Hengqin plans won’t benefit Macau casinos in the short term

Auditors and analysts believe the Guangdong-Macau plan to develop an intensive cooperation zone on Hengqin won’t have a short-term impact on Macau’s casino industry.

Macau.- The professional services Deloitte China believes Macau’s project to invest in Hengqin Island to create a favourable environment for industrial diversification will have no short-term affect on Macau’s casino industry. However, the development could be positive for the gaming and hospitality businesses in the long run.

The Guangdong-Macau cooperation zone in Hengqin will be focused on technology and high-end manufacturing, traditional Chinese medicine, tourism and MICE, and finance. Authorities plan to develop a zone that will assist with Macau’s economic diversification away from gaming.

Ho Iat Seng, Macau’s chief said the development would “energise” Macau’s gaming administrators to participate in non-gaming projects on Hengqin island.

According to Deloitte, the Guangdong-Macau cooperation zone will help tackle two issues: the absence of land, and the shortage of talent. Sidney Cheng, managing partner at Deloitte China’s Macau office, said the zone would draw people from across the more extensive district to work there.

Sands China has recently spoken in favour of Macau’s project to invest in Hengqin Island. It said in a press release that it “is privileged to be making contributions to the economic diversification of Macau and the development of the city into a world centre of tourism and leisure.”

It said it will “continue to contribute to the economic diversification and long-term prosperity of Macau for its integration into the overall national development plan.”