Macau Candidate Warns of ‘Wild’ Expansion of Gambling Industry
(Bloomberg) -- A former judge in Macau who announced he intends to run for the city’s top leadership position warned against the dominant role casinos play in the local economy, comments that could add to the worries for the industry.
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“For a period of time, the tourism and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly,” Sam Hou Fai, the ex-president of Macau’s Court of Final Appeal, said at a press briefing Wednesday. “Having one dominant industry is not beneficial for Macau’s long-term development and has had a very negative impact.”
The expansion of casinos has strained the resources of society such as manpower and even narrowed the career choices of young people, Sam said. The city needs to diversify away from the industry, he said.
The comments from the person widely expected to become the next chief executive of the world’s biggest casino market land as Beijing launches its latest crackdown on money laundering and capital outflows, a move that targets the Macau’s money-exchanging activities.
Over the past few years, the city has imprisoned top junket operators, who brought in high rollers and gave them credit. Macau has also introduced regulations restricting these agents’ activities, resulting in the collapse of VIP gambling that once contributed half of Macau’s casino revenue.
A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Macau’s casino operators fell 2% on Wednesday, the most in more than two weeks. MGM China Holdings Ltd. lost 2.5% while Sands China Ltd. dropped 2.8%.
Macau’s current chief executive, Ho Iat Seng, has said he won’t seek another term for health reasons. Ho was the only candidate to run for the top job in 2019, and other than Sam, no one else has yet put their name forward this time around.
Ho’s successor will be chosen Oct. 13.
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