{"id":777019143,"date":"2024-09-18T09:49:33","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T12:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777019143"},"modified":"2026-04-22T06:01:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:01:02","slug":"macau-ce-elections-sam-hou-fai-confirmed-as-sole-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-ce-elections-sam-hou-fai-confirmed-as-sole-candidate","title":{"rendered":"Macau CE elections: Sam Hou Fai confirmed as sole candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Macau\u2019s Electoral Affairs Commission has announced Sam Hou Fai as the only accepted candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- The Macau\u2019s Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) has confirmed today (September 18) that Sam Hou Fai will be the only candidate for the position of chief executive (CE) at the election on October 13. After checks on his application, there were no objections to Hou Fai’s candidacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former judge, who has stepped down as president of Macau\u2019s Court of Final Appeal, received 386 nominations from members of the Chief Executive Election Committee. The next CE will take office on December 19. In August,\u00a0Ho Iat Seng<\/strong>, Macau\u2019s current CE, announced that he was not going to seek re-election due to health reasons. He became the first chief executive not to do so since elections were first held in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Macau leadership change won\u2019t affect gaming industry, analyst says<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Hou Fai meets with Macau casinos bosses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sam Hou Fai met on Thursday (September 12) with leaders of the city\u2019s six casino concessionaires<\/strong>. Discussions revolved around the status of the industry and strategies to transform Macau into a global tourism and leisure hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the meeting, Hou Fai praised the contributions made to Macau\u2019s socio-economic development and encouraged operators to ensure the industry continues to develop in \u201ca healthy, orderly and sustainable development in accordance with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hou Fai also urged casino operators to continue promoting an \u201cadequate diversification\u201d of the city\u2019s economy. The former judge has previously said diversification was essential for the city\u2019s development<\/a> and that despite driving rapid development since 1999, gaming has led to imbalances in the economy and workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting was attended by 12 representatives from the casino concessionaires, including Pansy Ho<\/strong>, chairperson of MGM China; Kenneth Feng<\/strong>, president of MGM Grand Paradise; and Lawrence Ho<\/strong> of Melco Resorts. Also in attendance were Wilfred Wong Ying Wai<\/strong>, vice chairman of Sands China; Grant Chum Kwan Lock<\/strong>, CEO of Sands China; Lawrence Ho Yau Lung<\/strong>, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment; Francis Lui Yiu Tung<\/strong>, vice president of Galaxy Entertainment Group; Linda Chen Chih Ling<\/strong>, president of Wynn Macau; and Daisy Ho Chiu Fung<\/strong>, chairperson and executive director of SJM Holdings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s Electoral Affairs Commission has announced Sam Hou Fai as the only accepted candidate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":22752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Sam Hou Fai has been confirmed as the sole candidate for Macau's Chief Executive, set to take office on December 19. He recently engaged with leaders of the six casino concessionaires, emphasizing the industry's healthy, orderly, and sustainable development, alongside a critical mandate for economic diversification to transform Macau into a global tourism and leisure hub.","focusai_entities":"Sam Hou Fai, Macau\u2019s Electoral Affairs Commission, Ho Iat Seng, MGM China, MGM Grand Paradise, Melco Resorts, Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Wynn Macau, SJM Holdings, Pansy Ho, Kenneth Feng, Lawrence Ho, Wilfred Wong Ying Wai, Grant Chum Kwan Lock, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, Francis Lui Yiu Tung, Linda Chen Chih Ling, Daisy Ho Chiu Fung","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.75), operator_casino (0.98), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Diversification Policy Details?","query":"What specific policy initiatives and timelines will Sam Hou Fai's administration implement to drive Macau's economic diversification beyond gaming, and how will these impact concessionaire investment strategies?"},{"label":"Gaming Industry Balance?","query":"How will the new Chief Executive's administration balance the gaming industry's significant GGR contributions with the mandate for 'healthy, orderly and sustainable development' and broader economic rebalancing?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,154],"tags":[23906],"class_list":["post-777019143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777019143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777019146,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777019143\/revisions\/777019146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777019143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777019143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777019143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}