The Macau government might seek forms of in-kind benefit other than licence fees and taxation from casino companies that wish to take part in a new public tender process associated with the 2022 expiry of the six current gaming licences in the city. That is according to a research paper from two prominent Macau law experts, submitted to the International Association of Gaming Advisors, a body also known as the IAGA.
“It is understood by the Macau government that the structural weakness” of the city’s economy, “excessively dependent as it is on tourism and gaming, became more well known as a result of the pandemic,” stated the paper from Pedro Cortés, managing partner at law business Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortés; and António Lobo Vilela, a former legal advisor to the Macau government on gaming-related matters.
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Possibly only a “couple” of Macau’s VIP gaming promoters or ‘junkets’ will be left in the local market in future, as the sector continues to face significant headwinds not only from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on travel and tourism, but also because of the Chinese central authorities’ concern about gambling activities outside the country’s borders, an industry insider has told GGRAsia.
There is a variety of opinion among scholars and legal experts about whether China’s criminalisation of anyone assisting “cross-border gambling”, that came into effect on March 1, is meant to cover gambling in Macau, a special administrative region of China.
António Lobo Vilela (pictured in a file photo), a Macau gaming law specialist – and senior advisor to the city’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, the official who oversees the city’s casino industry – is leaving his post at the end of this year, reported on Friday local English-language media outlets Macau News Agency and the Macau Daily Times.
His departure is voluntary, both media outlets said. Mr Vilela began his current role in 2016, according to the reports.
Mr Vilela had served on the commission in charge of handling the original Macau market liberalisation process at the start of the current century, and the subsequent public tender to grant gaming concessions in Macau in the period 2001 to 2002.