proposed sanctions last month on Banco Delta Asia. Ambrose So said that new controls should work toward gradual improvements. "We shouldn't immediately implement legislation that contradicts current practices." Macau currently has two gambling agencies, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau which oversees casino operators, and the intra-agency Macau Gaming Commission, which sets policy and vets applications for opening or expanding casinos. (E-10.07.05)

© Copyright 2005 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage