Long-term policy shift in Macau

The gambling hub will be developed as cultural tourism destination, with growth in hotel, retail, wholesale, catering and finance sectors.

Macau.- Macau’s first five-year plan moves away from reliance on gambling revenue and focuses on developing the city’s tourism, with growth in hotel, retail, wholesale, catering and finance sectors.

According to the city’s first all-encompassing five-year plan, Macau has now decided to embrace a long-term policy shift to reduce the economy’s reliance on gaming. The once successful gambling hub set out a target to increase the share of non-gaming elements from the current level of 6.6 percent, out of all gaming-related revenues, to 9 percent by 2020. Sectors such as hotels, wholesale and retail, catering and finance would see steady growth.

“The gaming sector should embark on new development in a new way,” reads the draft report, which will undergo a two-month consultation. It also said the city would be developed as a cultural tourism hub from now on.

In addition, the five-year plan, which would last longer than Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on’s term, pledges to step up environmental protection by keeping PM2.5 pollution levels in line with World Health Organisation standards.